News 
Today, Blancpain’s commitment to the sub-aqua world has taken on a new dimension by bringing all its activities together under the Blancpain Ocean Commitment name. For over sixty years, the Blancpain story has been closely bound up with the universe of diving.
It all began in 1953 when the brand developed the first modern diver’s watch, the Fifty Fathoms. Over half a century later, this timepiece still meets the needs of today’s divers. In fact, the range of features decided by Blancpain back in 1953 is almost identical to the NIHS 92-11 (ISO 6425) standard adopted in 1996 for diver’s watches.
Today, this historical link is reflected in the desire to protect the fascinating sub-aqua universe and make it known to the broadest possible population. To that end, substantial financial support has been provided for a number of years now for major scientific expeditions such as the National Geographic’s Pristine Seas Expeditions and Laurent Ballesta’s Gombessa Project, to say nothing of the free diver Gianluca Genoni, the World Ocean Summit organised by The Economist, the Hans Hass Fifty Fathoms Award and underwater images by prestigious photographers. All of these partnerships have been brought together under the Blancpain Ocean Commitment name.
As an integral part of this project, Blancpain has revealed the Blancpain Ocean Commitment Circle concept, whose principle is to bring together all the owners of a Blancpain Ocean Commitment watch. For each timepiece sold in this limited edition of 250 copies, a sum of 1,000 Euros will be paid out to support scientific expeditions. After many years of substantial financial investment, the brand’s commitment to make this fascinating world better known, respected and protected is bearing fruit.
For the occasion, partners, friends of the brand and prominent figures met up in early October at Cap d’Antibes to discover the different features of this global concept. The program included an explanation of the Blancpain Ocean Commitment Circle, the launch of the first series of watches in the Ocean Commitment limited edition, a major work telling the story of diving and the Fifty Fathoms diver’s watches entitled «Fifty Fathoms - The Dive and Watch History 1953-2013», together with a new dedicated Internet site (blancpain-ocean-commitment.com). This provides Blancpain’s partners with an innovative platform to circulate and share information about the sub-aqua world. Designed with a view to achieving higher visibility for these partners and creating greater public awareness, it comprises many photo galleries, historical references, project descriptions and a report on the different scientific expeditions supported by the brand.
November 13, 2014