Rolex describes its new launch, the Deepsea Challenge, as “a watch that defies the boundaries.” Meaning the boundaries of depth and atmospheric strain along with engineering, because the Deepsea Problem is designed to have the ability to perform as much as 11,000 meters—virtually 7 miles—underwater. However you’d be forgiven for concluding it means the depths of logic additionally. Rolex already presents a watch rated to three,900 meters (the $12,950 Deepsea Sea-Dweller), which vastly outstrips the probabilities for human survival (the deepest-ever ocean outing for a saturation diver, in 1988, bottomed out at 534 meters). What, then, may very well be the rationale for nearly tripling a functionality that may solely ever be skilled in idea, necessitating a watch so huge that it pushes one other restrict—that of wearability?
The reply Rolex may moderately give is: as a result of it may well. But additionally, as a result of it needed to. The Deepsea Problem is the top piece in a succession of ultra-deep watches that started in 1960, when the corporate despatched an experimental watch, the Deep Sea Particular, connected to the Trieste bathyscaphe on its epochal descent to the underside of the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench within the Pacific, reaching a depth of 10,911 meters (the watch, sporting an enormous, bulb-shaped dome of glass above its dial, carried out completely).
In 2012, the filmmaker James Cameron made his personal dive to the underside of the ditch within the Deepsea Challenger submersible, with one other, reasonably extra fashionable, experimental Rolex connected outdoors. In a single sense, the brand new watch may very well be seen as a slice of unfinished Rolex enterprise: Based mostly on the watch that plumbed the depths with Cameron, it lastly makes commercially out there what was for six many years purely experimental. As an expression of engineering competency, that basically can’t be overwhelmed.
For some time, although, it seemed as if it had been. Even when it invented the idea, Rolex is hardly alone in making barely fathomable depth capabilities of watches the last word technical flex. Whereas a raft of manufacturers supply watches with a ranking of 1,000 meters or extra, battle was really joined by Omega in 2019 when it despatched its personal experimental Seamaster watch to the underside of the Mariana Trench, affixed to the submersible of adventurer Victor Vescovo. Not solely did this give Omega victory in having the deepest-traveled watch—reaching 10,916 meters, pipping Cameron (10,908 meters) by 8 meters—however Omega developed a commercially out there mannequin, too. The Seamaster Ultra Deep Pro, priced at £10,350 (round $11,883), arrived earlier this yr, however with a depth ranking of 6,000 meters—an achievement that Rolex has now trumped by virtually double.
The ultra-high-pressure tank developed in partnership with Comex to check the waterproofness of the Oyster Perpetual Deepsea Problem.{Photograph}: Fred Merz/Rolex
