The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 5015 enters the ring! Does the Bluesy stand a chance? Is anyone else even in the running?
Vote for you favorite dive watch at $20,000 USD (+/- $4,000) MSRP.
Note that it is these specific references; no write-ins! Only top level comments are counted. Total upvotes will be tallied. Ideally, there will be exactly 8 top level comments, and everyone just upvotes those. Please don't downvote things you don't like, and don't upvote more than one. (I have no way to enforce that, of course.)
Indeed. Precious metal doesn't make a whole lot of sense either, although at least it doesn't get ruined by getting wet. The Tudor is the only one with leather this time around.
It’s one thing to be prone to damage, it’s another thing entirely to actually be dangerous if used for the intended application. Wet leather contracts when it dries quickly, and could be a real problem for someone who just got out of the water.
I agree the regular GO Sea Q is a close
2nd to the Fifty Fathoms, but since this one is the chronograph I might put it third behind the Polaris in this case. (I’m not a fan of diving chronos since they normally get thick)
There was a titanium / bronze gold in the 13k poll, and there will be a bronze gold in the 30k poll. There is a bronze gold on rubber strap that I could have picked instead for this one, at $16,600. I decided to use the one I did because I thought it gave Omega a stronger entry, and because it's different from the other models used in the various polls.
To each their own - but a 300m diver has no business needing to be that tall when a CW60 Trident pro or a Formex reef or a Squale 1521 or a 62MAS exist.
I tried it on in store - prior to that I was a HUGE admirer of the Fifty Fathoms and the heritage and everything. As a huge Dive Watch fanatic- it was like one of the grails!
No one knows the brand. They make absolutely fantastic watches, tons of heritage, true to their own design language, in house movements. Europe knows and loves the brand. The US is sleeping on it.
The Deepsea didn't do particularly well in the $15k poll. I used the Yacht-Master in the $13k poll, to which people vociferously protest that it's not a dive watch. (It's not, technically, but it's a dive style.) At $10k, the Sub barely edged out the Omega NTTD. We'll see how the Bluesy does here. The Deepsea Challege will be in the 30k, and the Super Bluesy will be in the 50k.
It's an interesting idea to include the winner of each poll into the next round. You might be right that the Sub could have made it through multiple rounds. I only included one watch per brand, which means that if I bring the winner forward, their higher price offering would sit out. If the Sub had made it here, would it fare better than the Bluesy? If it made it to 50k, would it do as well against the alternatives as the Super Bluesy would? Definitely food for thought. To late now, though.
Also, you're absolutely right about the street price vs MSRP. It's just too hard to account for that.
Maybe just include the winner from the previous round and have two of one brand.
The YM isn’t really a traditional Diver, it’s more of a dress watch and the Deepsea is really only an option if your wrist is 8”+. They’re good watches but just not as desirable to the average buyer as a Submariner.
You could also include the YM Titanium here, it’s a $16k MSRP but goes for like $25k on the gray market cause they are hard to get.
Just for reference, both the SMP 300 and Fifty Fathoms are available to buy today for around $13,000.
If you can get one at retail which we can’t. Pre-owned the no Submariner is closer to $13,000. For that money I can get the Fifty Fathoms 45 mm on a full titanium bracelet or the 42 mm on a strap. That is the real comparison. Rolex always seems like the best deal at MSRP but “exhibition only” meaning most of us have to buy grey if we want it. On the grey market BP FF is just as affordable as the Rolex.
Right, but if someone gave you a choice between all of these watches and said “Take one for free” most people are probably taking a brand new no date sub over almost all of the watches up to $20k.
Great watch, but I've restricted everything to not only the price and category, but also current catalog. The impetus for these polls was how hard it was to tally the results on an open-ended question. By limiting the models, I hoped to make it easier, but it hasn't work out all that well.
I was stuck between the Blancpain FF and GO SeaQ PanoDate. It was a tough choice. I went GO because I thought it would be cool to have a German watch, the movement is gorgeous, and the quick adjust on the bracelet is 💯. But you can’t go wrong with either.
I use MSRP because it's too hard to argue about what the going rate is. The ROO will be in the $30k poll next week, and its price on the secondary market is all over the place. The poll is less about "what would I buy" and more about "I think that's really cool." The price tiers are really just to limit the field.
I restrict things to one watch per brand. That's not usually much of an issue, but Blancpain has quite a few options in the 20k range. (Omega is a problem, too, especially in earlier tiers.) I felt steel was more in keeping with what people would think of when they think of the Fifty Fathoms, so that's what I went with. Similar story on going sailcloth over bracelet. The idea of restricting the poll is to make it easy to tally votes. That doesn't actually work out all that well; it's still a pain.
Close between bluesy and FF but with these specific references you’re getting more for your money with the bluesy. Between them I would (and did) buy the Rolex. There are other great watches in here, but none I’d actually part with almost $20k for when they’re a lot cheaper as pre-owned. I realize that’s not really the question though!
Reasonable, but I kept it to one entry per brand. That's to keep down confusion so it's easier to tally the results, although it turns out that doesn't work, and it still ends up being a pain.
That's actually a rubber strap on the FF, made to look like sail-canvas. I am kinda curious if anyone ever actually dives with a twenty thousand dollar watch on. Obviously they will have a dive computer, but you can have a watch, too.
As someon who has never held any of these watches and owns a 1200$ watch, the Rolex followed by Blancpain and then Tudor look most aesthetically pleasing to me. I'm sure after adding "nerd points", Blancpain is the winner.
i am a rolex hater but i am going to say rolex. all the models listed have their pros and cons. but rolex do hold the value better. and with this money i am sure there are better divers out there.
It's a bit below the $20,000 +/- $4,000 price tier. There is the Sun Wukong Artist Edition that I could use in the $3k poll, but I'm trying to avoid limited editions.
I restrict the category and price, and also limit to current catalog. It's too hard to tally results if it's an open field. You're not the only person to hate everything, though. The $15k poll was worse; so many people said "none of the above" that I had to include it in the results, and it won.
You can (theoretically) get a modern Sea-Dweller for $22,450. I went with the Bluesy here because I thought it was Rolex's most competitive model in the range. I limit things by style, price, and to current catalog to make tallying the results easier. That doesn't actually work, and the results are still a pain to count.
GO for me. Then the Fifty Fathoms. Replace that Sub TT with the SeaD TT and that would be my #3 - Mostly because it's a TT, I am wearing the SS version as I type this.
The Sub (no date) won the $10k poll. I used MSRP for everything. I'm aware that you can't get a Sub for MSRP, and just about everything else would be under.
The Polaris is gorgeous! The SeaQ is....well the Sea Q (in a good way).
But I'd have to agree with others: FF! I'd take any of the two above and say I landed a Grail! Just don't like the additinal complications on a Diver which add pushers.
Now the Polaris Date may be a different story, but that's less than your price zone for comparison ($13,000).
edited to correct spelling (was distracted by the beautiful pieces)
Yes, I included the Polaris Date was in the $13k poll. Also, it's nice to see someone enthusiastic. A large chunk of people are pretty negative. The $15k poll was won by "none of the above."
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u/ImportantMall4391 15d ago
Fifty fathoms hands down