Rolex Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA, introduced in 2008.
History
During the 1960s, the needs of professional marine divers working at great depths led to the development of the first 'ultra water resistant' tool watches designed for conducting safe diving operations at 300 m+ (1,000 ft+) depths.
The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 (2000 ft = 610 m) that became available in 1967 was developed from the Submariner for the Comex S.A. industrial deep-sea diving company by increasing crystal thickness and was produced in several variations. It had a depth rating of 610 metres (2,000 ft) and its Rolex reference number was 1665.
Most Sea-Dweller watches incorporate a helium escape valve for saturation diving. Early Sea-Dwellers did not always have the helium escape valve. The model is also distinguished by the absence of the date magnifier ("cyclops") present on most other Rolex models. The Sea-Dweller diving watch range has been standard issue for Comex divers since 1977.
The Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 watches had 2 red text lines on the watch dial which led to an unofficial "Double Red" designation under watch collectors for these watches.
The Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 models were succeeded by the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller 4000 (4000 ft = 1220 m) model with an increased depth rating to 1,220 metres (4,000 ft). The last Comex Sea-Dweller 4000 Rolex reference number is 16600 and this watch was issued to Comex divers since 1992.
Several semi custom production runs of Sea-Dweller Submariner 2000 and 4000 models were produced with and without helium escape valves and differing watch dail patterns for the Comex S.A. company. These variants sometimes also had differing Rolex reference numbers. Some of these non standard Sea-Dweller watches had the Comex S.A. logo depicted on the watch dail which led to an unofficial "COMEX watches" designation under watch collectors for these watches. These watches were either issued to actual Comex staff members or served as gifts for business relations.
At the BaselWorld watch and jewellery show 2008, Rolex introduced an updated Sea-Dweller model, named the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA. Its reference number is 116660. With an official depth rating of 3,900 metres (12,800 ft), the Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA represented in its launch year the most water resistant mechanical watch in serial production. For obtaining this official depth rating the Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA water resistance is tested to a depth of 4,875 metres (15,994 ft) to offer the 25% safety reserve required by the ISO 6425 divers' watches standard. To test the water resistance of the Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA, Rolex uses testing equipment developed for them by Comex. Normal surface air filled watch cases and crystals designed for extreme depths must be dimensionally large to cope with the encountered water pressure. To obtain its water resistance the Rolex Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA watch case has a diameter of 43.0 mm, thickness of 17.7 mm (domed crystal thickness 5.5 mm) and the case and bracelet weigh 220 g.
Diving records
The design and actual availability of diver's watches certified for more than 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) is not solely explicable by practical diving needs.
The diving depth record for actual off shore diving was achieved in 1988 by a team of professional divers of the Comex S.A. industrial deep-sea diving company performing pipe line connection exercises at a depth of 534 meters (1752 ft) of sea water (MSW) in the Mediterranean Sea. The diver's watches used were Rolex Sea-Dwellers.
In 1992 Comex diver Theo Mavrostomos achieved a record of 701 MSW (2300 ft) in an on shore hyperbaric chamber. He took 43 days to complete the dive. The watch used during this scientific record dive, where a hydrogen-helium-oxygen (hydreliox) gas mixture was used as breathing gas, was a Rolex Sea-Dweller 16600 with a 4,000 ft (1,219 m) depth rating. Rolex used this achievement in advertising campaigns.
The complexity, medical problems and accompanying high costs of professional saturation diving to extreme depths and the development of deep water atmospheric diving suits and remotely operated underwater vehicles in offshore oilfield drilling and production effectively nixed the need for ever deeper non-atmospheric manned intervention in the ocean.
