A fake Blancpain 5200-0113-52A is easiest to identify by its movement and its chronograph behavior, not by how it looks in a photo. The genuine Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Chronograph Flyback runs Blancpain's in-house calibre F385 at 36,000 vibrations per hour with a true flyback function, while most counterfeits use a mass-produced chronograph base running at 28,800 vph that resets through a stop-start sequence. Case dimensions, bezel action, dial printing, lume color, and the engravings between the lugs are the next checks.
What is the Blancpain 5200-0113-52A?
The reference belongs to Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe line, a modern dive chronograph that traces back to the 1956 Bathyscaphe. The case measures 43.6 mm across, with a ceramic bezel insert, a domed sapphire crystal, and a sapphire display back. Inside sits the calibre F385, a column-wheel, vertical-clutch flyback chronograph with a silicon balance spring and roughly 50 hours of power reserve.
How can you tell a fake Blancpain 5200-0113-52A from the real thing?
Movement and flyback function
Ask for a timegrapher reading. The genuine F385 beats at 5 Hz, so a 36,000 vph reading is expected; a 28,800 vph rate points to a stock chronograph inside. Then test the flyback: on the real watch, pressing the reset pusher while the chronograph runs sends the hand back to zero and restarts it at once. Many replicas require you to stop the chronograph first, or they simply do nothing.
Case, bezel, and weight
A genuine Bathyscaphe Chronograph is 43.6 mm wide and feels dense in the hand, while fakes often measure 42 or 44 mm and use plated alloy or plated brass. The bezel should rotate with 60 crisp clicks, align exactly at 12, and glow at the pip and markers. Engravings on the caseback and between the lugs should be depth-etched and sharp, not shallow or laser-printed.
Dial, hands, and lume
Print on a genuine dial is flat and sharp under magnification, with no ink bleed on the wordmark or the subdial rings. Applied markers sit level, and the hands carry polished bevels that catch light along their full length. Lume should glow one consistent color, usually blue-green, and fade at the same rate on dial and bezel; mismatched glow is a common replica tell.
Papers, price, and provenance
Used examples of this reference trade in the five-figure range, so a "new" watch at a small fraction of that price is not genuine. Genuine watches ship with a numbered warranty card, a matching serial, and a service history you can confirm with the brand. A seller who cannot show the movement, the engravings, or a matching serial is describing a replica.
What separates a high-end replica from a cheap fake?
- Movement: a decorated clone with correct subdial spacing and working flyback costs far more than a stock movement with a printed rotor.
- Case material: 316L or 904L steel, ceramic, or titanium versus plated alloy.
- Crystal and bezel: sapphire with inner anti-reflective coating and a ceramic insert with clean lume versus mineral glass and painted markings.
- Finishing: brushed and polished transitions that follow the genuine case lines rather than soft, rounded edges.
What should you check before buying?
- Request QC photos of the dial, caseback, crown, and pushers in daylight.
- Ask for a timegrapher photo showing rate, amplitude, and beat rate.
- Confirm the case diameter and weight, since both are hard to fake.
- Verify the subdial layout and date position match the reference you want.
- Ask whether the watch is water tested or only rated on paper.
Is a fake Blancpain legal to buy?
In the United States, importing or selling a watch that copies a protected trademark is illegal, and a replica is never the genuine article. Buying one is not the same as buying a Blancpain, and presenting a replica as genuine is fraud. Keep that line clear, especially if you ever plan to resell.