For many collectors, the history of the dive watch starts in 1953 with the introduction of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Rolex Submariner. Divers, however, already had to rely on water-resistant watches, decades before the commercialization of two of the category’s most iconic models. We take a deep dive into how the history of underwater exploration and the evolution of the wristwatch are connected.

In 1942, German trade publication Uhrmacher-Woche (Watchmaker’s Week) began an extensive article about water-resistant watches with the following opening paragraph: “15 years ago, when the water resistant watch hit the market, many expected it to be an advertising gimmick or a fashion fad, because it isn’t really necessary to wear a watch when swimming.” The author then quickly went on to conclude that “the development of the air-tight watch became a technical necessity and important for the outcome of the war, because in rooms with lead storage batteries, in factories, on board submarines the air is filled with acid fumes.”

From the Pocket to the Wrist and Into the Waters of WWII 

What makes this article from 80 years ago remarkable is the combination of several misconceptions about the development of the waterproof or water-resistant wristwatch that ultimately culminated in the invention of the dive watch. First, Rolex clearly did manage to create an impact “15 years ago” by placing its famous full-page advertisement on the front of London’s Daily Mail on Nov. 24, 1927, proclaiming the success of the first waterproof wristwatch and chronicling “the debut of the Rolex Oyster and its triumphant march worldwide” after then-26-year-old British professional swimmer Mercedes Gleitze swam the English Channel wearing a Rolex Oyster, thus spending more than 10 hours in the chilly waters between France and Great Britain. Second, not a single word mentions divers or diving, even though helmet diving had already become an established industry by then. Other fields of application seemed much more important than diving or “swimming,” which ironically was also the case with many of the innovations that helped establish diving itself. It was, for example, the idea for a smoke helmet by Charles Deane in 1823 that led to the development of the first successful diving helmet (which consequently resulted in Augustus Siebe, an engineer and former watchmaker, working on a helmet fitted to a full length watertight canvas diving suit in 1830). The same was true of the oxygen rebreather, which was as much intended to be an emergency escape apparatus for submarine crews, mine workers or firefighters, as it finally allowed helmet divers to work more independently without surface-supplied air via a diver’s umbilical.

Ironically, those early helmet divers came up with a rather pragmatic way to know how much time they had already spent underwater: the first dive watches were simply regular pocketwatches, mounted on the inside of a diving helmet. One reason for this solution: back then, the “bracelet watch” was “looked upon by Americans as more or less of a joke,” according to the New York Times from July 9, 1916. But, like the German Uhrmacher-Woche, the paper also concluded in the same article that “the telephone and signal service, which play important parts in modern warfare, have made the wearing of watches by soldiers obligatory.” Looking at those early field watches, wearing one underwater, over a thick dive suit and thus completely exposed to both water, pressure and potential bumps would have been much riskier (and more expensive) than simply mounting a pocket watch on the (hopefully) dry inside of a helmet.

Two years after the New York Times piece on trench watches, on June 11, 1918, New York based “manufacturers of high class specialties for Waltham watches” Jacques Depollier & Son was granted a patent in the U.S. for a “waterproof and dust-proof watch.” In an ad from the same year, Depollier also came to a similar conclusion as the New York Times. “With the general use of wrist watches for soldiers, sailors, aviators and others engaged in the open, the demand for waterproof watches has become much more insistent, and the fact that the demand still exists unsatisfied is an indication that a reliable waterproof watch has not until now been produced.” Depollier’s “D-D” field and marine watch was equipped with a double clinched bezel that promised to keep out “water, dust and gas.” Again, Depollier, like the New York Times, did not mention the diver as its intended target audience, even though their watch “might be completely submerged in water” and was advertised using a picture of it being placed in a fish bowl.

Rolex, on the other hand, brought out its first attempt at a waterproof and dustproof watch, the Submarine, in 1922. It turned out to be an impractical design, according to Rolex, since the watch was “relying on a second outer case to protect the main watch body. The outer shell had to be opened every day in order to wind the watch, thereby also weakening the metal gasket that sealed the opening.” Four years later, two major technical innovations of the company had made the single-case wristwatch watertight: a screw-down back and bezel, as well as a newly patented winding crown, which could be screwed down to seal the case. Rolex advertised the Oyster as the “wonder watch.” Mercedes Gleitze provided the proof (and also became the brand’s first testimonial).

Like Rolex before, Omega came up with a similar idea of a double-case construction for a watch that was targeted specially at “sportifs, marins et coloniaux” (athletes, sailors and soldiers). In 1932, the “élégante” Omega Marine utilized a patented case sealed with cork to “keep water and the elements away from the heart of the watch.” The rectangular watch even featured an adjustable clasp and was tested in Lake Geneva at a depth of 73 meters (later conducted laboratory tests found the watch to be waterproof to a depth of 135 meters).

A New Type of Watch, Robust Enough to be Worn Underwater 

In 1935, the paths of the watch industry and underwater operations finally became fully intertwined, when the director of G. Panerai e Figlio in Florence, Giuseppe Panerai, was approached by the Italian Navy to develop a water-resistant compass and a watch for operators of its newly developed manned torpedo. While Panerai had already been a supplier of special navy equipment, the company had never produced wristwatches. On Oct. 24, 1935, Rolex therefore sent Panerai a Ref. 2533 with a large 9k gold cushion case for tests, the very same watch that should later evolve into the Radiomir, used by Italian special forces (and later by the Germans after having seized some of these watches during the German occupation of Italy that lasted until May 2, 1945).

While members of the Decima Flottiglia MAS commando frogman unit were initially equipped with Panerai-supplied Rolex watches, the American Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), predecessors of the U.S. Navy’s current SEAL teams, were equipped with “canteen watches” from the likes of Hamilton and Elgin (featuring a screw-on cover for the crown that was held in place with a small chain). Like the watches supplied by Panerai, these significantly smaller canteen watches were not equipped with a bezel, but simply indicated time with their luminous hands.

For the rotating bezel, clearly the visually most distinctive element on a dive watch, the watch industry first looked to the sky. On July 31, 1929, Philip Van Horn Weems applied for a patent for a “method of and apparatus for navigator’s time keeping” using a rotating bezel. The patent was granted in 1935 and soon found its way on to many pilots’ watches, the most important one being the legendary Weems watch from Longines. It would take a few more years until the watch industry began to recognize the potential for its diving customer. More precisely, with the rise of autonomous diving, based on open-circuit, compressed-air devices, like Yves Le Prieur’s invention from 1925, and, more importantly, Émile Gagnan’s and Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s regulator that was first patented in 1943 (and mass produced by La Spirotechnique after the war), the Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) revolutionized diving, and consequently increased demand for a reliable underwater timing device.

Blancpain started in the early 1950s with the development and testing of the brand’s first wristwatch intended exclusively for divers. The Fifty Fathoms (a reference to the depth rating of 300 feet or 91.4 meters) was the brainchild of Jean-Jacques Fiechter, then CEO of Blancpain, who also happened to be an avid diver. In an interview conducted in 2018, Fiechter recalled that he was diving off the coast of France when he lost track of time and ended up running out of air, prompting an immediate ascent to the surface without stopping for decompression, and thus leaving him at the risk of the bends. His solution, and ultimately Blancpain’s “first modern dive watch,” was commercialized in 1953 and came with a new positioning for the caseback and crown gasket that would better protect the case and movement from water, resulting in a patent for both designs. More importantly, Fiechter had also introduced a unidirectional bezel with the Fifty Fathoms that would allow the watch’s wearer to better track how much time was spent submerged. In short, Blancpain had both improved the water-resistant case and added a bezel that was exclusively aimed at keeping track of time spent underwater.

Rolex, on the other hand, already had implemented a bezel on a watch with the Zerographe and was now working on the most waterresistant watch case of that time with an experimental watch, the Deep-Sea Special, which was attached to the exterior of Piccard’s Trieste during its first deep-sea trials down to 3,150 meters (10,245 feet) off the island of Ponza in 1953 (Jacques Piccard himself was seen wearing a Longines Chronograph 13ZN when diving outside the submarine). In 1960, Don Walsh, Jacques Piccard and another Rolex watch would reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench (10,916 meters, 35,814 feet). Almost simultaneous with testing the Deep-Sea Special, the company introduced the Submariner in 1953, a diving watch equipped with a rotating bezel. In 1954, the watch industry’s trade publication Europa Star first mentions the Submariner briefly as a watch that “has been specially designed for deep-sea diving,” and like the Rolex Turn-O-Graph, the Submariner “carries a Time Recorder bezel,” which “enables the consumption of air in independent diving equipment to be easily controlled.” According to Europa Star, the Submariner was “tested on 132 sea trials in the Mediterranean and declared a to be an essential accessory to diving equipment.”

While Blancpain and Rolex have defined the look and function of the modern dive watch, both had approached the problem from the same angle: a robust, highly water-resistant wristwatch equipped with a bezel that would be able to withstand external pressure. What they didn’t factor in: the rise of saturation diving, first in the military field, then in commercial application. Dr. George F. Bond, a U.S. Navy scientist, had introduced the concept of saturation diving in the late 1950s. Earlier experiments had shown that divers were able to live and work underwater for days or weeks at a time before making a single, comparatively short decompression period. Bond’s work is not only credited as the beginning of saturation diving, but also marked the start of the United States Navy’s Man-in-the-Sea Program. From 1964, a trio of saturation diving experiments that let divers work and live in undersea habitats (Sealab) was launched and supported by the United States Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU). With the ill-fated Sealab III, the habitat was lowered to 610 feet (190 m) off San Clemente Island, California, on Feb. 15, 1969, a depth that would bring a standard-issue Submariner already near its limits. But it wasn’t just the depth that posed new challenges; helium caused the weakest part on some of the watches, the crystal, to pop off during decompression. And this wasn’t just happening to the divers in the Navy. In 1968, Japanese watchmaker Seiko received a letter from a saturation diver from Kure City, in Hiroshima prefecture. In that letter, the diver also complained that the dive watches from Seiko lost their crystals during decompression. While some divers simply unscrewed the crown before compression, Rolex wanted to offer a different solution for its 1967-introduced Sea-Dweller dive watch. From an ad from 1974: “The Rolex Sea Dweller, however, is fitted with a patented gas escape valve.” Rolex had applied for a patent for this valve on Nov. 6, 1967. “In effect, this means that the watch decompresses with the diver,” explained T. Walker Lloyd, then an oceanographic consultant for Rolex in the same ad. The Sea Dweller then went on to become standard equipment of the Compagnie maritime d’expertises (COMEX) employees (and replacing the previous partnership between Omega and COMEX).

A Diver’s Tool 

Omega and Seiko, however, chose a very different approach to solving the helium problem: instead of improving an existing watch, they both went back to the drawing board. One result was the Seamaster 600 “PloProf” (Plongeur Professionel) from 1970 that was built to be more robust than any other watch from the company before. From an ad from that period: “We also put the 600 through our helium test. Helium, having much smaller molecules, can penetrate where water can’t. So if a watch is proof against helium, it’s proof against just about everything else. This test showed that the 600 is one hundred times as air- and water-tight as the Apollo spacecraft.” Another ad from Omega explained the three major innovations like this: “we carved the Seamaster out of one block of stainless steel; no joints behind. Then we gave it a heavy, hardened mineral glass, which actually screws in. We gave it a turning elapsed-time bezel, which has its own lock to prevent accidental moving. We gave it an extra-safe, twin-locking crown.” Seiko, too, went with a monobloc case construction for its 1975-introduced professional dive watch, the 6159-7010 with a guaranteed water resistance of 600 meters (a watch that was, like the PloProf, in fact much more water resistant than this). The Seiko, however, took seven years to develop and resulted in 20 patents. The 6159-7010 was also built in a way that it could withstand the pressure differences without having to rely on an additional opening in the case, but came with a protective shroud, taking into consideration the heavy underwater work of its customers. On the other hand, both the Seiko and the Omega came with a design, size and price that prevented it from being worn by a large group of consumers, while the Sea-Dweller looked much more like a regular watch both underwater and onshore.

All three models also undoubtedly helped improve the quality of dive watches substantially. In 1966, the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) had set up an investigation committee for diving equipment, including dive watches, which back then were deemed not only “a vital part” of the diver’s equipment, but apparently also the most troublesome. In 1968, BSAC member Geoff Harwood concluded that “the majority of the complaints and allegations of faulty equipment and unsatisfactory dealings with manufacturers and distributors have been concerned with diving watches” — which led to the decision “to carry out a survey in order to determine the extent of the problem.” Harwood’s conclusion was not as encouraging as the industry might have hoped for, “since so few of each make are represented, we cannot draw a conclusion as to ‘best buy’ or to definitely not recommend a certain watch.” And added, “[E]ven if you buy an internationally famous watch costing over £50 you still stand a fair chance of finding it full of water when you come to start your decompression schedule after a deep dive.”

Or, as Robert R. Springer wrote in his Skin & Scuba Diver’s Digest of 1975, “At one time an oddity, today, specially constructed waterproof and pressure-resistant watches have become something of a status symbol among the socalled beautiful people — even though most of them never reach depths greater than the bottom of a martini glass. The practicing scuba diver, however, needs a functional item, rather than an impressive one. And, in looking for an underwater watch, it pays to be highly selective.”

Becoming an Ambassador of the Sea 

In 1983, while the watch industry was slowly starting to recover from its worst crisis to date, the Orca Edge hit the market as the first commercially viable dive computer. Watch brands at that time mostly focused on making dive watches more water resistant (the IWC Ocean 2000 from 1984, for example, was the first serially produced dive watch water resistant to 2,000 meters), and multi-function quartz watches and dive computers quickly started to reduce the mechanical dive watch first to the role of a backup instrument, then mostly a status symbol, as observed by Springer in 1975. In 1990, Seiko launched the “world’s first computerized diver’s watch,” equipped with a water sensor and depth sensor that displayed diving time and depth. Five years before, Citizen had introduced the first Aqualand and also the first quartz watch to incorporate an electronic, digital depth gauge. Despite the existence of a more versatile (and often less expensive) option, dive watches have become one of the most successful categories for luxury watch manufacturers in recent years. The Submariner from Rolex, for example, ranks on positions 2 and 5 on Chrono24’s most popular list from 2020. Even at Breitling, a brand traditionally synonymous with pilots’ watches, the Superocean dive watch has become the brand’s most popular watch category. It’s hard to imagine Tudor’s recent rise to fame without the 2016-introduced Black Bay dive watch, or Rado’s success among watch collectors and enthusiasts without the re-introduced Captain Cook from 2017. Even Seiko has based most of its recent global success on the Prospex dive watch collection. And Panerai, the former supplier of the Italian Navy, was resurrected in 1993 exclusively as a watch brand. Last but not least, since 1995, Omega has been equipping the world’s most famous spy with a Seamaster dive watch, and by doing so has created one of the most recognizable luxury watches of the industry.

But perhaps more importantly, dive watches have become an ambassador for the importance of the oceans. Blancpain, for example, became a force in protecting the biodiversity of the oceans. The 2014-founded Blancpain Ocean Commitment initiative (BOC) is a unique program in the watch industry that has already helped a number of environmental initiatives get off the ground (some of them already underway before BOC was launched). Oris, too, believes “passionately in conservation and is committed to acting sustainably” and has launched several limited edition watches that support various conservation efforts. Others, like Luminox, Breitling and Ulysse Nardin, have started to promote upcycling methods with their releases.

From a quality and performance point of view, today’s mechanical dive watches are better than they have ever been. They have reached the deepest parts of the ocean repeatedly and offer any kind of additional feature one could dream of. In recent years, they have become a symbol of sustainability and preservation, and offer a nostalgic look back at how man conquered the deep at the same time. In other words, the dive watch has stood the test of time and proven that an analog product can coexist with a digital alternative.

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Among enthusiasts of diver’s watches, the Fifty Fathoms needs little introduction. It debuted in 1953 as one of the first diver’s watches designed as a tool for professional divers. Its everyday counterpart, the Bathyscaphe, followed in 1956, offering a more refined format with a reduced diameter for everyday use while still providing the ability to explore the underwater world. Today, the luxury sports watch collection encompasses a wide range of models, from three-hand iterations to sought-after sophisticated complications. In addition, the Fifty Fathoms is offered in a variety of materials and dial options, with gold bracelets being the latest extension.

The beautifully crafted red gold bracelet involves a series of demanding assembly and finishing processes. The hand-satin-brushed links are joined together with transverse pins, giving them a flexibility that ensures a perfect fit on the wrist. Thanks to a patented system, the screws are placed on the back of the links to preserve the smooth look and feel of the bracelet edges. In addition, the combination of these features guarantees great comfort and seamless cohesion between the case and the bracelet.

Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune

The Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lune is presented in the already existing red gold case that measures 43mm wide and 13.4mm thick. Water-resistant to 300 meters, it houses the self-winding manufacture caliber 6654.P.4 that brings to life the complete calendar, with the indication of the weekday through two windows, a pointer date, and a charming moonphase-indication distinguished by a classic moon depiction with a face and accompanied by stars.

Equipped with a silicon balance-spring and a 72-hour power reserve, the 6654.P.4 demonstrates the technical prowess of the venerable Swiss manufacture.

Information on pricing is available upon request.

To learn more, visit Blancpain, here.

Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback

The Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback is one of the collection’s high-horology complications, featuring a state-of-the-art chronograph movement with a flyback function that allows the timer to be quickly restarted while the chronograph is running: the F385. It beats at a frequency of 5Hz, is equipped with a silicon balance-spring, offers a date indication between 4 and 5 o’clock and has a power reserve of 55 hours.

The case dimensions and water resistance are the same as those of the Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de Lunes.

Here, too, an intense blue sunbrushed color provides a magnificent background for the indications, with the two chronograph counters at 9 and 3 o’clock and the subsidiary seconds sub dial at 6 o’clock.

Information on pricing is available upon request.

To learn more, visit Blancpain, here.

How water resistant should a dive watch be?
Some manufacturers say that their watches with a water-resistance rating of 300 meters or more are suitable for recreational scuba diving. Others say the watch need have a rating of just 200     meters; still others say it can be 200 meters as long as it is specifically labeled as a dive watch. The International Standards Organization (ISO), on the other hand, stipulates that a dive watch must be water resistant to 100 meters.

All these depth ratings are significantly higher (or lower, if you will) than the depths to which a non-professional diver can dive. Recreational divers don’t go deeper than 40 meters (130 feet). Beyond that, they enter the realm of technical diving, which requires extensive training, special mixed gases to breathe, long decompression stops and special equipment.

The reason for the discrepancy: when tested for water resistance in the factory, the watch is in an artificial environment that is much different from what the watch will face during an actual dive. For the test, the watch is perfectly stationary, the gaskets brand new, and the case newly assembled, so that nothing will compromise its water resistance. The testing machinery does not account for such phenomena as additional pressure from the impact of the wearer’s jumping or diving into the water; or for temperature and pressure changes as the diver ascends and descends, which can cause the case to shrink or expand. Furthermore, a watch’s water resistance will be lessened by aging of the watch’s gaskets. Knocks and other rough treatment can cause the case’s components to fit together less tightly than they did when the watch was brand new. All these imponderables cause the companies to provide a rather large cushion of safety so that customers will not hold them responsible if their watches leak.

A screw-in crown is essential to a watch’s water resistance.

What features make a watch impermeable enough for diving?
Several features are required to make a watch impermeable enough to wear diving. In nearly all dive watches, the case has a screw-in back and crown. O-rings are used to seal the crown, caseback and crystal. The case and crystal are thicker than in a non-dive watch. Watches designed for very deep diving often have additional pressure-defying features such as domed crystals, or a steel ring for reinforcing the case (as on the Rolex Deepsea).

What are the other features of a dive watch?
Most dive watches have a rotating bezel for measuring elapsed time. They also have luminous hands and markers that can be read underwater. ISO standard 6425 requires a dive watch to have a “time-preselecting device” (a rotating bezel satisfies this requirement) and a dial that can be read in the dark at a distance of 25 cm. The ISO also says the watch must have an indicator that shows at a glance if the watch is still running. A seconds hand satisfies this requirement. Most dive watches have a steel or titanium bracelet or rubber strap, although some straps are made of nylon or various composite materials. Some dive bracelets and straps are equipped with an extension device that  enables the watch to fit over a dive-suit sleeve. Some dive watches have a helium valve and/or a depth sensor.

A bracelet with a divers’ extension can be lengthened to fit over a wetsuit.

What is a helium valve?
A device for equalizing the pressure inside and outside the watch case when the watch is worn in a diving chamber. Inside the chamber, divers breathe a gas mixture that contains helium. The helium molecules are extremely small and are hence able to penetrate the watch case, building up inside it. In the process of decompression, the pressure inside the chamber decreases more rapidly than the pressure inside the case. This can cause the watch crystal to pop off. To prevent that, some watches have a valve on the side of the case that allows helium to escape from the case during decompression, making the pressure inside and outside the case the same.

Do many dive watches have helium valves?
Most dive watches do not have helium valves because they are of use only in saturation diving, when a diver spends time in a diving chamber.

A helium valve prevents the watch crystal from popping off when the diver is in a decompression chamber.

Why do the rotating bezels on most dive watches turn in only one direction?
Most dive bezels turn in one direction only, counterclockwise, so that the bezel cannot be accidentally knocked off position in the clockwise direction and thus understate the elapsed time (usually the total dive time) being measured. Some watches solve this problem by using inner rotating bezels that cannot be rotated accidentally.

Many bezels have only the first 15 minutes marked individually. Why?
This is a dive-watch convention that goes back to the mid-1950s (it probably started with the Rolex Submariner). It is unclear what purpose the markers were originally meant to serve. An early Submariner advertisement shows a diver setting the bezel to measure total dive time, then using the minutes markers for a precise reading of his descent time. Why this information is useful is not explained (and standard diving procedures don’t require it).

An oft-tendered explanation for the markers is that they are used to time decompression stops, but this explanation is problematic. The diver would have to reset the bezel at the beginning of each stop. The bezel could not therefore be used to measure total dive time, the main purpose of the bezel.

One possible explanation for the markers: 15 minutes is the approximate amount of time a diver can spend at 130 feet, the maximum depth for recreational diving, without making decompression stops. The markers might have been intended to alert him to that limit and help him read his remaining bottom time precisely. This theory is supported by some versions of the Omega Seamaster, which had gradations for the first 20 minutes (a diver can spend about 20 minutes at 110 feet, close to the depth limit). On the Seamaster 200, the 20-minute segment was painted fire-engine red, possibly to warn the diver of the hazard of staying deep for too long.

Dive watches have luminous hands and markers that can be read under water.

How do depth-gauge watches work?
In most, there is a sensor (typically a membrane or diaphragm) on the side of the case that is distorted by water pressure. The degree of distortion is then converted into feet or meters of depth and displayed by hands on the watch face. Oris, in its Aquis model, uses another type of depth gauge: it has a tubule around the perimeter of the crystal with a tiny opening to the outside. More or less water enters the tubule, depending on the depth, and the diver can read the depth in meters on the scale next to the tubule.

How many mechanical dive watches have depth gauges?
Just a handful. Aside from the aforementioned Oris Aquis Depth Gauge, other mechanical watches with depth gauges include the Blancpain X Fathoms, the IWC Aquatimer Deep Three, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Diving Pro Geographic and the Panerai Luminor 1950 Pangaea Depth Gauge (which  despite its mechanical movement has an electronic depth gauge).

Some watch depth gauges record the deepest point of a dive. Why?
There are three reasons. First, for safety’s sake, the dive-time limits prescribed by dive tables assume the diver spends his entire dive time at the deepest point of the dive. To use the dive table, the  diver must therefore know his deepest point. Second, it is a generally accepted rule of diving that the diver should do the deepest part of the dive first. This gives him the maximum amount of time to off-gas the relatively high amount of nitrogen he absorbed at the bottom of the dive (the lower you go, the more nitrogen dissolves in your blood). Third, many diving experts recommend that, even in no-decompression diving, which doesn’t require decompression stops, the diver make a so-called “safety” stop of one minute halfway between the lowest point of the dive and the surface in order to off-gas nitrogen.

A handful of mechanical dive watches, like the IWC Aquatimer Deep Three (above) and Blancpain X Fathoms (below), offer a special extra feature: a depth gauge.

Which mechanical watch has the deepest water-resistance rating?
The CX Swiss Military 20,000 feet. The watch, made of titanium, is nearly 3 cm thick; the crystal alone is 1 cm thick.

In this age of dive computers, are dive watches necessary?
Not really. Divers sometimes take them as backups to their dive computers, should the computers run out of power during a dive, but now that wrist-worn dive computers are widely available and reasonably priced, some divers use these as backups to their console-style computers (or wear two wristwatch-style computers). If a diver does use a watch as a backup, he also needs other backup equipment that supplies information  given by a dive computer: a depth gauge, pressure gauge and dive tables.

Then why do so many people buy dive watches?
For several reasons. Many people like the sense of security that a high water-resistance rating provides. If a watch is safe to wear on a deep dive, they reason, surely it is guaranteed to survive a swim or a snorkeling excursion. Others like a dive watch’s other features, such as a rotating bezel or highly luminous hands and markers. For many dive-watch wearers, looks are the main draw: sporty, technical-looking watches are all the rage.

Dive watches have luminous hands and markers that can be read under water.

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In addition, Blancpain is also introducing a matching bracelet made of patented black ceramic with an uber-complex design — a first for the Swiss brand. And for those aiming at a less complicated model: Both the Bathyscaphe Automatic (shown here Ref. 5000-0130-01S) and the flyback chronograph (shown here the Ref. 5200-0153-01S) are also available with the new 23-mm bracelet (see pictures below).

“Durable, highly scratch-resistant and hypoallergenic, this ceramic material is nearly five times harder than stainless steel – and almost four times harder than grade 5 titanium – while being 25% lighter.”

Blancpain Press Release

Ceramic requires a comparatively challenging manufactory process: a nearly 25% volume reduction must be taken into account when firing the material above 1400°C and machining with diamond tools. The satin finish used by Blancpain is a key aesthetic element of the Bathyscaphe line. On the new bracelet, the links, buckles and cases are all individually hand-finished. According to Blancpain, “each link is individually measured in order to guarantee the best possible fit.” Featuring a butterfly folding clasp and a patented mounting system, the links are held together using cam-shaped pins.

Since 2013, the current Bathyscaphe has been available exclusively with NATO or sailcloth straps. The model was the first and so far only Blancpain watch to use ceramic for the case (with a water resistance of 300 m). With the introduction of a specially designed bracelet, Blancpain is therefore not only offering a comparatively different look for the model, the move is also very consistent with the Bathyscaphe’s recent positioning as a slightly more technical alternative to the Fifty Fathoms. In 1956, the Bathyscaphe had been introduced as a less utilitarian option to the Fifty Fathoms, offering a more versatile look, a smaller diameter and a date window.

Powered by caliber 6654.P4, the new Bathyscaphe Quantième Complet Phases de lune highlights both its diving watch heritage, thanks to its rotating bezel, as well as the haute horlogerie elements that characterize Blancpain, such as the moon phase complication and the use of a silicon hairspring. The Chronographe Flyback is powered by the high-frequency F385, the Automatique by the brand’s 1315 with a power reserve of 120 hours.

Prices for the 43.6-mm Bathyscaphe in ceramic start at CHF 12,600, with bracelet at CHF 19’600.00, the chronograph and moonphase (both on bracelet) retail for CHF 23,900. More here.

Lime Gold (Montblanc)
Montblanc relies on its own gold color, which has a green shimmer and is therefore named “Lime Gold.” It debuted this year in the 1858 Split Second Chronograph, which comes with green numerals and hands and a green nubuck alligator leather strap to match the case. The color combination goes well with the retro look of this 44-mm split-seconds chronograph. 44 mm, Caliber MB M 16.31, manual winding, limited to 18 pieces, $50,000.

Sedna Gold (Blancpain)
Described as an extra-durable alloy of gold, copper, and palladium (rather than silver), Sedna gold is proprietary to the Swatch Group, Blancpain’s parent company, and familiar to fans of another brand within the group, Omega, which has been using it on several models, including the Seamaster Diver 300M, since 2013. In 2020, Blancpain combined the patented material for the 43-mm case and bezel of the Bathyscaphe, adding a deep blue dial. 43 mm, Caliber 1315, automatic winding, $25,200.

Honeygold (A. Lange & Söhne)
A. Lange & Söhne has released limited edition models in “Honeygold” at varied intervals since 2010. Lange registered this official name as a trademark. Lange’s most recent model in Honeygold is the 1815 Thin Honeygold “Homage to F. A. Lange,” which was introduced with its two-part white enamel dial in 2020. According to Lange, the association with honey came from the warm luster of the alloy, which is also harder than conventional gold alloys. The material derives its properties from a special heat treatment as well as from the alloy’s components, about which the brand provides no information. 38 mm, Caliber L093.1, manual winding, limited to 175 pieces, $34,400.

Eon Gold (Roger Dubuis)
Roger Dubuis developed its own alloy for its movements in rose gold to provide them with resistance against tarnishing. Called “Eon Gold,” the blend also withstands saltwater. It will be used by the Geneva-based manufacture for all its new watches with rose-gold cases beginning in 2021. The new double tourbillon even features a case and bezel made of Eon Gold, which is 45 percent harder than conventional rose gold and therefore more resistant to wear and scratches. 45 mm, water resistant to 100 meters, hallmark of Geneva, limited to 8 pieces, $287,500.

Everose Gold (Rolex)
Rolex is different in many ways. One of them is that the brand gives many of its technologies their own name, thereby making them a brand as well. This also applies to the rose-gold alloy called “Everose,” which Rolex developed itself and produces in its own gold foundry. As the “Ever” implies, Everose Gold retains its color unchanged for a particularly long time. With the new Datejust 36, stainless-steel Oystersteel and Everose gold are combined to create a handsome bicolor design, which has its own name at Rolex: Rolesor. 36 mm, Caliber 3235, automatic, $11,250.

Magic Gold (Hublot)
Even if some gold alloys are harder than others, gold is inherently soft and can never be really scratch resistant — unless the alloy consists of 25 percent ceramic. Hublot has patented this combination, which requires a unique manufacturing method, as “Magic Gold.” This gives a nearly invulnerable surface to watches like the Big Bang MP-11 Magic Gold. Although the surface is polished, the material has a matte, high-tech look that differs noticeably from the appearance of purely metal-based gold alloys. 45 mm, Caliber HUB9011, manual winding, limited to 50 pieces, $89,500.

This article originally appeared in the WatchTime Special Design Issue 2022, on sale now.