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Post by Jim Perdway on Sept 10, 2022 18:04:25 GMT -8
I couldn't find a thread dedicated to vintage dive watches, so I'm just throwing this out here to see where it goes. The only vintage dive watch I have to contribute to the discussion is this Seiko from the 70s. It is water damaged and I don't dive with it, but maybe some day will get it working again.  vintage Seiko 6105-8110 by Jim Perdway, on Flickr  Rolex Submariner 1960 by Jim Perdway, on Flickr |
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Post by scubalawyer on Sept 10, 2022 19:12:47 GMT -8
I couldn't find a thread dedicated to vintage dive watches, so I'm just throwing this out here to see where it goes. The only vintage dive watch I have to contribute to the discussion is this Seiko from the 70s. It is water damaged and I don't dive with it, but maybe some day will get it working again. vintage Seiko 6105-8110 by Jim Perdway, on Flickr Rolex Submariner 1960 by Jim Perdway, on Flickr I had a Seiko in the 1970's. Loved that watch. I like your HW pressure guage. Mine is a US Divers and slightly more "weathered."   |
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Post by SeaRat on Sept 10, 2022 20:22:35 GMT -8
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Post by Aquala1 on Sept 11, 2022 10:34:09 GMT -8
I was into dive watch collecting, with a few vintage pieces mixed in, long before I started down the path of vintage scuba gear. I used to moderate the dive watch forum, DOXA watches forum, and Aquadive watches forum on Watch-U-Seek, which I think at one time (maybe still is) the largest collection of watch forums on the internet. I also write the “Auction Watch” article for the Historical Diving Society’s quarterly magazine. Anyway, here are a few of the vintage pieces from my collection. I’ll start with the ones already in my Photobucket, and take pictures of the others later on.  This is a Fortis Marinemaster from the early ‘70s on original bracelet  DOXA Sub 300T Professional on original bracelet from around 1972  DOXA Sub 300 from 1967. This is the only year the 300 was made and this one has a metric bezel.   Zeno with a built in thermometer from the late ‘60s |
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Post by Jim Perdway on Sept 11, 2022 16:43:00 GMT -8
very cool stuff, thanks for sharing! I look forward to seeing others from your collection in the future. Do you still have your first dive watch?
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Post by scubalawyer on Sept 11, 2022 18:54:17 GMT -8
very cool stuff, thanks for sharing! I look forward to seeing others from your collection in the future. Do you still have your first dive watch? Nope. Don't have my 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc... either. I wore 'em until they fell off. I haven't owned a watch of any kind for 20 years. "Time" to get one I guess. |
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Post by Aquala1 on Sept 11, 2022 20:16:16 GMT -8
very cool stuff, thanks for sharing! I look forward to seeing others from your collection in the future. Do you still have your first dive watch? I do, it’s a Tag Heuer Formula 1. I got it in 1987, three years after I started diving. From ‘84 until then I used a Tekna digital bottom timer, zip tied to the back of my console. I’ll take a picture of it along with my second dive watch and then my third. I never get rid of anything. 😀 |
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Post by Jim Perdway on Sept 12, 2022 6:56:19 GMT -8
very cool stuff, thanks for sharing! I look forward to seeing others from your collection in the future. Do you still have your first dive watch? Nope. Don't have my 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc... either. I wore 'em until they fell off. I haven't owned a watch of any kind for 20 years. "Time" to get one I guess. I hope you at least wore one for the MN lookalike contests! |
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Post by scubalawyer on Sept 12, 2022 11:19:16 GMT -8
Nope. Don't have my 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc... either. I wore 'em until they fell off. I haven't owned a watch of any kind for 20 years. "Time" to get one I guess. I hope you at least wore one for the MN lookalike contests! Yeah, my non-working BuShips canteen prop watch. |
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Post by Tusker on Sept 13, 2022 5:55:50 GMT -8
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Post by Aquala1 on Sept 13, 2022 6:36:46 GMT -8
Jim, here’s my first dive watch, the Tag Heuer Formula 1. It was a birthday present from my parents. I guess they waited a few years after I certified before getting me a watch, to make sure I was going to stick with it. It was a good watch (still is) and I wore it 24/7 a few years until my second watch came along. .jpg) My second watch was also a Tag Heuer, which I also received from my parents as a Christmas/High School graduation gift. Back in those days Tag Heuer wasn’t the fancy jewelry store brand that it is today. It was a rugged sports watch, and these were bought at my LDS. .jpg) This was an ok watch as it had a tendency to flood if I used the chronograph underwater. The first time it flooded, I sent it back to Tag Heuer, and they sent me a brand new one. A few years later it flooded again, and they sent me another one. By the time this third watch flooded, Tag Heuer no longer made it, so they didn’t support the warranty but they made something similar. They made me an offer to buy the new model at dealer cost, so I took it. Since I had very little money in it, and it was brand new, I put it on eBay and made a tidy sum. I took that money, went to my local jeweler and pulled the trigger on a Rolex Seadweller. Since I put 50% down, they offered me interest free payments so it made it pretty affordable. That, and a Seadweller wasn’t as ridiculously expensive as they are today. That was in early 2000. Here’s my Seadweller .jpg) |
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Post by Tusker on Sept 15, 2022 4:49:40 GMT -8
In the interest of keeping this fun thread going, here's another. I don't own one personally but I've always liked the early Zodiacs. Launched in 1953 at the same time as the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, the Sea Wolf was quite literally one of the very first commercially available diver's watches.  A Sea Wolf ad dating after the watch's update from 100m to 200m water resistance. That should date it to about the mid- to late-1950s.
Substantially cheaper than the Blancpain and the Rolex Submariner, which would be released the following year, the Sea Wolf became quite popular with recreational divers of the time. A fun fact — Earl Murray wore one during his stint as a SEALAB aquanaut. Rather than attempt an exhaustive history, here's a few links that discuss the Sea Wolf of old as well as a few covering the contemporary re-incarnation of is by the modern Zodiac company under the Fossil Group: wornandwound.com/review/affordable-vintage-zodiac-sea-wolf/thespringbar.com/blogs/guides/the-zodiac-sea-wolf/www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-week-on-the-wrist-zodiac-sea-wolf (I think Ty knows Jason, right?) www.thewristorian.com/post/review-zodiac-super-sea-wolf-53 |
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Post by Aquala1 on Sept 15, 2022 6:13:08 GMT -8
Tusker, yeah I know Heaton. I knew him from Watch-U-Seek and then dove with him when he was covering the delivery of the Mission 31 DOXA Subs to Fabien Cousteau. I think that was for a Gear Patrol article. He’s also become a brand ambassador for Aquala. He dives one of my Cordell suits and wears one of the caps for book signings. Did you happen to take your screen name from “Depth Charge”?
Regarding the Seawolf, the upgraded depth rating happened around mid 1960. In the February 1960 copy of Skindiver magazine it was advertised with the depth rating of 430 feet. There were no ads for it in SDM from Feb. until May, but in May the ad shows the increased rating of 660 ft.
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Post by Tusker on Sept 15, 2022 7:34:00 GMT -8
Aquala, I didn't know you did the Mission 31 delivery too — that must've been a great experience. His Aquala suit is how I first heard about the brand actually. It's a great hat. I did — I'm terrible at coming up with screen names and I needed a new one when I was making this account. I looked over and saw my copy of Depth Charge and went with it.
Jacob
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Post by Aquala1 on Sept 15, 2022 8:03:39 GMT -8
Aquala, I didn't know you did the Mission 31 delivery too — that must've been a great experience. His Aquala suit is how I first heard about the brand actually. It's a great hat. I did — I'm terrible at coming up with screen names and I needed a new one when I was making this account. I looked over and saw my copy of Depth Charge and went with it. Jacob Dirk Cussler (Clive’s son) and I delivered them, and Holt McCallany and I picked them up at the end of the 31 days. I have pictures, but they’re not in my Photobucket however I can post them later on if you want. It was an awesome experience but certainly not vintage. Cool on the screen name, and I’m looking forward to where Heaton takes the character in the next book “Sweetwater”. |
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