Swatch tries to do an encore! After the MoonSwatch mania, are you now trying again with Blancpain Fifty Fathoms?
The partnership between Swatch and Omega to develop the Moonswatch in 2022 was considered by watch industry experts to be one of the greatest marketing strategies of the decade.
In an instant, the project breathed new life into physical Swatch stores around the world that were teeming with young people wanting a €250 bioceramic Omega Speedmaster “clone” watch.
According to Nick Hayek, CEO of Swatch Group, Omega is also directly benefiting from the increased demand for its Speedmaster chronographs. For days it seems that Swatch Group wants to do the same thing with the launch of Swatch x Blancpain. Swatch announced it through an advertisement containing various "hidden" clues, hinting at this new collaboration.
From this clue, enthusiasts immediately gave a face to the collaboration... the shape of the crown immediately brought us back to the famous "Blancpain Crown" used for the diver collection, and the fact that the image is found underwater is clear that it will be a diving watch.
Following in a nightly post on Instagram, Swatch confirms and shows the Swatch x Blancpain Sea of Seas and the date of September 9, 2023 as the market release.
2023 marks the 70th anniversary of Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms Divers watch. It seems that the design is an homage to Swatch's bioceramics.
Like Omega's Speedmaster, the Fifty Fathoms has had countless versions over the decades, giving Swatch a wide range of design options. There may be a version of it in each of the five oceans featured in his Instagram post.
The first images depicting the box of the next Swatch have also been leaked, these reinforce the fact that it will be a diving watch, and I believe that this large yellow box will be the presentation case for all 5 models
Now the last enigma remains... Quartz or mechanical? Given that Swatch produces and sells the watch as part of the collaboration, it could be a quartz watch, not to disprove Biver's claims, but Blancpain's information suggests that an automatic watch is in development and it certainly suggests something .... also because in a famous statement Blancpain declared that a Quartz watch has never existed, so we expect a watch with an ETA movement inside and perhaps for the more ambitious a Sistem51.
The market says it will be a re-edition of the glorious F.F. but are we sure? In my opinion this model is much more likely... we'll see!
See you after September 9th!!!
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But which September 9th... today 7th September the models were revealed!!!
The references to the oceans will be more explicit on the transparent backs of the watches, here is an example.
Retail price of €390.00
