THE WATCH OF THE DEEP
Rolex is unveiling the new Oyster Perpetual Rolex Deepsea. It features a 44 mm case with redesigned lugs and sides and a broader Oyster bracelet, as well as a correspondingly adapted Oysterlock folding safety clasp. This professional divers’ watch is equipped for the first time with calibre 3235, at the forefront of watchmaking technology.
The new Rolex Deepsea is made of Oystersteeland sports a D-blue dial with a deep-blue to pitch- black gradient. This dial was launched in 2014 on a commemorative version of the watch in tribute to the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE exped- ition. On this journey, partnered by Rolex and the National Geographic Society, film-maker andexplorer James Cameron descended 10,908 metres (35,787 feet) to the ocean’s deepest point, locatedin the Mariana Trench.
Like all Rolex watches, the new Rolex Deepsea carries the Superlative Chronometer certification, which ensures singular performance on the wrist.
OYSTER CASE AND RINGLOCK SYSTEM
A divers’ watch designed for the deep, the Rolex Deepsea is waterproof to 3,900 metres (12,800 feet). Its Oyster case was developed toensure phenomenal resistance to pressure without compromising the size and thickness of the watch.The resulting Ringlock System, a patented case architecture, allows the Rolex Deepsea to with- stand the colossal pressure exerted at extreme depths. The Ringlock System is composed of three elements: a domed 5.5 mm-thick sapphirecrystal, a high-performance nitrogen-alloyed stain-less steel ring, positioned inside the middle case of the watch, and a case back in Oystersteel and grade 5 titanium. The Triplock winding crown,equipped with three seals, screws down securelyagainst the case, completing the waterproofnesssystem and guaranteeing watertight security akinto a submarine’s hatch.
The case of the Rolex Deepsea is also equipped with a helium escape valve, developed and pat- ented by Rolex in 1967, which works to protect divers’ watches created for the deep. It allows excess pressure built up in the watch case to escape during a diver’s decompression phase in a hyperbaric chamber.
In deep-sea diving, absolute reliability andsecurity are of the essence. Each Rolex Deepsea must therefore undergo the necessary waterproof-ness tests required for divers’ watches. To thisend, a special hyperbaric test tank was developed in conjunction with COMEX (Compagnie Maritimed’Expertises, the world-renowned French com- pany specializing in underwater engineering and hyperbaric technologies). Every single RolexDeepsea is tested to ensure its waterproofness to a depth of 3,900 metres with an additional safetymargin of 25 per cent.
HIGH-TECHNOLOGY CERAMIC
The unidirectional rotatable bezel of the Rolex Deepsea is fitted with a 60-minute graduated Cerachrom insert in black ceramic that allows divers to monitor their underwater and decom-pression time for their safety. This Rolex-patentedinsert, made of an extremely hard and corro- sion-resistant ceramic, is virtually scratchproof,and its colour is unaffected by ultraviolet rays. Thenumerals and the graduations are moulded in the ceramic and coloured with platinum using a PVD(Physical Vapour Deposition) process. The bezel’s knurled edge offers excellent grip when manipulat- ing the bezel to set dive time, even when wearinggloves.
SECURE BRACELET WITH EXTENSION SYSTEMS
The Rolex Deepsea’s Oyster bracelet is equippedwith an Oysterlock safety clasp that prevents accidental opening and a double extension system that allows the watch to be worn com-fortably over a diving suit up to 7 mm thick. Usinga toothed panel located under the clasp cover, the patented Rolex Glidelock system allows fine
adjustment of the bracelet length in approximately2 mm increments up to around 20 mm, while theFliplock extension link extends the Rolex Deepseabracelet by 26 mm. Both extension systems and the clasp have been adjusted to fit the watch’s broader bracelet.
SUPERLATIVE CHRONOMETER CERTIFICATION
Like all Rolex watches, the Rolex Deepsea is covered by the Superlative Chronometer certifi- cation redefined by Rolex in 2015. This exclusive designation testifies that each watch has suc- cessfully undergone a series of tests conducted by Rolex in its own laboratories according to its own criteria, which exceed watchmaking norms and standards. The certification applies to the fully assembled watch, after casing the move- ment, guaranteeing superlative performance on the wrist in terms of precision, power reserve,waterproofness and self-winding. The precision of a Rolex Superlative Chronometer is of the order of−2 /+2 seconds per day, or more than twice that required of an official chronometer.
The Superlative Chronometer status is symbolized by the green seal that comes with every Rolex watch and is coupled with an international five-year guarantee.
OYSTER PERPETUAL
ROLEX DEEPSEA
Case reference 126660 | Bracelet reference 98220 Category: Oyster Perpetual Professional Superlative Chronometer certification*