The Omega Seamaster and Comex

Aug 28, 2013,02:23 AM
 

The collaboration between Rolex and Comex is very famous, but the diving watches addicts know very well that the Omega Seamaster has also been tested and used by Comex from the late 1960’s to the 1970’s.

 

 

The Seamaster 300 has been the choice of many of the world’s most famous divers over the years. Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s team used the Seamaster 300 during its “Precontinent II” experiments in the Red Sea in the summer of 1963, to prove that divers could live in a submerged saturated gas environment for long periods without adverse effects. The 300 would also go on to be the watch of choice of military divers around the world, including the British Special Boat Service among others…

In 1968, Omega agreed to deliver his Seamaster 300 to Comex for some tests. The watch was used during the Physalie experiments, at a simulated depth of 335m. Later in the same year, the watch was used again near Cassis during the Janus experiment and tested at a real depth of 150m. In early 1970, the feedback of these tests experiment was taken into account and the watch was improved by a crystal gasket, a screw down crown and a new caseback gasket.

Here are a few screen shots I have made from a Comex movie about operation Janus. You can spot lots of SM300's at every stage of the operation (Credit: Comex):   















The ever-increasing depths at which divers were working led to the creation of the famous “PloProf” Seamaster 600, launched to the public in 1970 after four years of intensive research and testing (the case was already patented in 1967). This watch proved to be more than equal to the new challenges faced by professional divers.

This revolutionary watch had a monocoque solid steel asymmetric case with screw-in crown at nine o'clock to allow the wrist to move freely, protected by a locking nut - requiring two hands to unscrew it - to avoid accidental manipulation and bidirectional notched bezel with locking system controlled by a push-button. The monolytic chemically-soaked mineral crystal was treated with anti-reflective and anti-abrasive material pressed to 120 kg, then held on the gasket by a screw-in ring.

The Navy blue or black dial ensured perfect legibility even at great depths, the minute hand (the most useful ones when diving) was super large-sized and is off set by a fluorescent orange surround. The professional most frequently uses a diving bell in which he can breathe in a mixture of oxygen and helium. If his/her watch is not especially adapted so as to not let in these gases, it would fill with helium and explode on reaching the surface. However, in contrast to its competitors who created models with helium release valves, Omega chose the option of preventing the helium from entering the watch in the first place as, if this happens, it can affect the watch's precision by damaging the sprung balance. And it makes the Ploprof resistant to gases to such an extent that if the air in its case were to be expelled– in normal atmospheric conditions – more than 1000 years would go by before it could re-enter.

The Ploprof would be scrupulously analysed by the American diving research centre Ocean Systems Inc. in Tarrytown, NY, which concluded that, taking into account the appropriate proportions, the timepiece is more resistant than a submarine! In fact, Seamaster 600 underwent a series of hypostatic tests that revealed that the watch functioned up to a simulated depth of 1370 meters at which point the 4mm thick crystal touched the second hand, stopping the watch.

COMEX used Seamaster 600 prototypes extensively during test dives in the late 1960s and in September 1970 the watch accompanied the three divers of Janus II. During this dive, the divers spend four hours per day over eight days in the water and set a world record for underwater exploration at a depth of 253 meters in the Ajaccio Gulf in France.


A Ploprof during Janus II (Credit: Comex)


Later, Cousteau’s divers would use the watches off the coast of Marseille during a set of experiments to test the effects on divers working at depths up to 500 meters. According to Omega, the production of Seamaster 600 prototypes was of only 11 watches, shared between Comex and the Cousteau team; the numbers of watches given to Comex is estimated between 5 and 6 from 1970 to 1972, making probably the rarest model delivered to Comex. There were even a few examples made especially for Comex in titanium… I have to say I have never seen one In the metal !





A Stainless Steel Ploprof Protoype delivered to Comex (Credit: Mike Wood)



A Titanium Ploprof Protoype delivered to Comex (Credit: MDP)

 

The last mythical piece I’m going to describe is the Seamaster 1000. The “big brother” of the 600 was also launched in 1971 and tested alongside the 600 by the same divers. A few prototypes were delivered to Comex, they have the side engraved with “Prototype” + a number. It differed from those produced commercially in its case back design: The prototype has a flat back, while the commercially-produced watches have a slightly curved back. Here are two pictures of Seamaster 1000 used during the Janus II experiment (credit: Comex):








Here’s a prototype that was given to the legendary diver and Cousteau comrade Jacques Monjoin. He was a pioneer of deep water diving and led the COMEX Janus tests from 1968-1972 wearing this very watch.






The highlight of the 1000's early exploration career was undoubtedly its dive on IUC's (International Underwater Contractors) submarine “Beaver Mark IV” where the watch was attached to the submarine's robotic arm to test the effects on the crystal at a depth of 1000 meters.


This message has been edited by DrStrong on 2013-08-28 04:22:55


More posts: 16660168055135514ComexDiverPloprofSea DwellerSeamasterSeamaster 300Seamaster 600SubmarinerSubmariner Date

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Thanks a lot Grahame [nt]

 
 By: DrStrong : August 28th, 2013-05:25

Amazing post!!! I enjoyed that alot!....

 
 By: DivingT : August 28th, 2013-04:54
I love the 1000! Do you know, or does anyone know the significance to the markings on the bezel? I would love to know there rational. for watch that is designed for such deepdepths, i doubt its any form of N.D. table, but perhaps for count down or some th... 

Maybe it's to count...

 
 By: DrStrong : August 28th, 2013-06:03
....the number of years you'll have to wait to source such a watch ? Seriously, the crazy thing is that I have been offered this watch when it was bought by a local dealer from the original owner. But I did not believe in it, as I had never seen such a th... 

LOL - the numbers of years to wait!! I like it....

 
 By: DivingT : August 28th, 2013-07:30
I love the seconds hand!! Maybe the bezel is count the number of days in saturation!! Do you not a some comex diver contact from your previous Comex aquisitions, who could maybe shed some light on this bezel? Its a great post. Tony

Believe me or not...

 
 By: DrStrong : August 29th, 2013-13:11
...I bought my first Rolex Comex to one of the Janus divers, who used the Ploprof. He did not like the watch at all and was really happy to obtain a Rolex by the way.... LOL I will ask him about the bezel.

now that is an interesting bit of trivia regarding the divers views on the watch..

 
 By: DivingT : August 29th, 2013-22:43
..from a working / diving perspective. and yes, that would be great if you can ask him about the bezel. Have a good weekend. Cheers Tony

I had a good look at the Bezel...

 
 By: BDLJ : September 2nd, 2013-23:33
and while this watch was made for Janus 2 (If I read correctly - so 200m with working excursions to 250m), I would've thought all those dives would have been performed with constant full communication during the dive. Not that this discounts a watch on th... 

Yep, you cracked it!....I think you are correct.

 
 By: DivingT : September 3rd, 2013-09:32
Works for all of the depths (in meters), the only one, as you say thats a bit 'out' is the 30m, but, when you look at other tables, e.g., Royal Navy, BSAC etc etc, they all were constantly changing every 5yrs or so, over the 60's / 70's as different 'expe... 

Same here.

 
 By: BDLJ : September 3rd, 2013-17:14
I too, was looking for something exotic, related to the Janus dives. Looked though my files of Comex tables...but they're all Air. Then it clicked. Nilo has a post in HoMe re: a similar bezel on a Kontiki.

Good work ! [nt]

 
 By: DrStrong : September 4th, 2013-23:44

bravo Doc !!!!

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 28th, 2013-05:19
well done !! and btw Mike is a real " lucky b............" ( old expression from the WW II in use on the US Army ) LLOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Grazie mille capo !

 
 By: DrStrong : August 28th, 2013-05:29
but if I remember well, you also have a Comex Ploprof...;-)

me ??? really ????????

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 28th, 2013-05:40
LLOOLLLL ....

LOL

 
 By: gensiulia : August 28th, 2013-13:11
(in my holy opinion)

My compliments ...

 
 By: nilomis : August 28th, 2013-06:21
For another extremely valuable post. I always considered the SM600 as more of a curiosity than a watch but your post changed my point of view. It's a real tool watch and, in its ugliness, has some charm, despite of being ridiculous on my wrist. I also sav... 

ok here is a pic ...

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 28th, 2013-08:10
of the " proto-ploprof " inside ... its has some differences from standard cases , such as the famous 3 " holes " that are far smaller : in the inside there is also ( hidden ) a service from Bianchì .... ...  

just for curiosity ...

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 28th, 2013-08:23
here are some pics of another plotoploprof appeared around 10 years ago ... altough the very small size you can see that the " small holes " are the very same , as they also appear in the Omega service schedule ... last picture shows the inside of a stand...  

I remember very well this proto which was in the shop of a parisian dealer for quite a

 
 By: amanico : August 28th, 2013-08:34
Long time... I hesitated a lot, then passed on it. Cool watches for sure. The problem I have with the Plo Prof is that each time I tried one, mmy wrist said no... Nice post, Jeff. Best, Nicolas

The SM 1000 proto...

 
 By: DrStrong : August 28th, 2013-09:28
...I declined it in Marseille when it surfaced....stupid me !

Declining a dive watch . . .

 
 By: Dr No : August 28th, 2013-10:53
. . . "when it surfaces"? :-) That is the cleverest pun imaginable! Thanks very much for the report, Jeff, and I now realize what you meant when alluding to the need for one a few weeks ago. You must've been working on this for quite some time. Impressed,... 

fantastic post Jeff!

 
 By: MattS : August 28th, 2013-09:08
thanks for all this great info. I had never seen this 1000m prototype! wow what a look! Matt

Merci Matt ! [nt]

 
 By: DrStrong : August 28th, 2013-09:39

Great read! :)

 
 By: blomman Mr Blue : August 28th, 2013-11:16
Thank you very much for sharing this post, Jeff! :) A very interesting part of divers history! Best Blomman

Thank you Chris [nt]

 
 By: DrStrong : August 29th, 2013-01:09

about the Seamaster 1000 prototype ...

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 28th, 2013-13:47
don't regret it guys as ... the watch has a very sad story about the owner behind .... so sad that nobody wanted to buy in Marseilles and .. the French dealer took about two years to sell it to a completely unaware Italian collector .. the funny thing is ... 

due to privacy reason and ...

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 28th, 2013-14:15
to respect the diver .. I prefer to give details by mail and not in an open forum . ( )

so send me a PM nt

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 28th, 2013-14:17
nt

Thanks a lot for this great article Jeff!

 
 By: foversta : August 28th, 2013-14:18
I learnt a lot! Thanks. Fx

Bravo Jeff!

 
 By: ESE 2A : August 29th, 2013-00:59
very good thread for a mythic Watch ;)

Merci Pierre

 
 By: DrStrong : August 29th, 2013-01:11
je sais que tu aimes aussi la Comex et son histoire

it is because I had good teachers...

 
 By: ESE 2A : August 29th, 2013-01:20
...and also (maybe) because Janus II was taking place in my country ciao and thanks again Jeff, Marcello and all ;)

some more pics

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 29th, 2013-04:04
from top to bottom : 1) detail of the original isofrane 2) dial and back 3) certificate from Omega 4) certificate from Bianchì 5) dial-back ...  

Breathtaking ! One question...

 
 By: DrStrong : August 29th, 2013-05:31
...are these prototypes not supposed to have the mk0 dial that only says "Seamaster" ? ...  

good question ...

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 29th, 2013-07:35
of the 4 seen untill now only one had the first dial version ( " SEAMASTER " only) .. and it's the one from the famous post made around 2003 in a French forum ( that certainly knows well .... LLOOLL ) the other 3 had all the same dial ( like in MW's watc... 

probably these are ...

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 29th, 2013-07:48
the Comex watches with more history behind , in spite of their ugly look ... just a link about the " Precontinent " operations ( in which either Chouteau and Xavier Fructus were present ) : so , talking about the French " milieux hyperbare " ( and the wa... 

another clear example of the swapping ...

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 29th, 2013-08:01
between the 2 teams is Octave Leandrì ( dit " Titi " ) that was in the early 60s member of the Calypso crew and later went to work at Comex untill his retirment.

I was also told by old divers...

 
 By: DrStrong : August 29th, 2013-12:25
.... that lots of divers in the early 70's worked for both Comex and Cousteau. It was a small world.... Your comment concerning the movement change is very interesting, I was wondering why there qere still some prototypes in 1972... Another picture of a "...  

so ....

 
 By: marcello pisani : August 29th, 2013-14:26
it is also possible that not all prototypes have been delivered at the same time .... but as the case of mine is exactly the same you have in the famous prototype shown in the French forum 10 years ago .... ( with the small " holes " seen only in these pr... 

yes, marcello ! that is my understanding as well. they had very short .......

 
 By: watch.out1 : September 1st, 2013-03:31
service intervalls due to the use and the interest, the factory put into these prototypes. it is very likely, that the factory changed the movements themselves. kind regards from australia. achim

ciao Achim !

 
 By: marcello pisani : September 2nd, 2013-00:24
and yes movements were changed by the factory ( or sometimes even " at the factory " ) as the only way to know if a ploprof is a watch given to Comex is to enter Omega records with the number of the movement as they have no case number. ( same thing happe... 

well ... to be honest with you ...

 
 By: marcello pisani : September 2nd, 2013-00:31
I find this watch very ugly ( from an aesthetic point of view ) ... but nevertheless is one of the most fascinating and intriguing watches ever made , especially of you consider that his early history is quite significant but almost unknown.

As a late joiner of this thread, anything I say will be redundant with the above.

 
 By: Ruckdee : August 31st, 2013-10:10
So let me simply thank you for putting together these materials in an easiest way to digest. Your article makes me want to wear my Ploprof now but unfortunately it is not with me at the moment. Ruckdee

Thanks Ruckdee..

 
 By: DrStrong : September 1st, 2013-05:35
...and if anyone has more pictures of the SM300's used by Comex, I would be very interested in seeing them.

Thank you!

 
 By: ingmar : September 2nd, 2013-20:47
This is another fine example of why I find myself on Purists almost every day. The research and detail is second to none.

Thanks for the compliment Ingmar...

 
 By: DrStrong : September 4th, 2013-23:53
more stuff coming...

Fascinating!

 
 By: WisemanLen : September 3rd, 2013-17:07
Great vintage looking watch