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Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Automatique, Red Gold

Reference 5015 3603C 63B. A sheet to take with you: the numbers to check the watch against, what to look at, and what to ask. It does not authenticate anything and it does not tell you whether to buy.

Check the numbers

Measure or ask. A watch that does not match these is not necessarily wrong, but it is a question worth the answer.

Anything above marked not recorded is a gap in this catalog, not a property of the watch. Do not read a blank as a zero.

Before anything else

A 45mm Fifty Fathoms in red gold with a ceramic dial. Blancpain is counterfeited at the Fifty Fathoms end, and the things that distinguish this reference from a cheaper one, the gold and the ceramic dial, are exactly the things a fake would imitate first.

What to look at

1. dial Ceramic dial surface
   Correct Deep, even blue with a sunburst centre and a distinctly matt chapter ring; no orange-peel and no lacquer meniscus at the edges
   Red flag A glossy painted look, or any crazing, which ceramic does not do
2. movement Cal. 1315 power reserve
   Correct Runs to roughly 120 hours from full wind
   Red flag A reserve near 40-50 hours, which points at a different movement entirely
3. case Red gold hallmarks and weight
   Correct Hallmarked, and heavy for 45mm
   Red flag Light for its size, or hallmarks that are shallow or uneven
4. case Unidirectional rotation
   Correct Anticlockwise only, with a defined action
   Red flag Bidirectional rotation, which no Fifty Fathoms dive bezel has

Known issues on this reference

• The dial is blue CERAMIC with a sunburst centre and a matt chapter ring, not lacquer over brass. Ceramic reads deeper and cooler in the hand and does not craze.
• Cal. 1315 runs three series-coupled barrels for a 120-hour reserve. A Fifty Fathoms that stops well short of five days from full wind needs service, and a movement that runs 40-odd hours is not this caliber.
• 45mm in solid gold is heavy. Unusual lightness for the size is worth a question.

Parts that are commonly replaced

• Straps are consumable on a Fifty Fathoms and are replaced routinely.
• Bezel inserts are replaced after damage; confirm the part came from Blancpain.

Ask the seller, whatever the watch

• When was it last serviced, by whom, and is there paperwork?
• Has the case ever been polished?
• Which parts are not original to it?
• Do you have the box, papers and the original bracelet or strap?
• Why are you selling it?
• Can I see it in daylight, and can I take a photo of the caseback?

What this sheet is standing on

The specifications above are sourced to blancpain.com, blancpain.com. What else the catalog does not know.

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