By Jovan Krstevski
March 26, 2012, James Cameron made a record breaking solo submarine dive to the deepest point of earth’s ocean — the Mariana Trench. (10,994m) 36,070 feet. For Cameron’s expedition, Rolex created a 51mm monsterdiver, known as the Deepsea Challenge, built to withstand depths of 12,000m. It was attached to the robotic arm of the sophisticated deep-diving submersible known as the Deepsea Challenger used on the expedition.
The Rolex Deepsea Challenge Sea-Dweller 12,000m
The Mariana Trench was first reached in 1960 by Captain Don Walsh and Jacques Picard in an underwater submersible known as the Bathyscaphe Trieste. Attached to the submersible was an experimental dive watch from Rolex, the Deepsea Special.
The Rolex Deepsea Special 1960
Today Rolex has unveiled a special version of the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea with a D-blue dial, as a tribute to Cameron’s successful dive. The gradient dial is two-coloured, from brilliant-blue to black, reminiscent of the ocean’s twilight zone where the light disappears into the dark black of the abyss. Rolex called this dial “D-blue”. The “DEEPSEA” marking on the new dial has the colour of James Cameron’s green deep-diving submersible as it is seen underwater.
The Deepsea Challenger submersible was equipped with HD 3-D cameras used to capture the first-ever high-resolution images of this spectacle. National Geographic and James Cameron realised a documentary film following the Deepsea Challenge adventure which will premiere in theaters worldwide, August 8th, 2014.
James Cameron is the man behind the blockbusters: Terminator & Terminator 2, Avatar, Aliens, True Lies and Titanic.
On the Deepsea model released today, all specs (except for the dial and green “DEEPSEA” insignia) remain the same as the existing Deepsea Sea-Dweller. For more info, please visit rolex.com
Technical Specifications
OYSTER PERPETUAL ROLEX DEEPSEA
CATEGORY: Professional watch
REFERENCE: 116660
CASE: Oyster (monobloc middle case, screw-down
case back and winding crown). Ringlock System case architecture with nitrogen-alloyed steel ring Helium escape valve
DIAMETER: 44mm
MATERIALS: 904L steel, case back in grade 5 titanium
WINDING CROWN: Screw-down, Triplock triple water-proofness system
CROWN GUARD: Integral part of the middle case
CRYSTAL: Domed, 5.5 mm-thick, scratch-resistant, synthetic sapphire.
BEZEL: Unidirectional rotatable 60-minute graduated; Cerachrom insert made of ceramic, numerals and graduations coated in platinum via PVD
WATERPROOFNESS: 3,900 m (12,800 ft)
MOVEMENT: Calibre 3135, Manufacture Rolex Mechanical movement, bidirectional self-winding via Perpetual rotor
PRECISION: Officially certified Swiss chronometer (COSC)
FUNCTIONS: Centre hour, minute and seconds hands Instantaneous date with rapid setting, Stop-seconds for precise time setting
OSCILLATOR: Frequency: 28,800 beats / hour (4 Hz)
Paramagnetic blue Parachrom hairspring with Breguet overcoil
Large balance wheel with variable inertia, high-precision regulating via gold Microstella nuts
POWER RESERVE: Approximately 48 hours
BRACELET: Oyster; folding Oysterlock safety clasp with Rolex Glidelock system for fine adjustment of bracelet length, and Fliplock extension link
Jovan Krstevski – Founder, Proprietor & Executive Editor
Watch collector, aficionado and a Event profile in the Swedish nightlife. He launched Watchgeek back in 2011, which is now known as WristReview and is one of the most widely read watch blogs on the Web. He quotes ’WristReview is a site to help people find, explore, discover and enjoy wristwatches.’ His passion jump started in his early teens, when he was given his first mid-range wristwatch which was an Omega Seamaster. Since then he has always been in love with wristwatches! Besides WristReview, he also writes for a number of publications. Read his articles here.
P.S: He is also a huge fan of The Man of Steel/Superman.
