FERNANDO CORREIA DE OLIVEIRA
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Sea-Dweller Deepsea Challenge,
que foi até 10.898,4 metros (35.756 pés). Este protótipo está
preparado para resistir a profunidades até 12,000 metros
(39,370 pés). No pulso, Cameron usou o Rolex Sea-Dweller
Deepsea de produção.
Nas expedições de 1960 e de 2012 à Fossa das Marianas,
só um passageiro estava nas duas viagens. Relógios Rolex.
Rolex played a pioneering role in the conquest of the
deep with the creation of the Oyster in 1926, the first
waterproof wristwatch in the world. This was followed by
professional diving watches such as the Oyster Perpetual
Submariner (1953), the Sea-Dweller (1967) and the Rolex
Deepsea (2008).
In 1914, more precisely on 15th July that year, the Kew
Observatory on the outskirts of London issued a class “A”
certificate to a wristwatch for the very first time.
The watch was a female model Rolex and the feat marked
the first step in the precision wristwatch since this category
of certificate was normally reserved for marine chronometers,
whose isochronal performance was far superior to other timetelling instruments, including normal pocket watches.
The Kew Observatory tests were the most demanding at
that time – 45 days in five positions and at three temperatures
(glacial, greenhouse and room). The wrist Rolex had a
deviation of less than +1 second per day.
With its ladies’ wristwatch, Rolex proved it was possible to
produce a small calibre with the same precision as a marine
chronometer. To protect it from dust and water, Rolex had
made a double case for this model, and was already working
on the concept of waterproofness that would evolve years later
to the Oyster case.
In 1910 Rolex had already obtained a certificate of
chronometric precision for a small watch issued by the
official Swiss department in Bienne. This recognition made a
significant contribution towards Rolex gaining the status of a
quality brand, with its wristwatches certified as chronometers.
Nowadays, in fact, Rolex is still the top world manufacturer of
COSC certified mechanical timepieces.
In 1926 the brand took its first step towards defining the
modern wristwatch when it presented the waterproof case,
Oyster (with a patented system of screw-down bezel, back
and crown), and took yet another in 1931 when it presented
the automatic winding calibre by Perpetual rotor. Nowadays,
all Rolex Oyster Perpetual models are officially certified
chronometers.
The man behind all these developments was the German
Hans Wilsdorf, who had founded Rolex in 1905. He was
among the first to invest in the future of the wristwatch, a piece
considered effeminate and transient compared to the pocket
watch. Not only that, but wristwatches were smaller in calibre
and harder to regulate as well as being less resistant and less
precise than pocket ones. With the chronometry certificates
and the techniques used in the cases, Rolex proved that the
wristwatch could be as precise or even more so than the
pocket watch and just as or even more resistant.
Recently the Rolex Sea-Dweller that belonged to the French
explorer, Philippe Cousteau, was put up for auction. It sold
for 183,750 dollars. The Rolex tradition, not only in accurate
watches, but also in waterproof ones, has a long history.
In 1924, Rolex launched the male model Hermetic,
imitating the solution found for the female watch we’ve already
mentioned – a case that surrounds the entire watch, including
the crown.
On 7th October 1927, Mercedes Gleitze was the first
British woman to swim across the English Channel. Doubts
were raised as to her time when, four days later, an American
swimmer claimed to have a faster time. On 21st October, amid
great media interest, Gleitze did what would become known
as “The vindication swim”.
The event aroused the interest of the Bavarian Hans
Wilsdorf, who had launched a watch with a waterproof case
in 1926, and he offered Gleitze a Rolex Oyster, which she
wore on a chain around her neck during the ten-hour-plus
swim in very cold water. Upon her arrival in England, Gleitze
displayed the gold Rolex Oyster, working to perfection, when
she posed for the photographers. A month later, on 24th
November 1927, Wilsdorf launched the Rolex Oyster in the
United Kingdom, in a mass, unprecedented and million-pound
publicity campaign, which included the entire first page of
the Daily Mail featuring Mercedes Gleitze as the heroine. This
event marked the dawning of the Testimony concept still used
by Rolex today. And it was the first time a celebrity had been
associated with a watch brand, in a strategy designed by
Wilsdorf, considered a marketing and advertising genius.
The Rolex Oyster used a new case concept – with the
screw-down front, back and crown. In this way, the mechanism
inside was safe from dust, water and perspiration. And, with
the publicity campaign starring Gleitze, it began to gain the
confidence of wary consumers, particularly on the US market.
Wilsdorf even convinced small points of sale to have a small
aquarium in the shop window, with a working Rolex Oyster
inside.
In 1953, Rolex took another step on its path of waterproof
watches. The Submariner was born. Aimed at professional
divers, it was the first to resist a depth of up to 100 metres. It
used a rotating bezel so that the user could mark the time and
the dive. Right from the start, the case and the bracelet used
steel especially resistant to corrosion and to the effects of salt
water.
In 1954, the Submariner was presented to the general
public at the Basel Fair. It was an immediate hit and is still one
of the most popular models today, as well as being the most
commonly copied. The Rolex Submariner is part of the brand’s
Oyster Perpetual line.
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