After the news of their collaboration emerged, speculations abound that the Blancpain model Swatch will make accessible is Fifty Fathoms. How right the pundits were. Thrilled?

You probably know by now, two days before the big launch, that the hi-low collaboration between Blancpain and Swatch has birthed a take on the former’s diver’s watch Fifty Fathoms. Swatch officially named it Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms: a mouthful (there are 11 syllables in there)! To be sure, it is a handsome iteration. Swatch can sure take an expensive watches and make it inexpensively, with no aesthetic compromise. And it sure looks, at least from the images shared by Swatch, a solid timepiece that you can take a dive with, up to 91 metres, according to their depth rating. That’s exactly fifty fathoms. Another triumph for Swatch and a big boost to the branding of Blancpain—incidentally celebrating the 70th year of their own, milestone-setting Fifty Fathoms.

We won’t go into the full specs here (for more information, do visit the Swatch website), but we would say that the 120-click rotating bezel is very appealing. Oh, just one more—there are five colours to choose from (the blue representing the Atlantic ocean would likely be the most popular). As much as the latest Swatch collab is a joy to the eye, just as last year’s Moonswatch was, perhaps even more so this time, our experience with the latter was so underwhelming, to say the least, that we have our reservations about even getting a peak at the latest watch itself (with the Moonswatch, we did not get to see the actual timepiece even a month after it was launched). Back then, Swatch said they could not produce the Moonswatch rapidly enough to meet demand, and that they didn’t expect the astounding (read: crazy) response. We hope they are better prepared this time.

At this point, we do not know the local pricing of the automatic Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms, except that it would be US$400 for the American market, or about S$550. That would make it roughly S$200 dearer than the Moonswatch. (A Blancpain Fifthy Fathoms typically costs S$10,000 upwards.) Would that be good reason for a shorter queue, come Saturday? In their communication materials and on their website, Swatch is careful to state—in full caps, no less—that their latest collab is a “NON-LIMITED” collection. Still, it is not unfathomable that a line will form way before the watch is available in the designated Swatch stores and that there would not be enough (even when each shopper is limited to one piece) for all in line, and people will be unhappy and patience will be tested. So for now, we are sitting this one out.

Blancpain X Swatch Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms will be available at Swatch stores in ION Orchard and The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands on 9 September. Photo: Swatch