When Reel Meets Real

Real-life watch brands in movies allow us to connect with cinematic material on a deeper level.

- JONATHAN HO

HIGH PRESSURES. LOW TEMPERATURES. Salt water. Dive operations are the most taxing on a watch's mechanisms. Furthermore, complete dependability, absolute readability and precise timekeeping are crucial to a diver's safety. Among IWC's illustrious past is a line of timepieces designed specifically for use in water. Over the years, IWC diving watches have come a long way since their beginnings in 1945 when it manufactured the "W.W.W." (an acronym for "watch, wrist, waterproof"). But the first wristwatch that IWC created which was labelled waterproof wasn't actually designed for diving; instead, it was for a British military contract. Few watchmakers were ready to cater to divers' demands in the 1960s; when scuba diving as a sport was becoming increasingly popular, IWC was off to a good start, introducing the Aquatimer in 1967 and solidifying its reputation in dive watches. That classic watch, originally designated as reference 812 AD, had a water resistance to 20 atmospheres or about 198 metres. It used a rotating internal bezel and two crowns, one of which operated the bezel.

After the renowned Günter Blümlein took over as CEO of IWC in 1981, the company's partnership with Porsche Design deepened the Schaffhausen brand's association with diving exploits. In 1983, the "Ocean 2000" reference 3500 was introduced. The Ocean 2000 then was followed with other IWC/Porsche Design Ocean models, including the especially collectible "Ocean Bund" - a watch used by divers in the German military.