{"id":1815,"date":"2024-09-04T15:23:21","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T13:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guerin-expertise.com\/2024\/09\/04\/robert-maloubier-the-french-spy\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T18:57:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:57:45","slug":"robert-maloubier-the-french-spy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guerin-expertise.com\/en\/2024\/09\/04\/robert-maloubier-the-french-spy\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Maloubier, the French spy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The French secret agent and adventurer, Robert Maloubier, is closely associated with the Swiss watch brand Blancpain. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

He will play a key role in the creation of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms diving watch.<\/p>\n\n

The combat swimmers group<\/h3>\n\n

In the 1950s, Robert Maloubier, known as ‘Bob Maloubier’, was a member of the French secret service and co-founder of the French Navy’s Combat Swimmers Group<\/strong>. This group required a reliable, water-resistant watch that remained easy to read in all conditions to accompany them on their often perilous and crucial underwater missions.<\/p>\n\n

The search for a watch manufacturer<\/h3>\n\n

In 1952, Maloubier and his colleague Claude Riffaud decided to design a watch that would meet these specific requirements. They were declined by several watch companies, notably the LIP brand, which at the time believed that consumers would not purchase a watch with such a large diameter. Ultimately, they selected Blancpain, a brand under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Fiechter, himself a diver with a keen interest in the field, to undertake the project.<\/p>\n\n

The first military diving watch<\/h3>\n\n

The result was the creation of the Fifty Fathoms<\/strong> in 1953, a watch designed specifically for divers. This model became one of the world\u2019s first modern diving watches. The Fifty Fathoms model featured a number of highly innovative features for the time, including a large-diameter rotating bezel for measuring dive times and exceptional water resistance thanks to a new double-case-back design.<\/p>\n\n

The diving depth is increased to 50 fathoms (approximately 91 metres, hence the name ‘Fifty Fathoms’) with optimal readability thanks to luminescent hands and hour markers. The Fifty Fathoms rapidly became the watch of choice for both military and civilian divers. Discover the Fifty Fathoms collection on the official Blancpain website<\/a><\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n
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The history of chronographs<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Maloubier is a French secret agent and adventurer who has close ties to the Swiss watch brand Blancpain. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,73],"tags":[91,93,77,99,76,101,78],"class_list":["post-1815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historically","category-leading-brands","tag-blancpain","tag-chronographs","tag-diving-watch","tag-fifty-bathoms","tag-history-of-lap-times","tag-military-watch","tag-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t