Signed Blancpain, Fifthy Fathoms, Automatic, ref. 1322, circa 1975

The present timepiece is a very rare and attractive example of a military watch. Made for the technical and general dive service of the German Army, it was never available to the general public. It is a diver’s model, the revolving bezel, highly legible luminous dial and screw back all being telltale signs of this elected destination. In addition, the watch presents the customary military markings the connoisseur would be looking for in such a piece: the case back is engraved with the military issue number, and the dial presents the indication of the presence of tritium. Instead of the more commonly known encircled T (most often seen in the Rolex Milsub models made for the British Navy, see lot 100 in this auction), the German Army decided to use the more unambiguous encircled 3H symbol, being 3H in fact the chemical abbreviation for tritium.

The present model is prominently described and illustrated in Military Timepieces by Konrad Knirim, p. 550.

For a note on the "Fifthy Fathoms" model see the previous lot.