In the history of dive watches, a few names tend to stand out as pioneers and innovators: Rolex. DOXA. Blancpain.

The latter changed the world with its Fifty Fathoms, a timepiece that many consider — and rightfully so — to be the world's first true diver's watch. However, the Fifty Fathoms wasn't the only diver that the maison from La Brassus produced. There was also a scaled-down version called the Bathyscaphe, named after the manned submersible of the Swiss explorer-diver Auguste Piccard. More recently, Blancpain has revived the Bathyscaphe nomenclature, offering an entire line of sophisticated divers that pay homage to their vintage counterparts. 

The particular Bathyscaphe that we have here is a flyback chronograph. Housed in a 43.6mm black ceramic case with a sapphire crystal, a signed crown, barrel pushers, and a unidirectional rotating timing bezel with a green ceramic insert, it features a sunburst green gradient dial with applied luminous indices, a three-register chronograph layout, a date at the 4:30 position, and a matching, fat ‘syringe’ handset.

Paired to a black textile single-pass strap with a signed pin buckle, this piece is powered by Blancpain's automatic-winding Calibre F385 flyback chronograph movement.

This is a super cool, contemporary take on nothing short of a legend. Surely, with its good looks, excellent pedigree, and bulletproof design, it won’t last long.