JUST BELOW THE SURFACE
Just as changing lifestyles prompted Rolex to invent a waterproof case, the brand next turned its attention to the design and development of wristwatches that met the needs of the new deep-sea diving professionals. In 1953, the Submariner was created: the first divers’ wristwatch guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 100 metres (330 feet). Its rotatable bezel with a graduated insert allowed divers to monitor their time underwater, helping them manage their breathing gas reserves. The security of the Oyster case was enhanced thanks to a new screw-down winding crown with the Twinlock system, benefitting from two sealed zones. In 1970, the principle was further developed with the introduction of a third sealed zone, and the Triplock winding crown was born. The hands and hour markers were coated with a luminescent material, enabling divers to read the time in the dark conditions underwater. Rolex went on to make further technical advances that rendered the Submariner waterproof to a depth of 200 metres (660 feet) in 1954, and 300 metres (1,000 feet) in 1989. The version with date, introduced in 1969, would be waterproof to a depth of 300 metres (1,000 feet) by 1979.
Rolex was one of the first brands to accompany exceptional individuals in their ventures and explorations. Aware of the mutual benefit to both parties and seeing the world as a living laboratory, Hans Wilsdorf equipped them on their expeditions with Oyster watches. To test the reliability of its timepieces, Rolex asked professional divers to wear them on their missions, afterwards gathering impressions and suggestions for ergonomic or technical improvements. This procedure became an integral part of the Rolex development process. Among the people Rolex worked with to test the Submariner was French underwater photographer, engineer and explorer Dimitri Rebikoff. In testing the watch, over five months Rebikoff carried out 132 dives, which took him to depths of between 12 and 60 metres. His report was very positive: “We are able to confirm that this watch has not only given entire satisfaction in diving conditions which were extremely tough and particularly dangerous for the material used, but that it has proved an indispensable accessory for all diving with independent equipment.” Rebikoff particularly highlighted the usefulness of the graduated rotatable bezel, which considerably increases divers’ safety by enabling them to check the amount of time they spend underwater. He also underlined the robustness of the watch, which spent many hours in seawater and received several impacts in the course of the dives.
A GLIMPSE OF THE DEEP
Certain sub-aquatic scientific projects and expeditions also presentedideal opportunities for Rolex to test its watches in real-life conditions.In 1960, the brand teamed up with one such project, an expedition ledby Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and U.S. Navy LieutenantDon Walsh. On 23 January, on board the bathyscaphe
Trieste –designed by Jacques’ father, Auguste Piccard, a Swiss physicist andexplorer with whom Rolex had worked since the early 1950s – Piccardand Walsh achieved a feat by descending to the deepest part of theworld’s oceans, the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. Affixed tothe outside of the submersible was an experimental Rolex watchcalled the Deep Sea Special, which accompanied the two men to theextreme depth of 10,916 metres (35,814 feet). The domed crystalon this prototype was designed to withstand the enormous pressureexerted at such a depth. When the
Trieste resurfaced after some eightand a half hours under the sea, the watch was found to have keptperfect time, which validated the technical choices made by the brandduring its design. It would be decades before any such expeditionwould be repeated.