DSSD Deep Sea Challenge 12000m

[PeteM]

Saw this and was a little bit interested Sorry if its been posted but I thought some of you guys might enjoy..... makes the Omega Moon watch look like a toy in the 'Bodly go...' sense!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15uNQ0Tt31k&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Smab]

Hi there PeteM. Even if it has been posted before, It may be posted as many times as there are new people reading about it, because this is something worth posting over and over again.

James Cameron took this fantastic example of groundbreaking engineering to the bottom of the world in his one-manned solo mission on behaf of National Geographic Society and Rolex (among others).

I saw the video of Rolex developing and making this truly remarkable watch - the most impressive thing is, they test it for 1,25 times the stated waterproofness. Meaning they test it according to ISO6425 at 1500ATM (15000 meters), rather than the 1200 ATM (12000 meters/39370feet) stamped on the watch. And it is not a dry test, but a wet test. That is a pressure of 1500 KG (3370 IBS) per square centimeter, equivalent to the weight of an Audi A6 on the area of your tumbs fingernail.

The watch was fixed to the robotic arm of the submersible vehicle, and the watch was running fine still, when they took it above the ocean surface again. Reaching an ocean dept of more than 10.900 meters, makes your DSSD, Hublot Oceanographic Diver, or even the CX Swiss Military 20.000 feet look like "toy watches":-) The reason this watch has such a monsterous size (more than 53mm) is to be able to withstand such extreme pressure.

It also maybe makes it a "non-comercial" model for Rolex, that has very few models above 42mm (only the DSSD and the Yachtmaster II at Rolex website stated size 44mm) and the commercial value of such a big watch from such a conservative brand is questionable, if they ever choose to make a comercial edition. But, it would be a great watch to REP! Guess the makers cannot say "made from an GENUINE EXAMPLE, dissected to make this replication" . But they could try to make it out of the pictures.

So, makers? When will we see this one repped?

Many will ask themselves, why to they even make divers watches with depth ratings far beyond the reachable depth for any man? I think it is the same answer to why do they make cars able to go 250 miles an hour (Bugatti Veyron, Koenigsegg etc)? Most of the owners will never be able to try the cars to their topspeed - It is not a question "why", but rather an answer "because". They make them because they can.

Almost like British explorer George Mallory in the 1920s, when he wanted to reach the summit of Mount Everest - He was asked why, and his answer was something like "because it's there".

[PeteM]

Blimey mate..... now thats made it even more interesting for me..... 15000 metres!!! Shish Kebab!!!

I wondered what something like this would cost? I mean surely the testing cost itself on each watch would be more than the value of the parts of the watch....

I wonder what I would think if I saw someone wearing it... I am not sure...

[Guest shafah]

That was a great viewing, very cool, thanks.

[krpster]

Very cool indeed. I wonder if we will ever see this repped.

[Utheman]

It also maybe makes it a "non-comercial" model for Rolex, that has very few models above 42mm (only the DSSD and the Yachtmaster II at Rolex website stated size 44mm) and the commercial value of such a big watch from such a conservative brand is questionable, if they ever choose to make a comercial edition. But, it would be a great watch to REP! Guess the makers cannot say "made from an GENUINE EXAMPLE, dissected to make this replication" . But they could try to make it out of the pictures.

It's probably best to leave it as a limited edition of one. Imagine what that would be worth?

I wonder if they made more than one, as a backup.

[Smab]

Heck, they repped the Egizano at 60mm, and the Hublot Oceanographic diver at 48mm, and more than 20mm thick, it is almost as big as this Deep Sea Challenge. I think (hope) they may be tempted to REP this, they have made REPS of 1 only edition watches before (models that of the GEN, there are only made 1 pcs worldwide), so it shouldn't stop them.

But this is maybe a model I would rather have on display in my bookshelf, togeher with all my National Geographic Magazines, and other cool props, rather than on my wrist! What would something like this weigh?

350 grams? Even the proportions of the sapphire crystal is outragous, it sticks several mm above the bezel:-)

[Smab]

Corrections to the dimensions of this rather modestly sized watch;-)

Diameter: 51,4mm

Thickness: 28,5(!)mm

Crystal thickness: 14,3(!)mm.

The watch is tested in a specially created hyperbaric tank at Rolex, for a full 1500 ATM (1,25 times the rated waterproof depth, according to ISO 6425 for Divers Watches).

They also test each individual DSSD in a hyperbaric tank at Rolex, that is probably the reason why all DSSD (GENS) are sent to Rolex in Switzerland for all repairs and services.

They always test the watch again after opening the caseback, and to ensure all gaskets and seals are properly safe.

No watchmaker locally in any country have the possibility to do this testing themselves. So, even an DSSD from New Zealand or Hawaii, is sent across the world to Switzerland for testing. Does anyone know the price for a DSSD service? Since it was introduced less than 5 years ago, maybe no GEN owners have done any service yet, but there might have been done some repairs. Any members of this forum owning a GEN DSSD, by the way? I'm just curios