A General History of Dive Watches
Panerai Luminor Marina
After Rolex's Oyster successfully crossed the English Channel in 1927, the significant media coverage of the event, led many competing brands to renew their interest in producing a commercially available dive watch.
One of said competitors was Omega, Rolex’s old nemesis, who released the Omega Marine in 1932, beating out all other brands in becoming the first company to produce a dive watch at large scale. The Marine featured a double case secured by cork and during tests had successfully been submersed to a depth of 135m. The watch was targeted at divers and therefore featured an adjustable clasp with a diver’s extension, potentially the world’s first.
The next significant development in the history of dive watches was in 1935, when the Regia Marina commissioned Panerai to manufacture dive watches that were luminous underwater. This specific request was made due to an increase in the Decima Flottiglia’s missions to sabotage ships during World War II, the divers needing luminous watches to be able to see the time underwater and properly coordinate their attacks. This resulted in the release of the first Panerai Radiomir prototype in 1936. The watches were manufactured by Rolex on behalf of Panerai (until 1956) and were 30m water resistant - at the time they used radium for luminosity, hence the name of the watch. Panerai started mass producing the Radiomir in 1938 and today it is considered the world’s first military dive watch.
Since the late 1930s the technological development behind dive watches has skyrocketed. Just recently we witnessed the release of a new record-breaking dive watch, the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Professional. However, not only water resistance has increased; new materials like ceramic and Super-LumiNova have been introduced and technology like crown guards and helium escape valves were developed in the 1950s. Ultimately, the impact of dive watches on the industry was huge, the category has generated billions and is arguably one of the most important today. As loyal desk divers, we can only hope for the best as the dive watch continues to evolve.