Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Blancpain · Bathyscaphe
Blancpain Bathyscaphe 39 mm Meteorite Sapphire
Reference 50746OR.81
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Blancpain
- Collection
- Bathyscaphe
- Model
- Blancpain Bathyscaphe 39 mm Meteorite Sapphire
- Reference number
- 50746OR.81
- Year / era
- 2018 · 2010s — modern production
- Complication
- Time and date
- Movement
- In-house automatic chronograph
- Case material
- Sapphire crystal case
- Dial type
- Meteorite
- Strap / bracelet
- Alligator leather with folding clasp
- Water resistance
- 150 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 39 mm
- Case thickness
- 14.1 mm
- Case material
- Sapphire crystal case
- Bezel
- Smooth polished
- Crystal
- Box sapphire with AR coating
- Dial
- Meteorite
- Hands
- Mercedes hour hand with Chromalight display
- Indexes
- Printed minute track with applied batons
- Bracelet / strap
- Alligator leather with folding clasp
- Clasp / buckle
- Pin buckle in matching case metal
- Water resistance
- 150 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 28F — In-house automatic chronograph
- Movement type
- Automatic, self-winding
- Frequency
- 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 5 days
- Number of jewels
- 21 jewels
- Complications
- Time and date
- Functions
- GMT second time zone, date
- Watchmaker
- The calibre is built in-house and adjusted in five positions before delivery.
Production & market
- Production period
- 2018 – 2034
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Trades close to retail on the secondary market, with steady demand for full-set examples.
Designer
Gérald Genta
Gérald Genta (1931–2011) trained as a goldsmith in Geneva and became the most influential watch designer of the 20th century. Working freelance, he sketched the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak overnight in 1970, followed by the Patek Philippe Nautilus, the IWC Ingenieur SL and the Bulgari Bulgari — defining the integrated-bracelet luxury sports watch as a category.
Historical significance
Blancpain Bathyscaphe 39 mm Meteorite Sapphire sits within Blancpain's Bathyscaphe line, introduced in 2018. It carries the house codes established since 1735 — sapphire crystal case case, meteorite dial and in-house automatic chronograph — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- Early production dials show a slightly different minute track, and collectors pay a premium for them.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
The House
Blancpain
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1735
- Founder
- Jehan-Jacques Blancpain
- Headquarters
- Switzerland
- Tier
- Luxury
- Major collections
- Fifty Fathoms, Villeret, Air Command, Bathyscaphe, Le Brassus, Ladybird
- Signature technologies
- Proprietary case-hardening and polishing · Certified chronometer regulation · Shock-absorbing movement mounting
- Famous movements
- In-house automatic, Superlative Chronometer · In-house manual-winding · In-house automatic, chronometer certified · In-house automatic chronograph
- Notable watches
- Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 36 mm Slate Sapphire (1978) · Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 44 mm Mother-of-pearl 18k (1954) · Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 41 mm Skeletonised Quartz (2001) · Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 41 mm Black Stainless (1959)
Brand history
Blancpain has spent more than 291 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Fifty Fathoms, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Jehan-Jacques Blancpain established Blancpain in 1735, working from Switzerland at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Blancpain calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1735
Jehan-Jacques Blancpain founds Blancpain in Switzerland.
1775
Blancpain earns its first international recognition for precision timekeeping.
1969
The quartz era forces Blancpain to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Blancpain enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Blancpain continues to produce Fifty Fathoms, Villeret, Air Command and other icons in limited numbers.
More Bathyscaphe
Blancpain Bathyscaphe 39 mm Green Stainless
Ref. 53821ST.48
Blancpain Bathyscaphe 40 mm Meteorite Platinum
Ref. 69943OR.21
Blancpain Bathyscaphe 40 mm Blue Sapphire
Ref. 79946OR.61
Blancpain Bathyscaphe 40 mm Mother-of-pearl Stainless
Ref. 82329ST.75
Blancpain Bathyscaphe 36 mm Green Stainless
Ref. 37245ST.92