Omega

DrStrong
[Rolex Moderator]
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Diving with whales - Omega PloProf.

Some vintage watches have something special, like an aura. It's not only a question of patina, it's the story behind them. To me, first owner watches are the most exciting ones to hunt and every time I have a chance to buy one, I pull the trigger !

I have been lucky enough to present here several of my first owner diver's watches, mainly Rolex.

Here, the earliest Rolex Comex that I know of:

rolex.watchprosite.com =

Another first owner Comex, a Submariner 5514 with full documentation:

http://rolex.watchprosite.com/show-forumpost/fi-732/pi-4879858/ti-739968/s-0/

Or a thin case Double Red Sea Dweller with a crazy diving history:

http://rolex.watchprosite.com/show-forumpost/fi-732/pi-4456942/ti-692487/s-0/

This time it's a unique Omega Ploprof that I've been lucky enough to catch. The watch used to belong to a famous Argentinian diver and oceanographer, who used it for many years in his crazy career around the world.

The story began in the late 1970's, as he told me himself:

"I bought the watch in the Canary Islands when I was 17. I paid for it with my first salary, earned as a waiter in a cargo operating in Africa."

That is a very romantic start, I have to say ! The young man was fascinated by diving and underwater life, as you can imagine from someone buying a Ploprof ! I don't know many teenagers who would buy this as a first watch !

Soon he decided to dedicate his life to the study of the oceans:

"Under the influence of J.Y. Cousteau, I studied oceanography and marine technology. Years later, my second university degree was of course Marine Biology !"

The Omega was on his wrist around the world during all his travels and extreme dives, as he recalls:

"That watch has accompanied me in caves, underground lakes and has dived with whales during the best years of my youth. It has been used intensively in the seas of Africa, USA, Japan and during several Antarctic campaigns."

Here are some pictures to illustrate the crazy life of this timepiece. First, some ice diving and geology sampling of the Glacier "Perito Moreno" (Santa Cruz, Argentina) for the CEMS (Centre of Underwater Medicine) and the School of Diving of The Argentinean Navy:

Here working on a documentary for Discover magazine in "the cave of the witches" (Mendoza, Argentina, 1985):

The watch appears on this other picture, while its owner is working on a documentary for Weekend magazine in "Las Animas" (Mendoza, Argentina, 1979):

Here again, working on a live radio broadcast from the bottom of an underground lake in Neuquen (1982):

Or on this crazy picture with J.Y. Cousteau in a Buenos Aires television studio (1980):

And now of course, after the story, here are some better views of the watch itself !

You can see from the condition of the case and dial that it has been used intensively ! Probably because of sun and moisture, the blue dial has turned to black, like on the very early Ploprof examples. The large minute hand a turned to a crazy yellow color !

Needless to say I'm very proud to own that watch. Every time I look at it on my wrist, I think of all the places where it has been around the world and it brings a big smile on my face !

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