Blancpain
fifty fathoms cousteau - Aqualung Date Logo No Radiations

Vintage dive watch Blancpain Rayville Fifty Fathoms Aqualung No Radiation with date, circa 1965. A watch originally developed by Blancpain in 1957 at the request of Bob Maloubier, one of the founders in 1947 of the French Secret Service's Action Division (SDECE) and co-founder with Claude Riffaud in 1952 of the CINC in Aspretto—the training school for French combat divers.

In 1957, Riffaud and Maloubier began the search for a watch suitable for underwater combat. Their inspiration came from the iconic Panerai worn by Italian Decima-MAS divers, but that watch proved too bulky and impractical: not discreet enough for covert operations, lacking a rotating bezel. The two men turned to the civilian market and approached Lip, who failed to meet their needs. This led to a collaboration with the "semi-civilian" company La Spirotechnique, directed by none other than Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the famed Commander of *The Silent World*. A highly specific set of requirements was drawn up, and following a meeting with Jean-Jacques Fiechter—dive enthusiast and CEO of Blancpain—a custom-built military dive watch with a rotating bezel was put into production.

Within just a few years, the watch became a staple of military diving equipment and gained traction in the professional civilian diving world. Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his team wore it for nearly a decade, including during the filming of *The Silent World*. Exceptionally rare and with highly limited military distribution, a few even rarer units were sold through Cousteau’s Spirotechnique and select retailers supplying professional diving companies—most of them based overseas. These watches, with a total production of no more than 50 units, are identified by their distinctive “No Radiations” dial logo, signaling that no radioactive materials were used in the luminous markers.

The collectible watch offered here is a remarkable civilian model from 1965. This automatic watch features a caliber R315 movement with 17 jewels, operating at 18,000 vibrations per hour, and includes a date display. This caliber is derived from the best professional-grade movement of the time: the A. Schild AS1700, which also powered the pilot’s Glycine Airman GMT. The movement is numbered and signed Blancpain Rayville SA—a phonetic homage to Villeret, the village where Blancpain was founded in 1735. The 41 mm case features a two-part screwed case back. This innovative design ensures complete water resistance by exerting double pressure on both the inner and outer edges of the thick O-ring gasket. This extremely durable gasket protects the movement, which is shielded from magnetic fields by an internal anti-magnetic cover. All parts of the watch are original and in perfect condition. Given the extremely low number of units produced for the civilian market over 50 years ago, this piece may be considered virtually unique in this preserved configuration.

Discover stories and anecdotes about the watch brands that shaped history on our "Watch Stories" page.