Waltham “Fifty Fathoms” Diver

Description

Up for grabs is a very rare Waltham Diver, produced by Blancpain under the same lineage as their groundbreaking Fifty Fathoms line.  In 1954 Waltham stopped manufacturing watches in the USA and partnered with Blancpain. This is a very rare dive watch made by Blancpain, but signed and retailed by Waltham for the US market.  As is obvious, the Waltham-branded watches are identical to the early big case Blancpain 50 Fathoms, using the same popular luminous 3-6-9-12 dial style.

This example, of which less than 10 have survived or come to the market, is in great vintage condition.  The case is unpolished and very sharp.  The dial shows light wear/aging, as is common with radium dials, but is still very attractive, and retains much of its original gloss.  The original radium lume is present on the dial, aged to a golden orange color; the hands appear to have been relumed at some point in the past, and match the dial.  The original bakelite bezel is very attractive, with only one crack in the triangle at 12 o’clock, which is very common for these bezels, as they were very fragile.