After a week of teasing, Swatch has revealed a successor to the phenomenally popular MoonSwatch.
Dubbed the Scuba Fifty, the watch is a collaboration with fellow Swatch Group member Blancpain and a playful reinterpretation of the Fifty Fathoms diving watch.
Going on sale this Saturday, 9 September, at select Swatch shops, the watch is formally known as the Blancpain x Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms, and will be available in five different colourways. Inspired by the world’s oceans, the collection includes the Atlantic (blue), Pacific (yellow and black), Arctic (orange), Indian (green) and Antarctic (white and grey).
As with the MoonSwatch, the Scuba Fifty features a case made from a plastic Swatch calls Bioceramic. The watches each come with a matching fabric NATO-style strap (made from recycled fishing nets) and they are water resistant to a depth of 91 metres or 300 feet. Why the unusual water resistance rating? Because 91 metres is exactly fifty fathoms, of course.
All five watches have the same 42.3mm case design, but their dials vary slightly. The Atlantic, Indian and Pacific all have a date complication at the half-past-four position, while the Arctic and Antarctic differ, with their vintage-looking Blancpain logo and Fifty Fathoms motif, and lack of date window.
In a fun nod to older models of Blancpain, the orange Arctic model is inspired by the ‘No Radiation’ complication used by Fifty Fathoms watches in the 1960s, and the Antarctic has a moisture indicator. All versions have a unidirectional rotating bezel with one-hour markings and their colours are inspired by the nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc that inhabits all five oceans.
Unusually for a Swatch (and unlike the MoonSwatch), the Scuba Fifty is powered by an automatic movement with an impressive 90 hours of power reserve and visible through an exhibition case back.
Given the movement and waterproofing, it’s no surprise that Swatch is charging more for the Scuba Fifty than the £228 MoonSwatch. It is priced at £340 and will be available from select Swatch stores from 9 September. Online availability is unknown for now.
