So – who predicted the next Swatch intra-Group collaborative effort?

The new (unlimited) Blancpain X Swatch will bring the Fifty Fathoms to a new audience with a collection of watches around an ocean theme – each piece is centred around either the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Antarctic oceans and everyone’s favourite small water creature, nudibranchs, each appearing as a digital print on the movement’s rotor.

Before getting down to the specifics of each model, just some general details – the case is 42.mm with a thickness of 14.4mm and are of course made of Bioceramic. The word “Swatch” is inscribed on the outer left side of the cases, a nod to both brands on the crown, and ‘Fifty Fathoms’ on the buckle. The dial colours match the case colours and feature Super-LumiNova coated hands and markers.

The watches have a unidirectional rotating bezel in Bioceramic with inserts that have anti-scratch proof coating, and the crystal is a biosourced material also treated with an anti-scratch coating. The Most importantly yes water resistance is fifty Fathoms (91m/ 300ft).

Powering them is the automatic SISTEM51 with 90 hours of power reserve.

The Blancpain X Swatch Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms Collection pieces come on striped colour-matched NATO-style straps made from recycled fishing nets.

Now, to the details of each model.

First up is the ‘Arctic Ocean’, with a sort of beige-salmon theme. On its dial is a Swatch-riff on one of the Fifty Fathoms’ most famed symbols – a (red) trefoil on a yellow background with a white cross cutting through and “NO RADIATIONS” below. The nudibranch featured on this model is the red Dendronotus Frondosus.

Next up is the ‘Pacific Ocean’, with its very bright yellow-orange colour scheme inspired by the Chromodoris Kuiteri nudibranch. Unlike the Arctic model, this has a date window between 4 and 5 o’clock on its black and white gradient dial.

The ‘Atlantic Ocean’ model, which also has a date window, a bold dark blue, with its nudibranch being the Glaucus Atlanticus.

The penultimate model is the equally bold coloured (this time green) ‘Indian Ocean’ model, which also has a date function on its green-matched dial. The Nembrotha Kubaryana is the nudibranch of choice for this model.

Finally, the ‘Antarctic Ocean’ model is, like the Arctic counterpart, time-only. Its dial is a gradient white to light grey, with the highlight a bi-colour water contact indicator at 6 o’clock. On the movement is the Tritoniella Belli nudibranch.

Maybe you will be influenced by the colour scheme, maybe you dive and have a preference for a particular nudibranch. Or maybe, date/ no date and the Fifty Fathom dial signifiers are the critical factors in deciding which one to get. My personal picks? The Arctic and Antarctic.

The entire collection will be available at selected Swatch stores (click here to check) with a limit of one watch per person per store per day from September 9, with an Australian RRP of $630.

[Photo credit: Swatch]

Categories: Blancpain, Swatch, Watch Profile, watches, Women's watches