LIP 'Brevets Blancpain' - Gloss Black Tritium Dial Unpolished

The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is widely credited as being one of the first three truly purpose-build dive watches that came out in 1953. During the first ten years or so of production, many different variants have surfaced, with slightly different dials, bezels, casebacks, and even movements. In the French market, Blancpain had an almost nonexistent presence, but were looking to change that. So, in the 1950s, they tapped the well-known French manufacturer LIP for distribution. Today, LIP-signed examples of early Fifty-Fathoms remain highly desirable and collectible... The piece that we have here, however, is something very unusual and rarer still. By the end of the Blancpain and LIP partnership in the late 1950s - early 1960s, dive watches had been booming, with hundreds of brands small and large producing their own divers of all shapes and sizes. LIP, wanting to get their slice, borrowed a patent from their friends at Blancpain and produced the diver that we have here. The 34mm steel case features lovely chamfers on the lugs and borrows its bezel design and caseback system from Blancpain. The dial within is glossy black in color and proudly displays the Blancpain connection on the lower half. Additionally, it has applied 'dart' indices with quadrant 'Arabic' indices, Tritium-filled blocks as well as plots, and a matching Tritium 'alpha' handset. It is powered by one of LIP's manual-winding movements and comes fitted to a period black 'Tropic' rubber strap with a steel buckle. Only a handful of these pieces have ever surfaced on the open market, making this a very, very rare opportunity to snag one.