Rare 1950s Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Wristwatch

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In circular stainless steel case with rotating bezel with black insert, case 41mm diameter. The black enamel dial signed ‘Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Rotomatic Incabloc’. The watch is accompanied by an extensive history file of service receipts with documentation and photographs detailing the restoration carried out by Blancpain in 2017.

^{Provenance: This watch has a charming history as it has been owned by the vendor since 1957. We have his notes which give a brief history of the watch.}

Norman Malthouse was training to be a deep sea diver and, as a young man, he would save up his money to make his journey from Brentwood in Essex and travel on his Lambretta to the South of France each summer to Club Alpin Sous Marin in Cannes between 1954 and 1957. He recalls "During the summer of 1957 I was staying with friends and brushing-up my diving skills with one of the 'Club Alpine Sous-Marin' dive monitors having been instructed by him in '56. We were joined by two more people who were known to my friends as experienced divers and we set off in a small boat and headed for the rocks local to the Antheor lighthouse. All the chatting was in French of course, when one of these gentlemen turned to me, and in perfect English, said that he noticed that I did not have a dive watch. Next to no time he was taking his own watch off and offering it to me saying that he 'made them' and I could have this one at Factory price, this was an offer that I could not refuse." (The gentleman who gave him the watch was Jean-Jacques Fiechter, owner of Blancpain).

^{“I have worn this watch every day since then and it is still keeping good time, and I still remember that person and his favour to me".}