By TLex OMEGA have launched two Limited Edition Seamaster Planet Ocean divers in celebration of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games due to be held in February, 2014, in the Russian Federation city of Sochi.
The OMEGA Seamaster Planet Ocean 'Sochi 2014' watches have been created in both ladies' and mens' versions, each in an edition of 2,014 pieces. The ladies version measures 37.5mm, apart form its size and color it has the same basic spec. as the mens' version . . .
The mens' diver has a 45.5 mm brushed and polished Stainless steel case with matching bracelet. Its uni-directional rotational divers bezel is fitted with a matte black ceramic inlay with a chromium nitride dive-time scale. As a tribute to the colors of the Russian Federation flag, minutes 1 through 5 have been lacquered in blue and minutes 6 through 10 have been lacquered in red.
The watch has a brushed screw-down caseback embossed with the 'Sochi 2014' Olympic logo and engraved with 'Si14' and its LE number of 2014. There's a manual Helium escape valve located at 10 o'clock on the case.
The applied indexes on the matte black dial and the polished, faceted rhodium-plated hands are coated with white BGW9 SuperLumiNova, which emits blue light. The minute hand emits a green light, as does the 12hr bezel pip on the divers bezel. Making it easy for divers to keep track of their time at a glance. The watch has central hour, minute and seconds hands and there is a date window at 3 o'clock.
The watch is powered by an OMEGA Co-Axial caliber 8500. The movement is equipped with the Omega's exclusive Si14 silicon balance spring making, which is anti-magnetic and particularly resistant to shock and external disturbance. It so reliable that Omega offer it with a full four-year warranty. The watch has water-resistance of 60 bar / 600 meters / 2000 feet.
By TLex HELBERG, H2O Watches’ new vintage label have opened pre-orders for the CH1, a very special watch inspired by the Rolex Deep Sea Special (DSS) from 1960! Last week we took a look at some renderings of the new CH1 in steel. This week we get to see the watch in stunning Bronze.
The lovely reddish golden tones come from the high copper content that there is in CuSn8 bronze alloy. The watch case, bezel and buckle will all be made from brushed German bronze CuSn8, whereas the crown will be in 316L Stainless steel and its case back will be in hypoallergenic Grade5 Titanium thus insuring a comfortable ride against the wrist.
Features of the case include; a choice of either a 15mm spherical Sapphire crystal inspired by the DSS, which had similarly high 15mm Plexiglas acrylic crystal – or a 7mm high double domed Sapphire crystal. Both crystals will have AR-coating on their undersides.
DIAL Although the CH1 only comes in one dial color, black there are in fact two handset and dial marker versions in either chromed or golden polished finishes. The hands, dial, and bezel markers are with blue BG9 SuperLuminova. The renders don’t clearly show how beautiful the golden hands and markers will be, but I am assured that they will be a similar gold as per the original DSS.
DISTORTION Due to its enormous height and shape, the 15mm spherical crystal is likely to have a some distortion. To what extent will not be known for sure until the fist sample crystals are made. For me this is one of the characteristics that I love about the original DSS. You can see how the dial behaves under the crystal [HERE]. If this doesn’t appeal, then HELBERG recommend the 7mm double domed crystal.
WATER-Resistance The CH1 boasts two incredible depth ratings, one for each crystal and caseback setup. The 15mm crystal plus the solid caseback will allow for a staggering 600 atmos., 6000 meters, 19685 ft. of water-resistance. Whereas the 7mm crystal combined with a Sapphire crystal caseback will allow for up to 300 atmos., 3000 meters, 9842 ft of water-resistance. The CH1’s features gaskets made of Viton and Teflon, which also do their part insuring the CH1's water-tightness.
FEATURES Features of the CH1 include; an original Swiss ETA 2824 automatic movement, two bezel styles available; a minimalistic bezel with a highly polished top or a divers style bezel with a brushed top and sides. The bezels are 120 click types. The Swiss mechanical movement has an anti-magnetic shielding of 70.000A/m with a closed caseback.
PACKAGING The new HELBERG CH1 Steel or Bronze watches come presented in a Pelican-style water-tight box along with a leather strap with a HELBERG CNC Stainless steel or Bronze CuSn8 buckle, a screw driver and a warranty card. A Stainless steel bracelet with micro adjustment is an optional extra.
PRICING During the pre-order period, HELBERG estimate a production of quantity of:
150x Stainless steel version- USD 900 for customer from OUTSIDE the EU- USD 900 + 19% VAT for customer INSIDE the EU
150x BRONZE CuSn8 VERSION:- USD 990 for customer from OUTSIDE the EU- USD 990 + 19% VAT for customer INSIDE the EU
The 22mm Stainless steel bracelet and spherical Sapphire crystal are optional items. After availability of the HELBERG CH1 samples the reservation price will be raised by 50USD. After Pre-Order the price will be raised to USD 1290 for SS version and USD 1390 for Bronze version.
HELBERG expect delivery of the CH1 watches in the Summer 2013.
Follow the link HERE to pre-order the HELBERG CH1 now . . .
By TLex It is my pleasure to introduce the 'Altofondale', an ambitious SAT divers watch project put together by a group of fastidious dive watch enthusiasts from the Italian forum 'Professional Divers'. Their goal was to build this dive watch with its beautifully elegant and technical looking aesthetic entirely in Italy and using (except for a Swiss mechanical movement) only Italian parts and suppliers.
All the watch's components: bezel, case, crystal, dial and hands will be 100% Italian made.The case maker is 'Comezzi'. The dials are made by 'Coledan'. The watches will be assembled in Italy with the precision of the movements adjusted by 'Orologeria Satolli Di Satolli A. & C. Snc' e la 'Orologeria Fenocchi' . ISO tests for a 'saturation diver' will be carried out in a laboratory in Rome, the 'Underwater technology', the straps are provided by a famous Italian rubber strap makers. 'Bonetto Cinturini'.
The engineering of the Altofonadles' case requires that it be suitable for SAT diving, but without having to integrate an HEV (helium escape valve). The team members felt that an HEV wasn't strictly necessary given the slow decompression profiles that are currently adopted in diving bells. However the watch will be adequately sealed making it suitable for Helium rich environment.
One of the ways in which the case will be sealed against Helium, which is a tiny molecule is to use double o-rings on the glass, which will be held in place by the watch's bezel. Every last detail of the watch has been discussed at great length - for example, the original specification of the watch called for a 4mm thick Verlux Sapphire crystal. This has recently been changed to a mineral crystal as it is believed to make a better seal!
The case will be constructed from 316L Stainless steel. It measures 44mm in diameter. The case will be tested to 1000m as per ISO 6425 regulations in their laboratory in Italy, where its Helium integrity will also be put to the test. Only a number of dive watch manufactures such as Citizen, Seiko, Orient or Luminox etc. state ISO 6425, in Italy there are even fewer. It seems that this will be the first or among the first to have this certificate.
One of the Altofondale's unique features is the 'GAS BREAKS COUNT-UP' calculator as indicated by the said text on the bezel insert, ingeniously engineered by the team's divers. This might be a bit of an awkward explanation, but here we go - when the length of the decompression stop is greater than + or - 20 minutes, breaks using a gas mixture are provided in place of a mixture with a high concentration of oxygen - generally, by using gas with a lower oxygen content. These gas-breaks are cycles of pure oxygen released for a length of 16mins. with a break of 6mins. with the gas mixture to cover the whole length of the stop. This the insert will count its usage.
ROV The Altofondale will be strapped to one of the manipulator arms of an ROV and taken down to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea to a depth of 1600m. The first stage of the ROV dive will be to 1000m for 1/2 an hour, then to 1250m as per the ISO depth rating test stipulations, and then to the bottom. Everything will be filmed and recorded in the ROV's black box.
At the moment the project consists of only 20 pieces, of which all have been sold to the the forum members, but they are thinking of producing more pieces if there is enough interest in the project. Interested parties should contact, FABIO. Follow the Altofondale's progress HERE . . .
