Rolex Deepsea

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The Rolex Deepsea History

Furthermore the watch underwent a series of special tests carried out by the French company COMEX to commemorate the original collaboration that gave birth to the model.
It is important to point out that the Sea-Dweller Deep Sea model, has a unique predecessor, the Deep Sea Special, made in the 1950s in an experimental and limited series (never commercialised) to test the resistance of the Oyster case at even greater depths. But the story of this model deserves its own mention.

From a technical and aesthetic point of view the Deep Sea Special has a case and crown of solid dimensions, a particularly smooth caseback, a black dial with luminescent tritium hour markers, the word Rolex ( 6 o’ clock position) and the crown emblem (12 o’ clock position) slightly centred, with gladius hands. The movement is a 1000 calibre, probably derived from the 1030 calibre and the crystal is particularly domed.
The story of this model is tied to its achievements, made famous also due to its noticeable promotional capacities. The first occasion was in 1953 when a Deep Sea Special model was fixed to the outside of the bathyscaphe Trieste, built in 1943 by the physicist Auguste Piccard. The Bathyscaphe was immersed in the Mediterranean sea near the Isle of Capri to a depth of 3150 metres and after two hours the watch ascended to the surface in perfect working condition.
In 1960 the company continued its collaboration with Auguste Piccard’s son, Jacques, this time in a completely different setting, after the sale of the bathyscaphe Trieste to the United States Navy. Thus on 23 January 1960 the Deep Sea Special was immersed, fixed to the Trieste, in the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the Earth’s oceans. After five hours a depth of 10,908 metres was reached, a record still unbeaten. In this heroic undertaking too the watch emerged completely intact and perfectly functioning, “at 11,000 metres below as at the surface” commented Piccard.
After this adventure Rolex, with promotional as well as revelatory intentions, produced around thirty models with the maximum achieved depth engraved on the caseback and a 1570 calibre movement. Following that a small series was produced exclusively for museum exhibition.
Inevitably in 2008, more than 50 years after the first watch was made, the “submerged” story of this historical model was reawoken by the presentation of the reference 116660.