does anyone like the Blancpain fifty fathoms FF28?

[wan]

Davidsen DSN, sells a good looking version of the Blancpain fifty fathoms FF28 and im really thinking of buying one to relic and make it look its proper age.

does anyone know what movement came in the genuine FF28? Also, is the 41mm case size the proper size?

does anyone know if BP ever made a FF that came in a jumbo 47 to 54mm case? The reason i ask is, i thought i saw a post a while back that looked like a fifty fathoms that looked the size of a Big Egi..........I have to concede that what i may have seen was a tiny arm man wearing the regular 41mm BP FF28 but my mind remembers it as a huge 47 to 54mm case sized watch.

I still absolutely love the 41mm sized FF28. I think it will make a great project watch. Here is the link to the watch at DSN's page-

()

If anyone has an example of this or any of the other FF's please post some pics.........Cheers, Wan

[whoever]

aren't the numbers a bit thick? Not sure.....love this watch, wish i had the funds...

[urbanshogun]

LHOOQ has one, and I'm pretty sure his wrists are quite small. It's a pretty great watch, but fairly inaccurate. Having said that when I get paid at the start of next month I am getting one. I just wonder if DSN's "Swiss" is actually a Swiss movement.

afaik it wears pretty damn big despite its small diameter on paper. The small dial and large case and bezel also make it feel much bigger than 41mm. Remember, it is a dive watch after all.

[urbanshogun]

i forgot to add, it's rather thick too, making it seem larger.

Around halfway I derailed the thread to talk about the FF, there is some good info in there.

When I get my TR-900, I will probably send it to a modder like domi to get it vintaged, as my last try at a vintage was a colossal failure because I don't have the time/knowledge/effort.

[gran]

I do not like it Sam I am dial face is to small for me that FF28

[krpster]

Love the FF in almost all models. That 28 looks really nice.

[gran]

This one is nice

[lhooq]

First off, do note that the naming convention of FF27, FF28, FFxx originally came from the old watchdeco site and was later adopted by Davidsen. As far as I know, Blancpain never used this system.

The DSN Blancpains are very good watches, but don't expect any of them to be a perfect replication of a particular model. I prefer to look at them as homages to some twenty years' worth of designs, incorporating features that are unmistakeably "Fifty Fathoms".

That said, if I had to choose the most accurate ones, they would be the Tornek TR-900 (FF21), the Milspec 1 (FF07), and "No-Radiations" (FF09). It's all about the thick bezel: The Tornek and Milspec were the only early FFs that had one. Thick bezels later made a comeback in the 70s, on the Bund and Polish Navy FFs. As an aside, the Polish Navy Fifty Fathoms is one of the most faked military watches, after the Omega Seamaster 300.

As far as I know, all of the Fifty Fathoms types were around 41mm, and either took 19 or 20mm straps. Movements on the early models were AS, but switched to ETA by the late 70s, I think. There used to be a detailed chart, but I'm afraid it's lost in an Internet sinkhole somewhere.

More pictures! This might help you in judging the size:

Here it is on mesh, on my tiny 6.5" wrist:

Sometimes it's on mesh, other times it's on vintage Tropic rubber:

I haven't tried vintagizing mine, but it would make a great base for a project. Kill a bit of the bright yellow on the markers, add some texture to the dial (but don't make it completely matte!), beat up the case a bit... It could be very nice, and I'm surprised so few have attempted it.

[whoever]

[krpster]

Here it is on mesh, on my tiny 6.5" wrist:

[rek001]

Superb taste, LHO.