marcello pisani
513
good question ...
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 Dr.Strong certainly knows well .... LLOOLL )
the other 3 had all the same dial ( like in MW's watch )
some more tips :
1) the only two watches seen " disassembled " ) had the very same case ( with smaller holes )
2) the 3 watches with clear back had back engravings all made in the same way ( etched and not drilled or laser-engraved ) , obviously with a different " delivery number " ( all beginning with " 4-5XX " )
3) it is possible that some of the 11 ( or 13 ?? ) prototypes with steel case ( " partagees " between Comex and Cousteau ) had the movement changed during their operational career : this could well explain why in the 2 Omega certificates seen one has a movement delivered to Comex in 1970 and one in 1972.
4) another very interesting question unkown to most people is that the 2 teams ( Comex and Cousteau's ) had divers and their watches swapping from one team to the other during the years in which these beasts were tested and used for experimental operations.
I have the proof of this statement : according to Bianchì's certificate the proto-ploprof with isofrane strap ( LLOOLL ) was used in an experimental operation made under the direction of the famous Prof. Jacques Chouteau , that has been either a Comex consultant and also scientific director of the Cousteau team.
( by the way for not strictly Comex addicts ... Jacques Bianchì is not only the owner of an independent Rolex service center in Marseilles ...but has worked and repaired diving watches of all brands since the early 60s .. so he is a sort of " legende "
for all enthusiasts of the " milieux hyperbare " ).
work in progress .. stay tuned !!
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The Omega Seamaster and Comex
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 th...
Amazing post!!! I enjoyed that alot!....
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...
....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....
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...
...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..
..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...
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.
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.
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.
bravo Doc !!!!
well done !! and btw Mike is a real " lucky b............" ( old expression from the WW II in use on the US Army ) LLOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
My compliments ...
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 ...
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 ...
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
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
Declining a dive watch . . .
. . . "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!
thanks for all this great info. I had never seen this 1000m prototype! wow what a look! Matt
Great read! :)
Thank you very much for sharing this post, Jeff! :) A very interesting part of divers history! Best Blomman
about the Seamaster 1000 prototype ...
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 ...
to respect the diver .. I prefer to give details by mail and not in an open forum . ( )
it is because I had good teachers...
...and also (maybe) because Janus II was taking place in my country ciao and thanks again Jeff, Marcello and all ;)
some more pics
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...
...are these prototypes not supposed to have the mk0 dial that only says "Seamaster" ? ...
good question ...
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 ...
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 ...
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...
.... 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 ....
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 .......
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 !
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 ...
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.
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..
...and if anyone has more pictures of the SM300's used by Comex, I would be very interested in seeing them.
Thank you!
This is another fine example of why I find myself on Purists almost every day. The research and detail is second to none.