Prestige Swiss watchmaker Blancpain established an exclusive three-year partnership with the largest international ocean conservation group, Oceana.
Oceana announced this exclusive partnership with Blancpain at Oceana’s annual New York Gala which raised more than $1.2 million for ocean conservation. The Manufacture, also an Atlantic Ocean sponsor of the event, donated their Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment III watch for private auction.
Blancpain’s legendary Fifty Fathoms, launched in 1953, is hailed as the world’s first modern diving watch. Since then, the Swiss watchmaker has established intrinsic and historical connections with both oceans and communities, such as the co-financing of 19 major scientific expeditions, and presentation of several award-winning documentary films, underwater photography exhibitions and publications. These efforts are lauded as the Blancpain Ocean Commitment.
Limited edition Blancpain Ocean Commitment (BOC) timepieces were introduced in 2014 to further support their unwavering commitment, and the Manufacture unveiled more BOC timepieces in 2016 and 2018 following their success.
Oceana and Blancpain’s exclusive partnership includes an expedition to Arrecife Alacranes (Mexico’s Scorpion Reef), a UNESCO biosphere reserve, during summer 2021. Home to more than 500 species of fish and 34 species of coral, the Arrecife Alacranes was recently identified as a reef healthy and diverse enough to stand a better chance of surviving climate change.
Yet, there are few rules that protect the reef from destructive fishing. Oceana and Blancpain’s expedition aims to combat this by documenting the reef and marine life present using cutting-edge science. With these findings, Oceana will campaign for the Mexican government to have protections in place for the reef.
With a distinguished Manufacture backing an esteemed international ocean conservation group, this partnership hopes to inspire more members of the public to protect not only this major reef in the southern Gulf of Mexico, but also restore our marine ecosystems and ocean abundance.
Images courtesy of Blancpain, artwork by Curatedition. All rights reserved.
Related links:
Blancpain: The Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment III
Blancpain Classics: Villeret 2020
