I am cutting my vintage collection down to two watches, so this is the last one for sale! For sale is an original vintage Blancpain Bathyscaphe from the late 1950s. These watches are quite uncommon and not many examples survived over the years. I did an extensive write-up and registry here: https://omegaforums.net/threads/blancpain-bathyscaphe-mc4-arrival-and-registry.87992/ Since starting the registry, I have only found 11 unique examples of this watch. Here are all the details: Case: Stainless steel case in excellent condition. It does not appear polished to me. Very sharp edges inside the lugs and clearly defined chamfers. The case is 34mm but appears larger on the wrist due to the large bezel, long lugs, and height. The diameter of the bezel is 35mm, making it look like a 35mm watch on the wrist. Lug to lug the watch is 41.5 mm and the height including crystal is 12mm. The caseback is also unpolished with very clear engravings. Inside caseback is signed Rayville SA Swiss. Dial: Original glossy dial, which is starting to turn brown when viewed in natural sunlight. Of all the examples I have seen online, none have had a brown secondary color. Radium lume in the dial and hands which is starting to darken and has a marbled appearance. Bezel: Original bakelike bezel. Hairline crack in the triangle as 12. Small bubble near the 4 in "45." Bidirectional friction fit bezel rotates as it should. Crown/Crystal: Correct unsigned crown, not sure if original. Correct low profile crystal,likely original as replacements are almost impossible to find. A superficial scratch in the crystal at 2 oclock could be polished out. Movement: Original dustcap is present. Movement signed Rayville SA. The movement was serviced in 2018 by Simon Freese. Service invoice will be provided to the buyer. Accessories: It will come on the vintage 19mm Speidel strap made in W. Germany. For this watch, I am asking what I paid for it - $6700 plus shipping. International deals are gladly welcome. I have done many international deals and will ship with FedEx/ParcelPro. I prefer Transferwise/Wise for international payments. Returns only if the watch is materially misrepresented. I am happy to provide any additional photos and videos for prospective buyers! Thanks OF for the space as always.
An absolute stunner...this piece has the sort of lume patination that I describe as "artful". IMHO so much prettier now than when it was new. And the uncluttered, high quality stainless/bakelite bezels on these vintage BP's are to die for..wish I was in the market. GLWS!
Gorgeous watch, Mike. This won't last long. GLWS. Just out of curiosity, which two vintage watches did you decide to keep?
Got a message that my previous post was inappropriate. Just wanted to give kudos to a good looking watch, glws!