Omega36 38 I South Afric a Deluxe I Shopping & Lifestyle Watches I 39

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I 500- aris and watches ugust 15 1934, 15 1934, ugust A n xhibition in P enus’. arine watch. In 1925, In 1925, Marine watch. mega V echnical E echnical rieur, an officer of the French of the an officer rieur, T e P he team performed a number of dives, dives, a number of performed The team arine to a depth of 14 metres as early as 1936, 1936, as early as metres 14 of depth a to Marine arton and 26 assistants floated out on a barge barge a on out floated assistants 26 and arton -shaped rubber mouthpiece connected on one connected -shaped rubber mouthpiece B T aston L aul Gaston mega mega O eebe, eebe, ves P ves B cuba) also favoured the O favoured also cuba) Y arton made their record-breaking descent of 3 028 feet feet 3 028 of descent made their record-breaking arton Sea his record dive stood unbroken for 15 years. for unbroken stood dive This record arton, who presented him with the blueprint of a simple of him with the blueprint who presented arton, he bathysphere was connected to the barge with a 3 a with barge the to connected was bathysphere The eebe it was never about breaking records or making history; he or making history; records about breaking never eebe it was rieur attended the Industrial and the Industrial rieur attended ommander eebe consulted various engineers, but it was his fortuitous meeting fortuitous his was it but engineers, various consulted eebe eebe and B the took eebe ermuda. ermuda. e P he friends contemplated the design of various vessels that might vessels various of the design The friends contemplated death. to crushed being without depth this past journey to divers allow B with Otis B in that resulted the bathysphere, called diving vessel deep-sea and opened the door for dive record-breaking a collaborative, depths. greater at even exploration 1930, June In (about 939 metres), withstanding 1 360 pounds (over 616 kilograms) kilograms) 616 1 360 pounds (over withstanding metres), (about 939 pressure. of B B each one progressively deeper than the last. O deeper than the last. one progressively each foot steel cable, almost an inch thick. For the explorers inside the inside explorers the For thick. an inch almost cable, steel foot through was world the outside to connection the only bathysphere, which ran the lights for cables and the electricity wires telephone rubber hose. within a solid onsuch, a tiny island off the coast of coast island off the a tiny off Nonsuch, miles spot 10 a dive to B C citing the watch’s resistance to such an environment as ‘veritable ‘veritable as such an environment to resistance citing the watch’s turning a decisive It marked watchmaking’. of in the science progress divers' with robust which has been associated the line, point for since. ever watches B For which had never creatures discover to the opportunity by driven was He likened delight in naming them. great and he took before been seen and noted Mars’ as that of as strange ‘a world to journeys his sub-sea more … and isolation loneliness and utter ‘complete of the feelings upon the moon or venture a first akin to aurice Fernez’s breathing breathing Fernez’s using Maurice a diver by a demonstration witnessed a simple apparatus; avy and the inventor of the ‘self-contained underwater breathing breathing underwater ‘self-contained the of and the inventor Navy (S apparatus’ L hey shared shared They mega watches watches mega ousteau. ousteau. rofessional’ and rofessional’ – Jacques Yves Cousteau Yves – Jacques eamaster's place on the place eamaster's he chronometer version version The chronometer ritish military at the end the at military British eebe was fascinated with the fascinated eebe was heodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt. Theodore rieur and Jacques C Jacques rieur and e P Masters he first watches were loosely based on based loosely were watches The first eamaster range, which coincided with which coincided range, eamaster ves L ves Y eamaster line have, for over half a century, half a century, over for line have, eamaster of the the of arine - the world’s first first the Marine - the world’s presented mega he discoveries and revelations, which he shared which he shared and revelations, The discoveries eebe, eebe, eebe, the marine biologist and explorer, was a leading pioneer a leading was and explorer, the marine biologist eebe, “The sea,spell,once it its casts one in its net holds of wonder forever.” ress’ ranges of the S of ranges ress’ mega’s 100th anniversary. anniversary. 100th mega’s

William B William world. in the oceanic readers allowed expeditions, his numerous about books in many B world. the natural insight into greater about it discussions many diving and had deep-sea of possibilities naturalist, with his friend and fellow could have it and the effects pressure about water concerns the same (about 60 metres). feet 200 just at depths of diver on an unprotected Exploring Depths Great O exploration, ocean modern-day of the dawn From adventurers, greatest world’s the of many of wrists the graced have B William including There is nothing as exciting as a exciting as goodis nothing There mystery and theyabound the hearts and within Lying Blue. the depths of the Big within women men and of explored the many have intrepidly who minds more that, with the knowledge is our oceans the centuries over than 95 percent of the underwater world unexplored, their still maycuriosity never be satiated. that O in 1932 It was company the 1948, In for divers. specifically designed wristwatch S launched the legendary O the for made wristwatches waterproof the in movements equipped with self-winding and were II, War World of versions. and chronometer both standard reliability. and accuracy robustness, its for appreciated universally was ‘P the in one, lines two be considered what can With ‘D the S other and ensured each complemented treasure divers, royalty, famous most the world’s of some of wrists or two. a spy and even hunters

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Omega36 38 I South Afric a Deluxe I Shopping & Lifestyle watches I 39

side to a long tube which had air pumped into it from the surface and floor exploration and a number of underwater cameras. on the other to a simple rubber ‘duck’s bill’ valve, which allowed excess During World War II, Cousteau served as a gunnery officer in France and exhaled air to escape. The diver’s nose was pinched by a pair of and was later a member of the French Resistance, receiving the Legion spring clamps to stop water coming in and his eyes were protected by of Honour for his espionage work. His underwater filmmaking began small goggles with rubber surrounds. during the war and he helped to found the French Navy’s Undersea Used to using traditional diving apparatus, Le Prieur was impressed Research Group in 1945. In addition, he was involved in oceanographic by the simplicity of the Fernez equipment, particularly the freedom it research at a centre in Marseille. After the war he continued working allowed the diver. Le Prieur was already a keen inventor with patents for the French Navy, heading the Undersea Research Group at Toulon. to his name, including the plane-mounted Le Prieur rocket launcher Cousteau founded many marketing, manufacturing, engineering and a number of designs for mechanical lead computing sights for and research organisations in order to expand his work in marine both ship-to-ship and anti-aircraft guns. It is therefore not surprising exploration. In 1950 he converted a British minesweeper into an that he quickly saw a way to make Fernez’s equipment more mobile oceanographic research ship named the Calypso, aboard which he by replacing the tube to the surface pump with Michelin cylinders and his crew carried out numerous expeditions. containing three litres of air compressed to 150kg/cm2 as the air His book Le Monde du Silence (The Silent World, 1952), which he supply. Le Prieur approached Fernez with his idea and the latter co-authored with Frédéric Dumas, popularised oceanographic agreed to modify his equipment to fit Le Prieur’s plan, resulting in the research and scuba diving. It was adapted into a documentary film first open-circuit scuba system. two years later and won both the Palme d’Or at the 1956 Cannes On the 6th of August 1926, the ‘Fernez-Le Prieur’ diving apparatus was International Film Festival and an Academy Award in 1957. He became demonstrated publicly in the swimming pool of Tourelles in Paris. The director of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco in 1957, a role unit, a cylinder of compressed air carried on the diver’s back with two he held for 30 years. Cousteau led the Conshelf Saturation Dive gauges, one for tank pressure and one for output pressure, supplied Programme, conducting experiments in which men live and work for air continually to the mouthpiece and was ejected through a short extended periods of time at considerable depths along the continental exhaust pipe fitted with a valve as in the Fernez design.T his was the shelves. The undersea laboratories were called Conshelf I, II and III. first time that a man could breathe underwater with no connection to During its ‘Precontinent II’ experiments in the Red Sea in the summer the surface at all. of 1963, Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s team used the Seamaster 300 to In 1933 in order to allow divers to travel further below the surface prove that divers could live in a submerged, saturated gas environment without being affected by ‘mask squeeze’ brought on by the increasing for long periods without adverse effects. water pressure below the ten-metre mark, Le Prieur replaced Fernez’s The ever-increasing depths at which divers were working led to goggles, nose-clip and valve with a full face mask, which was directly the creation of the famous ‘Ploprof’ (PLOngeur PROFessional or supplied from the air cylinder, balancing the pressure in the mask with ‘professional diver’ in English) Seamaster 600, which was launched the external water pressure. Le Prieur was granted a patent - number to the public in 1970 after four years of intensive research and testing. FR768083 - for his scuba system in 1934. This watch proved to be more than equal to the new challenges faced Jacques Cousteau graduated from the French naval academy in by professional divers. Cousteau and his divers used Ploprof watches 1933 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He was intent off the coast of Marseille during a set of experiments to test the effects on becoming a navy pilot however a near-fatal car accident during his on divers working at depths up to 500 metres. pilot training ended his aviation career. In 1974 he formed the Cousteau Society, a non-profit environmental It was in 1936, near the port of Toulon, while swimming underwater group dedicated to marine conservation. In acknowledgement with goggles that Cousteau’s eyes and heart were first opened to of his efforts the United Nations awarded him the International the majesty of the ocean. While not formally trained as a scientist, Environmental Prize in 1977. In 1981, the Fondation Cousteau (later his love of the ocean and diving led to a life of undersea exploration, Equipe Cousteau) was established in France and it was from these two conservation and invention. bases of supporters that he launched a worldwide petition campaign Driven by the desire to dive longer and more freely, Cousteau began in 1990 to save Antarctica from mineral exploitation. The results of his working on ways to improve on Le Prieur’s scuba equipment. In efforts led to the protection of that pristine continent for at least 50 December 1942, he was introduced by his father-in-law, Henri years. Melchior, to Émile Gagnan, an engineer for the Air Liquide Company. Melchior knew that Cousteau was looking for an automatic demand regulator and Gagnan had miniaturised and adapted the regulator Free Diving to use with gas generators. After collaborating on ways to adapt Gagnan’s regulator for diving, the new Cousteau-Gagnan patent for Jacques Mayol – the legendary freediver known as ‘The Dolphin Man' the first fully automatic compressed-airA qua-Lung was registered in – also sported an Omega Seamaster on his record-setting dives. It was 1943. The Aqua-Lung enabled divers to swim underwater for extended his close friendship with a dolphin named Clown at the Seaquarium in periods of time. Miami, Florida, that ignited Mayol’s fascination with the sea. Originally In addition to the Aqua-Lung, Cousteau also helped to invent other sent there to research an article and produce an audio piece for useful tools for oceanographers, including the diving saucer for sea Radio Canada, he accepted an invitation to stay from the director hotos: © shutterstock P hotos: Omega 40 I South Afric a Deluxe I

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Photos: © shutterstock 2009. for static apnea at11minutes and35seconds, whichwas set in June June 2007 stands at214 metres. StéphaneMifsud holdstherecord to ten minutes. reaching depths of 200 metres andwould holdtheir breath for up Mayol predicted thatwithin a few generations, divers would be of scuba diving's octopus regulator. used by no-limits divers. Hewas also instrumental inthedevelopment advances inthefield of free-diving, particularly improving assemblies A depth of 105 metres andbreaking every free-diving record. own record. Heretired from free-diving in1983, having achieved a new S In 1981, offthe coast of theIsle of Elba, Italy, duringatest for O film ‘TheBiglue’. Their rivalry saw free-dive depthsdoubleandinspired LucB dive below 50metres and itstarted arivalry thatlasted over ten years. the previous record set by Italian diver E factor in his record-setting 100-metre dive in 1976. emotional and psychological discipline was a major contributing with hisdive skills:disciplines helearned growing upin Japan. His of aD flew theP engineers atO quick succession, thecases showed nosignof water infiltration. depth of 60metres. for Watch Research, whichsubjected 50cases to tests atasimulated The S submarines duringtheS the rubberO-ringgasket of thetype thathadproven its abilities in the ocean depths. similarly theS The O Tested Extremes to He also integrated thepowers of how to behave underwater, integrating himself withtheenvironment. Clown taught was given permission to dive inthedolphintanks andthiswas where tanks andthedietary concerns of thevarious marinecreatures. He of P testing of these watches would beused across theentire S crystal atadepthof 1000metres.All of thelessons learned duringthe attached to thesubmarine's robotic arm to test the effects onthe C career was undoubtedly its dive onIUC's (International Underwater used by thesame divers. was created andtested alongside the600andwas also tested and It’s ‘big brother’, theS the 4mm-thickcrystal touched theseconds hand, stopping thewatch. functioned upto asimulated depthof 1370 metres, atwhich point underwent aseries of hypostatic tests thatrevealed thatthewatch side from setting records, Mayol also contributed to technological ontractors) submarine ‘B rogrammes andE eamaster was independentlytested by theS eamaster 120 watch, Mayol dived to 101 metres, breaking his ouglas DC6aircraft in1956. mega Speedmaster was tested to thelimits inspace and olar Route over theNorth Mayol how to hold his breath longer on every dive and mega were so sure of theS eamaster was tested for theextreme pressures of T oday, theno-limits record set by HerbertNitsch in The key to the A fter temperature changes from -40°Cto 50°Cin vents. Hisduties includedmaintenance of the eamaster 1000, whichwas launchedin1971, econd World War. The highlightof the1000's early exploration eaver MarkIV’, where thewatch was S eamaster’s success at depth was The S Y A oga andO tlantic attached to theoutside nzo Maiorca, thefirst man to eamaster’s quality thatone eamaster 600additionally riental philosophies This dive shattered wiss L aboratory eamaster esson’s mega’s The marine ecosystems thatcover ourplanet. a powerful message about the need to protect the bodies of water and the dangers threatening the oceans today and the photographs send appreciate theocean from different perspectives. surface complement each otherandoffer thepublicachance to The extraordinary photographs from above andbelow theocean’s a PlanetO included thelargest collection of photographs ever to bedisplayed in marked the first time that the exhibition was held outside photojournalist BrianSkerry inManila,Philippines. the and PlanetO unique exhibition featuring photographs from environmentalist In March 2014, O and nature, andtheduty thatexists to protect andrespect ourplanet. with our oceans. Itserves as a reminder of the bond between humans highlights how essential itisthat mankind learns to live inharmony film explains some of theplanet’s greatest natural mysteries and to imagineconservation asaglobally-shared responsibility. changing theway peoplelookattheoceans andto encourage them premiered in June 2012 attheRio+20 Summit, withtheaimof oceans, visit www.goodplanet.org/ocean the protect theinitiatives to of andsome inplace PlanetOcean, about ourmajestic oceans. and learn more about Toparticipate learnmore is on8June Day 2014,whenWorld all are Oceans encouraged to Directed by dangers thatthreaten ouroceans andourentire planet. only asaprimeexample of E produce ‘Planet O some of theworld’s leading activists, scientists andenthusiasts to In thespiritof supportfor theirlate friend, O 1995 untilhisuntimelydeath on6D environmentalist, SirP of the world. organisation dedicated to protecting life in, onandaround thewaters explorers. Itbecame thefirst officialsponsor ofBlake E most pioneeringocean conservationists, environmentalists and has enjoyed extensive relationships withsome of theworld’s O Planet Ocean who are lookingfor awatch for ‘town, sea andcountry’. still arobust andelegant watch for active anddiscerning individuals T designs inthese exotic materials actuallymade itinto production. ceramics inthelate 1970s andforged carbon inthe1980s. Many of the tungsten andphysical vapour deposition (PVD case materials andtreatments thatincludedtitanium inthelate 1960s, was also the homefor muchof thebrand's research into alternative Other thanrecording andmakingdivinghistory, theS S ‘P oday, theS eamaster's position asthedivers' watch of choice. mega haslongbeenassociated withtheplanet’s oceans and rofessional’ range andwent alongway toward reinforcing the cean presentation. eamaster istheoldest lineinthecurrent collection andis cean director, Y The organisation was established by yachtsman and ann cean’, a90-minute collaborative filmthat serves not mega andtheGoodPlanetFoundation helda Arthus-B eter Blake, anO arth’s beauty, butasanillustration of the Y ertrand andMichaelPitiot, thefilm ann Arthus-B ecember 2001. mega brand ambassador from ertrand, andunderwater

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41 42 I South Afric a Deluxe I Shopping & Lifestyle

Planet Ocean 600 M Omega Co-Axial 45.5 mm

Planet Ocean 600 M Planet Ocean 600 M Omega Omega Co-Axial 45.5 mm Co-Axial Chronograph 45.5 mm

The new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Collection

The Seamaster Planet Ocean series, which was launched in 2005, of exclusivity, embraced by today's adventurous seafarers and pays homage to Omega's dive watch heritage while enhancing aquanauts. Resurfaced with new contemporary design features the designs with state-of-the-art technology and contemporary and enhanced with state-of-the-art horology, the new Planet Ocean styling to create an entirely new dive watch that has since become combines future-forward materials and statement colours that a modern classic. instantly make it a modern classic. Omega now presents a whole new Planet Ocean Collection that The collection is now available in three sizes: 37,5 mm, 42 mm and

comes of age with a novel generation of functional dive watches that the large 45,5 mm in addition to a 45,5 mm chronograph version – mega not only feature a new, in-house calibre of the revolutionary co-axial all with the distinct style and features of a classic dive watch. escapement for enhanced precision, but also offers a reborn sense hotos: © O P hotos:

Advert Deluxe 230 x 297mm v2.indd 1 2014/05/22 10:57:14 AM