Omega shares the secret recipe for its Sedna gold alloy with Blancpain.
Omega is happy to share the technologies it's developed. Knowledge and materials which used to be exclusively associated with the watchmaker based in Biel have received a new lease on life with other brands.
Master Chronometer certification from the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS) once seemed to be strictly reserved for Omega but a watch by the Rolex sub-brand Tudor got certified last year.
Blancpain was granted permission to use the Sedna gold alloy in 2020, although it had seemed to only be intended for watches by fellow Swatch Group company Omega.
Apart from Sedna, Omega's portfolio also includes the alloys Moonshine and Canopus Gold. When one of Omega's gold alloys was used as the case material for Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, it didn’t turn out to be just a one-off.
Blancpain has released the same model this year in a limited edition of 50 pieces to mark Cortina Watch's 50th anniversary, who Blancpain has been working with since the early 2000s. Blancpain actually isn't the only brand celebrating the major Asian retailer's big date.
The watchmaker has some excellent competition. Other watchmakers who've decided to present special novelties for the golden jubilee are Patek Philippe with Calatrava Ref. 5057G-010 “Cortina Watch 50th Anniversary” and Chopard with special edition Happy Sport timepieces.
Sedna gold is used for the bezel on the Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe, which boasts greater resistance to discoloration and fading than traditional rose gold, while the case itself is made of titanium.
This unconventional combination of materials makes the novelty the first in the company's historic line of dive models with a two-tone case. The Bathyscaphe watch born in 1956 has been given the perfect modern style by Blancpain for Cortina Watch.
As a result - an elegant bezel with a ceramic insert and Ceragold markers (another alloy by Omega which blends gold with ceramic), a satin-brushed case and a minimalistic dial with baton and dot indexes.
The matte case is matched with a black vertically brushed anthracite dial featuring indexes and hands made of Sedna. The automatic Caliber 1315 is the engine powering the watch with a silicon balance-spring and a power reserve of 120 hours.