If you are planning your next deep sea dive and you think you might dive down to 3,900 metres (2.4 miles) below the surface and you want to wear your mechanical watch, the most well known maker of Swiss watches, Rolex watches have made the first watch in the world that can withstand the pressure. The new Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea model released last year is capable of being submerged to a depth more than 10 times the current world record so it is unlikely to be bothered by any attempts on a new world world record. According to the Guiness Book of Records the deepest recorded scuba deep dive is 330 metres so this Rolex model can easily handle the pressure (excuse the pun).

Not only has Rolex made the world’s first watch that can be submerged to 3,900 metres or 12,800 feet, it also made the very first water resistant watch, called the Oyster, way back in 1926. The Oyster model is highly collectible in today's used watches market. Then in 1953, Rolex presented the world with the Submariner, a divers’ watch that was water resistant to 100 metres. Rolex continued to develop the Submariner and in 1971 launched the precursor to today’s Deepsea called the Sea Dweller, which featured a helium release valve and could be submerged to 610 metres.

To make a watch withstand the pressure of being submerged to great depths, a watch usually has to be made so sturdy that it becomes very bulky and impossible to wear comfortably on the wrist. Rolex wanted to design a watch that was wearable on a daily basis so it took a different approach to the design of the Sea Dweller Deepsea. Rolex designed and patented the ‘Ring Lock System’ for the Sea Dweller Deepsea that uses three different parts to enable the watch to withstand the enormous pressures of being submerged to great depths.

The first component is the crystal made of sapphire and 5.5 millimetres thick. The caseback is made of Grade 5 titanium and is the second component. Grade 5 titanium is an alloy with vanadium and aluminium and is four times stronger than the 904L steel case of the watch. The final component of the ‘Ring Lock System’ sits in between the crystal and the caseback for extra support and is a ring made of BioDur 108 steel. BioDur 108 steel is three times stronger than 904L steel and due to its high nitrogen content is very corrosion-resistant.

Choosing to use the combination of 904L steel, Grade 5 titanium and BioDur 108 steel to manufacture the Sea Dweller has resulted in a watch that can withstand the enormous pressures of being submerged to such great depths. This Rolex design has not only produced a watch that can withstand great pressure, it is a watch that can be worn everday with a case diameter of 43 millimetres and a depth of 18 millimetres. And if 3,900 metres sounds like an impressive number, Rolex are actually being conservative in their claims as they have successfully tested the watch to an almost unbelieveable 4,900 metres!

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Tags: Luxury Watches, Rolex Watches, Swiss watches, used watches

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 19th, 2009 at 7:10 am and is filed under Jewelry, Diamonds and Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.