These watches have done something few men have—they traveled to the deepest point of the ocean floor. The first dive took place more than 50 years ago, when Captain Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard descended into the Mariana Trench, to a mind-blowing 10,916 meters. Attached to the outside of their vessel, Bathyscaphe Trieste, was an experimental dive watch from Rolex called the Deepsea Special. This watch emerged unscathed and is now a legend.
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The deepest point in the trench, known as Challenger Deep, lies nearly 7 miles below the surface. It is so deep that if Mount Everest were set in the trench, there would still be approximately 1.3 miles of water above it.
The second watch made its descent in 2012, when Hollywood director/National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, James Cameron, decided he would repeat the record-setting dive into the Mariana Trench. In honor of this event, Rolex created a new experimental dive watch to accompany him. Strapped to the outside of Cameron’s vessel—The Deep Sea Challenger, which took seven years and $8 million to build—the newly designed mega diver from Rolex, dubbed the Deep Sea Challenge, successfully visited 10,898 meters depth and kept perfect time.
It’s no wonder that Rolex is world-famous for its performance and reliability.
William Barthman Jewelers was honored that Rolex chose them to display the two famous watches in the store. Everyone who attended the gala was duly impressed by the timepieces, as well as the food, drinks and the ambiance of the store.
