Glad to hear they didn’t fail and the fact that there are 5 total dives makes total sense why Omega hasn’t started bragging yet. Very cool exploration mission and I will be following along to see how this turns out. Looks like you can kinda see a watch on a blue strap strapped to one of the arms in this photo. But here’s poof Omega is definitely sponsoring.
I am not saying that all things need to be totally practical but there are some people that believe a diver could use a watch at these depths. And most people believe that a Commercial Diver needs a watch at the depths that they actually work at. As an Ex-Commercial Diver I can tell you that I rarely wore a watch while working even in the 1970's and 80's. Currently as a Diver at work I do not ever wear a watch, but recreationally I sometimes wear two. One would be a high end mechanical and the other is a Garmin Descent Dive computer, even though I rarely go below fifty feet.
At least two Speedmasters failed on lunar missions and that didn't stop them from spending a fortune on advertising to sell the things.
Not to go too much off topic but what specifically in diving do you do for work?
I worked as a commercial diver in the 1970's and 80's on offshore oilfields, underwater construction building piers, demolition, welding and Nuclear Power plants. I quit that work to get an Engineering degree and did that for another 25 years or so. Now, toward the end of my career I work for a Submarine tour company.
I got this info from a commercial diver friend of mine.
The watches were made from extra titanium that was left over from making the sphere for the diving sub. Omega strapped two to the outside of the sub, and one went on the lander that had gotten stuck in the mud. As can be expected, they're very thick, large dive watches which were tested previous to the dives at 1,500 atmospheres.
The watch is called the Ultra Deep (in blue lettering on the dial) and looks to be based on the planet ocean, but also seems to have a vintage Omega Grande look to it. On the case back is the depth 49,*** ft. In actuality though, 1500 ATM is 50K (the Rolex Deep Sea Challenge was also tested to 1500 ATM).
