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Article: Iconic diving watches:(Cousteau, Piccard, etc.)

Montres de plongée iconiques : (Cousteau, Piccard …)

Iconic diving watches:(Cousteau, Piccard, etc.)

Diving watches represent an important part of the watch industry, whether in terms of history, the models offered, the technical advances they have brought, or the style they have introduced.

Today, we are looking at a few brands that have offered iconic diving watches and contributed to their democratization. We will also discover what some of the most famous divers like Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his teams wore. This will allow us to better understand the history of this very specific branch of watchmaking and to discover several important models. Obviously we can't talk about all the diving watches that have made history, but here are our favorites.

 Rolex and diving

rolex oyster 1926

Source: aBlogtoWatch

Rolex is undeniably one of the brands that have most influenced the development of the diver's watch and its democratization. The first steps of Hans Wilsdorf's brand in the Diver's Watch sector date back to the 1920s. 1926 marked the launch of the Rolex Oyster, which was promoted as the first fully waterproof watch in the world. This was possible following the purchase by Mr. Wilsdorf of several different patents as mentioned in our article on the history of Rolex.

In October 1927, this Oyster was put to the test on the neck of Mercedes Gleitz during her crossing of the Channel by swimming which lasted more than 10 hours. The success of this marketing stunt made Rolex a legend and the brand continued to work in the diving watch sector.

Submariner

As early as 1953, Rolex finalized a piece that would mark the sector forever: the Submariner. The same year, in order to highlight its ability to produce waterproof watches, the brand also produced a piece specially designed to accompany the Swiss explorer Auguste Piccard in an underwater exploration. The latter descended to a depth of 3,131.8 meters aboard his bathyscaphe. The Rolex hung outside came back up safe and sound after shipping. A media success that perfectly set the scene for the official launch of the Submariner at Baselworld in 1954.

Rolex Deep Sea Special

Rolex Deep Sea Special Source: oceanictime.blogspot.comm

We can also note that another version of the Deep Sea Special descended to a depth of 10,916 meters at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 1960, attached to the bathyscaphe of Jacques Piccard, son of Auguste.

The very first reference bearing the Submariner name on its dial was the 6204, which already offered details that would become part of the Submariner's identity, notably the upturned triangle at 12 o'clock and the round indexes except those at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock which are stick. The needles, on the other hand, were simple straight needles with a pointed end and the Mercedes needle had not yet made its appearance. The case then measured 37 millimeters in diameter, a classic size, even quite imposing for the time.e.

Rolex submariner 6204

Rolex Submariner 6204 Source: bobswatchess

This first Submariner of the name was driven by the A260 caliber and it announced a water resistance to 100 meters, a little more important than that of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms released in 1953 which spoke of 91.45 meters. The Submariner went to a resistance of 200 meters from the reference 6200 launched in 1955.

It was with the second series of reference 6205 released in 1954 that the rest of the characteristics of the Submariner that we know today, including the famous Mercedes needle, appeared.s.

It would seem that the Submariner reference 5513 and 5512 were carried by Jaques-Yves Cousteau's teams at one time since they were considered to be the most reliable divers there is, but we will see right away that this crew has had the opportunity to test many other timepieces.

Sea Dweller

Sea-Dweller 1665 DRSD

Sea-Dweller 1665 DRSD Source: bobswatchess

It was also Rolex that offered the first extreme diver's watch to meet the needs of very specific professionals performing saturation diving: The Rolex Sea Dweller waterproof to 60 ATM launched in 1967. The great technological evolution brought by this Sea-Dweller compared to the Submariner is the helium valve. In the practice of saturation diving, divers spend several days in pressurized chambers in which they breathe a very specific gas mixture containing helium. This helium slips inside the watches and during the decompression phase, it comes out through the most fragile part of the timepiece. This is why many of these divers had their watch glass popping out when decompressing. The automatic helium valve patented by Rolex avoids this inconvenience by allowing the gas to escape without problems while keeping the watch waterproof.

This technology was developed in partnership with the Doxa brand, which we will discuss in this article. The first Sea-Dweller prototypes were equipped with this valve in 1967, but it was offered to the public from 1971.

Philippe Cousteau DRSD

Philippe Cousteau, the youngest son of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, often used a Rolex Sea-Dweller reference 1665. this is the very first Sea-Dweller reference also called Double-Red Sea-Dweller or DRSD because of the two lines of red inscriptions on its dial. Its case measured 40 millimeters in diameter and it was equipped with a date window at 3 o'clock, essential for divers spending several days in hyperbaric chambers. We can note the absence of cyclops above the date which is explained by the fact that the cyclops fixing technique of the time was not efficient enough to allow it to resist the pressure of 60 ATM.ATM.

These DRSDs are highly sought after by collectors. That of the Cousteau son was also sold at auction in New York in 2014 for 150,000..

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French Navy officer and oceanographer explorer born in 1910 who is one of the pioneers of scuba diving. He is also at the origin of several important inventions in the world of diving and he has greatly contributed to the development of the activity at the international level. He transformed an old military boat into a floating laboratory, the Calypso, crisscrossing the seas and oceans for different missions, opening a window on the underwater world to the whole world. His family and his teams have always evolved around the sea and they have tested many diving watches. We just talked about the Rolex of his youngest son, let's now look at other brands that accompanied the Cousteaus in their adventures.

Lip-Blancpain (Fifty-Fathoms)

Lip Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 1953

Source: watchprosite.com

In 1953, even before Rolex presented its Submariner, Blancpain had launched the mythical Fifty Fathoms at the Baselworld at the time. This watch was used by soldiers of several armies, including French and American sailors. It is also this watch that we find on the wrist of Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his team in“The World of Silence“, a film shot largely underwater that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1956.

Bob Maloubier, co-founder of the French combat swimmers corps, also chose this watch to equip his troops.

It can be noted that the first Fifty Fathoms in France bore a Lip-Blancpain inscription, following the collaboration of Blancpain with the French firm concerning the distribution of these watches.

Ollech&Wajs / Jenny

OllechandWajs-Jenny-Caribbean

The Caribbean has a special status in the hierarchy of diving watches: marketed in 1964, it was the first watch waterproof to 1000m. This performance was made possible thanks to an invention by Paul Jenny (pronounced ieny): a one-piece case associated with a crown sealing system called triple safe. To extract the movement from the one-piece case, it was therefore necessary to first remove the glass. But the Caribbean included another innovation: the rotating bezel made it possible to calculate the decompression stops to be observed when returning to the surface.ace.

The marketing of the Caribbean was made possible thanks to a collaboration with the Zurich brand Ollech&Wajs. The first models therefore carried either the Jenny mention or the OW logo. The Caribbean has also been produced for other brands such as Philip Watch, the most widespread, but also Jaquet-Droz, Haste, Dugena etc.c.
The Ollech&Wajs Caribbean was worn by Italian diver Alberto Novelli, among others, who inspired Enzo, Jean Reno's character in the Big Blue.u.

Doxa

Doxa is a Swiss watchmaker founded in 1889 in Le Locle which focused on pocket watches and speedometers for cars and planes. But at the end of the 1960s, the Doxa Sub 300 represented a decisive turning point in the history of the brand. Jacques-Yves Cousteau being impressed by this watch, he collaborated with the brand for the sale of several of their watches, particularly in the United States.

Doxa Sub 300

Doxa Sub 300

Source: monochrome-watches.com

The watch is equipped with a very specific unidirectional rotating bezel which makes diving even safer than the usual bezel. The classic unidirectional rotating bezel is graduated so as to calculate dive times. The fact that it is unidirectional ensures greater safety for the diver because even in the event of a problem or mishandling, the crown will indicate a shorter, not longer, remaining dive time.

The bezel of the Doxa Sub 300 adds on top of that a no-decompression limit scale. This indicates the time a diver can stay at a certain depth without needing a decompression threshold for his ascent. If a diver wants to descend to 30 meters (or 100 feet), we can read on the bezel that the maximum immersion time at this depth is 25 minutes. The diver can then turn the bezel so as to bring the 0 opposite the minute hand when he begins his descent. Once at 30 meters, he can read how much time he has left before reaching the 25 minutes that will be his limit to start his ascent.e.

On top of that, the dial was also revolutionary. After many tests of different colors, orange was chosen for optimal readability. To make the information even easier to read, the minute hand was designed much wider than the hour hand. It is therefore impossible to confuse them.

This technical and very easy-to-use piece was one of the favorite tools of Commander Cousteau and his teams.

Doxa Sub 300T Conquistador

Doxa sub 300t conquistador

Source: timeandtidewatches.com

In 1969, two years after the arrival of the Sea-Dweller, Doxa launched a diver model equipped with the helium valve that the brand had co-developed with Rolex. The Conquistador was therefore the first diver's watch equipped with this technology available on the market. It was worn by the entire Calypso team at the time, just like the Sub 200T-Graph which is the chronograph version.

Omega

It is sometimes less well known but Omega has played an important role in the diving watch sector. It is even an Omega which is recognized as the first watch intended for diving offered to the general public as such. It is considered a diver's watch by the brand despite the fact that it does not respect the characteristics of a usual diver's watch.

Omega Marine

Omega Marine

Source: omegawatches.com

This dates back to 1932 with the Omega Marine, a rectangular watch with a very specific construction providing it with very effective water resistance for the time. It was also tested in Lake Geneva and came up intact after immersion at a depth of 73 meters. In 1937, official tests proved that the latter actually resisted 13.5 ATM.

Omega Marine Chronometer

Cousteau Omega Marine Chronometer

The Omega Marine Chronometer driven by a quartz movement was also often seen on Captain Cousteau's wrist. This watch with a rectangular case and integrated bracelet was launched in 1974 and is the very first wristwatch to receive Marine Chronometer certification. The brand produced only 1000 copies of this reference 1511, clearly intended exclusively for professionals, as was the case with the vast majority of diving watches of the time.e.

PloProf 600

Falco Ploprof 600

In 1970, following the launch of the SeaDweller 2000 by Rolex 3 years earlier, Omega offered the Omega Seamaster Professional 600 m/2000 ft, commonly known as the Omega PloProf for Professional Divers. This watch was even developed in collaboration with the COMEX (Compagnie Maritime d’Expertise) and with Captain Cousteau himself. It was regularly seen on the wrist of a longtime friend and member of Jacques-Yves' team: Albert Falco.lco.

Seamaster 1000m

Falco Omega Seamaster 1000

The latter also wore a watch launched by Omega the following year: the Seamster 1000m which is nicknamed The Grand by collectors. The latter was attached to the outside of a submarine descending to a depth of 1000 meters to check its resistance. She passed the test with flying colors.n.

This watch offered a crown at 9 o'clock in order to protect it as much as possible during diving and its very imposing crystal was 4.5 millimeters thick. We know that Jacques Cousteau, his son Philippe, of whom we have already spoken, but also Bernard Delmotte, another member of the Calypso team, wore it.

Aquastar

Aquastar Deepstar

Source: monochrome-watches.com

The brand was created in Geneva in 1962 and focused on diving watches. Cousteau reportedly wore one of their models called the Deepstar, which was then the first 100 meter waterproof diving chronograph.

Seiko

Seiko 62MAS

Seiko 62MAS Source: hodinkeee

In 1965, Seiko presented the 62MAS which is considered to be the very first professional diver's watch of Japanese origin.

Cousteau and his team were also seen with Seiko 6309, Seiko Tuna, but also Citizen Aqualand, the first quartz diver equipped with an electronic depth gauge.

Claude Wesly, another diver with over 10,000 dives under his belt, wore a quartz Seiko Tuna 7549-7009 in the late 70s.

Seiko Tuna 7549-7009

Seiko Tuna 7549-7009 Source: thewatchsite.comm

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