THE OMEGA WATCHES “MARINE” and “MARINE STANDARD” TWO UNUSUAL WATERPROOF WATCHES from the 1930S by David Boettcher (ENG)
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© 2012 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission. THE OMEGA WATCHES “MARINE” AND “MARINE STANDARD” TWO UNUSUAL WATERPROOF WATCHES FROM THE 1930S By David Boettcher (ENG) n 1932 Omega introduced the fi rst diver’s Let’s take a closer look at these two inter- Iwatch, the Omega Marine. esting watches. This statement may come as a bit of a shock to some people, who will think “Hang THE 1932 OMEGA MARINE on a minute; I thought Rolex made the fi rst Deep underwater diving began as a waterproof watch.” Well, yes: the water- commercial or military activity, involving proof Rolex Oyster was introduced fi rst, in heavy suits and helmets, air pipes, and 1926, but Rolex did not claim that the Oys- communication cords to the surface, with ter was suitable for diving or submersion in no need for the diver to wear a watch. water to any great depth. It probably nev- By the mid-1920s some adventurers were er occurred to them because diving was a starting to explore the undersea world, commercial or military activity in 1926 for and the fi rst experiments with aqualungs, which wristwatches were not required. The or self-contained underwater breathing Oyster was certainly waterproof for ordinary apparatus (Scuba), had been made by Yves swimming and was potentially capable of Le Prieur in France. Whether the Omega being the fi rst diver’s watch, but the Omega Marine was introduced in response to the Marine was the fi rst watch to be specifi cally needs of these intrepid explorers, or wheth- tested and qualifi ed for diving depths. er it was pure serendipity of a design that After the success of the Marine, Omega in- met an arising need, history does not reveal. troduced another rectangular waterproof watch At the time, Rolex had a monopoly on wa- in 1939. Rectangular watchcases are more diffi - Figure 1. The terproof watch winding crowns and stems Omega Marine. cult to make waterproof than round cases because through the patented Rolex Oyster screw-down there is no possibility of threading and screwing on the crown (see my article in the December 2010 Watch and bezel and case back. The 1939 rectangular Omega watch Clock Bulletin, No. 389), so Omega needed a waterproof used a novel system of gaskets and clips to make it wa- wristwatch design that would avoid the possibility of in- terproof. In homage to the Marine, and because it was fringing the Rolex patents on the waterproof crown. This included in the standard range, this watch was called the design came about in the form of Swiss patent CH 146310, Omega Marine Standard. granted to Louis Alix of Geneva on April 15, 1931. Alix’s design overcame the problem of making the winding stem waterproof without infringing Rolex’s patents by the simple expedient of sliding a complete watch inside a second outer casing and sealing the joint between the two casings with a gasket. Recognizing that the watch was uncompromisingly intended for use underwater, it was called the Omega Marine (Figure 1). As shown in the fi gures from the patent (Figure 2) and the picture of the watch with the inner and outer cases separated (Figure 3), the movement, dial, and hands are housed in a rectangular-section interior case, labeled “a” in the patent, which also carries the winding crown. This interior case has a shoulder at the end with a groove con- Figure 2. Louis Allix patent CH 146310. Figure 3. Omega Marine opened for winding. 34 • January/February 2012 • NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin www.nawcc.org © 2012 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission. The pictures of the Omega taining a gasket, labeled “q” in the pat- Marine were supplied by ent. The interior case slides into a rect- Frank Bird who relates the angular-section outer case labeled “f” in following family history of his Regarding the history of the patent. When the interior case is slid watch: this particular watch, my father fully home into the outer case, the end told me that he had purchased “s” of the outer case contacts the gasket it new in 1948 at a local jewelry “q” in the shoulder of the interior case, store in Vancouver, BC. The forming a watertight seal. store must have had it in their Louis Alix envisaged the two parts inventory unsold for quite some of the case being held together by the time, as the serial number of spring clip “t,” which he described as be- the watch, 9392828, from my ing integral with the outer case “f.” This research, indicates an Omega clip provides the initial seal between manufacturing date of 1939 or the inner case, the gasket, and the out- 1940. I recently discovered, in a er case, but as the watch is submerged, box of old family papers, a time payment booklet from Shores the air pressure inside the case remains Credit Jewellers of Vancouver, at atmospheric pressure while the water which confi rms my father’s pressure outside increases, pressing the purchase of the watch for $156 on two parts of the case more fi rmly togeth- February 14th, 1948. er onto the gasket and making the seal My father could certainly not more watertight. have been considered wealthy, The spring clip described by Alix so his reason for the purchase of is not how the case clips were actually an Omega Marine remains a bit manufactured. There were two different of a mystery, although he was generations of the Marine case; the fi rst aware, at the time, of the rarity had a massive clasp on the back of the and unique properties of the Figure 5. Marine announcement from a watch. He was not a diver; his outer case, running right from the top to 1936 Journal Suisse Del’Horlogerie. only association with water was the bottom, as shown in Figure 4. A sec- the fact that during wartime he ond generation of the Marine case, from so many high-performance synthetic was employed helping to build about 1935 onward, had a much shorter gasket materials are available. warships in the local dockyards. clasp hinged close to the bottom edge of Louis Alix’s design for the case, shown I never knew about the watch the case. in Figure 2, called for the case to have until my father presented it to the curved shape of an arc of a circle. He me a few years before he passed doesn’t explain why: it may have been to away. He did mention to me once follow the shape of the wrist, or it may that the jewelry store offered have been a purely aesthetic consider- an attractive purchase discount ation—this was the age of art deco after on the watch and that the same all. I don’t think this curved shape was jeweler, some years later, offered to buy it back, but my father actually ever produced. All the pictures Figure 4. Securing clip. declined the offer. The jewelry of Omega Marines that I have seen (I store went out of business in the The case of the Marine was a very fi ne have never been lucky enough to actu- early 1970s. high-quality construction, ensuring that ally handle one) have been straight. The At some point my father had the the two parts slid together smoothly but elegant curved shape envisaged by Alix original leather or sealskin strap tightly so that the waterproof seal could would have been extremely diffi cult to changed for the current bracelet, be achieved, even though the clasp only manufacture. a steel mesh “Forstner Komfi t.” acted on one side of the case. The patent illustrates a slim crown re- Still missing is the presentation In his patent, Louis Alix suggests that cessed into a depression on the side of case for the watch. I often wonder the gasket “q” should be made of natural the interior case. This was not very prac- if the original leather bracelet is to rubber (“caoutchouc”). However, in ad- tical and would have been very diffi cult be found in the missing case! The watch appears to be in fi ne vertisements from the period (Figure 5) to grasp to wind the watch. Production condition in all respects. My father this gasket is said to be leather, which is models generally had the crown at the wore it for only a short period confi rmed in the book OMEGA–A Jour- top of the movement, at the 12 o'clock of time and then for reasons 1 ney through Time. The use of leather position like a pocket watch. This can unknown, stored it unused for shows how diffi cult it was at the time be seen in Figure 3. However, I have nearly 60 years. I have had the to fi nd a satisfactory gasket material— also seen advertisements and pictures watch serviced by a local Omega something we often forget today when of watches with the case effectively the expert and it keeps excellent time. www.nawcc.org NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin • January/February 2012 • 35 © 2012 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission. “other way up” and opening from the top rather than the In an apparent veiled swipe at the Rolex screw-down bottom. The crown is then at the 6 o’clock position. waterproof crown (which was of course located on the The patent for the Marine was also granted to Alix outside of the case) the protection afforded through lo- in France as 710316, Britain as 365356, U.S.