License To Dive

Underwater explorers and frogmen play as prominent a role in the history of Omega's dive watches as do the seahorse and the world's most famous secret agent.

- Jens Koch

The history of Omega's dive watches not only begins at an extremely early date, but also with a timepiece that stands out more for its elegance than for its rugged exterior. But this isn't surprising because those years were the heyday of Art Deco and thus also of rectangular watches. Omega's Marine watch pursued a revolutionary approach to case construction as early as 1932. The double case achieved water resistance with the aid of a tension lever that pressed the inner housing against a leather gasket. The outer crystal was made of scratch-resistant sapphire, which was a rarity at the time. In addition to Staybrite stainless steel, this watch was also available with a gold case. A sealskin strap provided resistance to saltwater, and the folding clasp included a mechanism for adjustment of the strap's length.

Art Deco Under Water

In 1936, three Marine watches were lowered into Lake Geneva to a depth of 73 meters to test their water resistance. To make the ordeal even more rigorous, they had previously been immersed in water heated to 185° Fahrenheit for 4 minutes. The subsequent plunge into the lake, where the water was a chilly 41 degrees, lasted half an hour. All three watches still functioned perfectly after this extreme test and showed no traces of moisture inside their cases. The following year, the LSRH (Laboratoire Suisse des Recherches Horlogères) in Neuchâtel also tested a Marine: it spent 14 hours exposed to a pressure corresponding to a depth of 135 meters below the water's surface. Even during this arduous test, no water penetrated into the watch.