It is in Antiquity that the first known underwater works date back: research by snorkelers to recover valuables from wrecks (the initiative of which is attributed to King Xerxes) or the refloating of ships. and the construction of port works by the divers of Alexander the Great equipped with diving bells. These forays into the seabed have forged the legend and the mysteries that surround scuba diving. A mysterious world, for some disturbing and whose depths constitute one of the rare frontiers that still resists man. There is no other solution than technical progress to push back this frontier: man is not in his element there and it is over time that innovation will allow men to explore this world so close to him and at the same time so difficult to conquer.
It was the twentieth century that was to promote a great leap forward: in 1945, after the diving men of Prince Valerio Borghese, combat swimmers equipped with Panerai during the Second World War, Air Liquide founded Spirotechnique and marketed the CG prototype -45 (Cousteau-Gagnan 1945), in the fifties Georges Beuchat launched the first isothermal suit and in 1955 the French Jean Bronnec and Raymond Gauthier filed a patent for a "two-stage" regulator called Cristal and marketed in 1957 by the US company . Divers, a subsidiary of Air Liquide.
But the intoxication of the depths experienced by many "compressed air" divers through multiple incursions beyond sixty meters and equipment malfunctions due to high pressures limit progress and underwater work.
At that time, many watch manufacturers offered various solutions for divers: Panerai and its Luminor, Blancpain and its Fifty-Fathom, Rolex, the Submariner. But to work in depth and push back the limit of 1000 ft or 300 meters, the manufacturers reinforce the cases, invent devices which seal the crown and use single body cases like Omega with its Seamaster 600 PloPro used by various divers of Comex. A problem arises: with the arrival of very deep diving with helium-type gas mixtures in bathyscaphes, this solution is reaching its limits. We have to invent again.
image
In fact, helium molecules are so fine that they would be able to penetrate the water resistance of a conventional diver's watch such as the Submariner and during decompression following a dive to "uncap the watch" by dilation effect. during return to surface pressure…. Doxa and Rolex are therefore going to start work, almost at the same time, on a solution based on the concept of a spring valve with fluid circulation “inside the case” towards the outside which will make it possible to solve this equation. This solution at Rolex is manifested by a spring-loaded valve with a single direction of circulation which triggers the opening of the device to release the expanded gas in the case as soon as the pressure inside passes three Bars. In order not to alter the water resistance of the watch. A solution that will be assigned to the Rolex Sea-Dweller.
Published in 1967, the catalog of Rolex watches this year features the sea-dweller as a new wristwatch and presents it as the most formidable tool for use by professional divers. This watch will be marketed in 1971 after a number of delays due to the development of the Helium Valve.
image
Having since earned its "best of the pack" stripes for having largely contributed to the success of deep-sea missions by equipping, for example, Comex divers or numerous military units, the Sea-dweller, whose production remains modest, keeps a special place in any collection.
From the original sea-dweller 1665 model waterproof to 2000 feet or 610 meters intended to accompany divers in a Bathyscaphe to the Sea Dweller Deep-Sea reference 116660 chronometer-certified and waterproof to 12800 feet, one model of which is nicknamed James Cameron , The SeaDweller will remain the favorite diving watch of professionals in the aquatic environment. But since its origin, the famous helium valve patented under the designation Helium escape Valve will undergo many changes:
image
In its original version for the Rolex sea-dweller 1665, the valve takes on the appearance of a pinhead and a circular indication engraved on the back of the caseback of the first sea-dweller model mentions Rolex Patented Oyster Gas Escape Valve . In 1980 with the arrival of the sea-dweller 16660 (triple six) the Sea-Dweller received a type 2 valve, more resistant, more advanced, with a larger diameter and whose maintenance posed less difficulty in changing the O-rings that ensure its tightness. An architecture that still remains relevant today and that equips the new 12660 sea-dweller models such as its “Deep-Sea” 116660 variant, chronometer-certified and waterproof to 12,800 feet, one model of which is nicknamed James Cameron.
A remarkable and evocative nickname for any diving enthusiast this model earned for accompanying James Cameron in the Deepsea Challenger submarine on March 26, 2012 to set the record for single-handed deep diving in a submarine at 10,898 m depth below sea level.
rolex sea-dweller réf 1665 dated 1971
The first generation of Rolex watches equipped with a helium valve
Rolex Sea-Dweller 16660 triple-six
The watch worn and made famous by Sharon Stone since the filming of the film Sphere