These past couple of years, budget watch icon Swatch has made it clear that its partnerships with luxury watch brands will continue. First, it broke the internet in 2022 with its collaboration with Omega on affordable new editions of the Moonwatch, with variants that each represented a respective planet in our solar system. Then back in September, Swatch teamed up with Blancpain to knock the legendary Fifty Fathoms down a few thousand dollars in price (to say the least), with a timepiece for each of the five oceans of the world. Now, it presents its first addition to the Scuba Fifty series with the all-black Ocean of Storms variant.
Before we dive into the new model, let’s begin by discussing how Swatch is capable of turning a $15,000+ luxury diver into a $400 timepiece without it losing its luster. For starters, the watchmaker employs its Bioceramic material for the case, which blends standard ceramic with ⅓ plant-based ceramic made from castor seeds. While the supplanting of case materials (the Fifty Fathoms is often made from some type of metal) in order to cut costs, the Scuba Fifty Fathoms also benefits from the scratch-resistant properties of ceramic as well.
For those of you wondering what the Ocean of Storms represents, if not one of the oceans of the world, you may (or may not) be surprised to discover that this new version is actually inspired by Oceanus Procellarum, the large dark spot on the Moon which early astronomers thought was an actual sea. As such, the Scuba Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms watch sports a black case, bezel, and dial, with white accents for the numerals, hour markers, and hands, while slight orange accents are added at the tip of the seconds hand and the text that depicts the 91m of water resistance. Visible through the caseback is the SISTEM51 mechanical movement, which features an illustration of the Oceanus Procellarum. The sapphire caseback also depicts a sea creature called the Okenia Luna nudibranch.
Available starting January 11, the Blancpain x Swatch Fifty Fathoms Ocean of Storms will be priced at just $400. Head over to Swatch’s website to learn more.
