As we all know, it is common to see the CEO of a company, the celebrity of turn or a very wealthy person, flick their wrist to look at the time on their Rolex to organise their tightly scheduled agenda. It is a gesture that entered the public eye as the symbol of what Benjamin Franklin sharply stated in his infamous quote “time is money”.
In this case, we are talking about it in quite a literal way. We all know how costly they are and what a symbol of prestige they encapsulate. But how did something that was supposed to have a functional task, such as timing the amount of time underwater for divers, turn out to be a luxury item?
The first ever divers watch was made around the 1920s, but it was only in 1926 that Hand Wilsdorf (founder of Rolex) created a waterproof and dustproof watch called Oyster (we understand where the name comes from, right?), which was tested by Mercedes Gleitze a year later in his attempt to cross the English Channel by swimming. The surprise generated by this miraculous invention, at the time, was a little less than magical.
1932 Omega Marine
Remember that we are in WWI times, and that having the ability to look at a clock, even if you fell into a river and without having to take it off your pocket, was a really big deal. When Eterna (a watch company) introduced alarms on them, everybody was hooked.
But there’s more
The real cherry on top of the cake happened in 1956. During the release of ‘The Silent World’, which is considered to be one of the first documentaries to use underwater cinematography, everybody saw the co-director Jacques-Yves Cousteau wearing a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner, the first precision wristwatch developed for undersea use. That same year, the Rolex Oyster was exposed at Basel’s watch fair and was seen on the wrist of Sir Edmund Hillary peaking Mount Everest in one of the earliest expeditions.
From that moment on, divers watches were considered by the mass public as some of the most resilient, precise, strong, sharp and timely objects ever made. Which, for those who consider Benjamin Franklin’s quote an aphorism, makes them the best purchase possible. The representation of high class and elegance, whist being fit for any businessman in its essence.
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