Timely launched on World Ocean Day last Friday, the "Blancpain Ocean Commitment (BOC)" exhibition raises awareness of the importance of marine conservation through breathtaking underwater images, on display along with a fine collection of Fifty Fathoms watches till Sunday at Crystal Court, Siam Paragon.
The photographs capture the beauty of the sea and marine life to promote respect for and enlist people in protecting the ocean. They also portray ocean exploration and preservation projects sponsored by the Swiss brand under the BOC programme launched in 2014.
Besides raising awareness, limited-edition Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment timepieces raise fund for saving the ocean, with the third model in the series unveiled on June 8.
Blancpain was involved in "National Geographic's Pristine Seas" expeditions led by explorer-in-residence, Enric Sala, carried out between May 2011 and May 2016.
This series of expeditions surveyed the few remaining unspoilt ocean areas, whose value and ecosystems need to be recognised and protected.
The team of explorers journeyed to different locations across the world, from the "last ice area" north of Greenland, where the survival of Arctic wildlife depends on sea ice, to the southern coast of Mozambique, home to megafauna such as manta rays, dugongs and whale sharks.
The Gombessa scientific expeditions are named after the thought-to-be extinct coelacanth, a prehistoric creature directly linked to the first life forms, which crawled from the sea to inhabit land.
The original Fifty Fathoms on display at the exhibition.
Amazingly, the coelacanth was rediscovered by Laurent Ballesta who dived to extreme depth in the Indian Ocean off South Africa in the first Gombessa expedition in 2010.
Four years later in Gombessa IV, Ballesta's team journeyed to the southern pass of the Fakarava atoll in French Polynesia to study the annual reproduction of camouflage groupers but surprisingly noted a large density of 700 grey reef sharks.
This observation led to Blancpain donating money raised from the first limited edition of the Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment watch to Ballesta's team as it continued the Gombessa expeditions and tried to acquire a better understanding of the ecology and behaviour of the grey reef sharks.
Similarly, this year, from the sale of each Fifty Fathoms Ocean Commitment III model which is available in 250 pieces, Blancpain will contribute €1,000 (38,000 baht), amounting to a total of €250,000, to its financial support of ocean protection.
Since its launch in 1953, the Fifty Fathoms has become one of the brand's iconic watchmaking pillars. The evolution of the world's first modern diving watch is showcased through both the original and reinterpretations, both vintage pieces and 2018 novelties, at the BOC exhibition co-hosted by Pendulum, the distributor in Thailand.
The "Fifty Fathoms In Action" section features photographs of the friends of Blancpain, including a marine scientist, an underwater photographer and a deep diver, wearing various models of the diver's watch.
Besides the travelling exhibition, the BOC website is dedicated to increasing public awareness among a wider audience, providing updates on Blancpain initiatives, achievements, and ongoing activities.
