The deepest known part of the worlds oceans, the Mariana Trench, near Guam in the Pacific, is a mind-blowing depth of almost seven miles below the surface of the water. The first explorers to go there, back in 1960, were Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh, in the submersible bathyscaphe Trieste. No unmanned probes were used; the team sent the bathyscaphe down for its first mission fully manned. Yesterday, we wrote about the great American watchmaker, Webb C. Ball, whose companys motto is Since 1891, Accuracy under adverse conditions. Currently on display in the US Navy Museum in Washington, D.C., the 59.5 foot Trieste is the definition of adverse conditions. However, perhaps to prove their sanity, while Piccard and Walsh were in the Mariana Trench, it is notable that they did sustain themselves on chocolate bars. Maybe it wasnt such a harsh environment, after all. The Ball Hydrocarbon Bathyscaph Trieste 600m Limited Watch DC1028A is number 241 of only 1,000 produced. Rather than design yet another dive watch that looks like a clone of the Rolex Submariner, the Ball Hydrocarbon Bathyscaph Trieste 600m Limited Watch DC1028A is a purpose-built tool for all sorts of adverse conditions, in or out of the water. The Ball patented crown-protection system is distinctive and functional. True to form for Ball, the watch is anti-magnetic, so modern electronics should not wreak havoc on your timepiece. The case is titanium, for a robust size without the weight of steel. There are displays for the day and date, as well as counters for the chronograph. A serious dive watch, the Ball Hydrocarbon is good to a whopping 600m/2000 feet, and Ball says you can even use the chronograph at that depth. Pretty amazing! One of my favorite technical features of the watch is the use of 30 micro gas light (3H) tubes on the hands and dial for night reading capability that does not fade over the course of the night. Brilliant! This Limited Edition celebrates the pioneering spirit of the Bathyscaph Trieste. The red and blue hands on a white dial are a great color combination, and the contrasting-color sub-dials are easy to read. The great-looking seal of the Trieste is on the subdial at the 9 position, and the caseback has a 3-D relief image of the Trieste. Included in the box are a rubber strap and tools for changing from the steel bracelet, as well as a model of the Trieste. This watch definitely serves its purpose of not only being a fantastic precision instrument in its own right, but also to pay homage to the men and women who dared to challenge the last untouched place on earth to be explored, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, some 35,797 feet below the surface. swisswatchexpo/watches/ball/hydrocarbon-bathyscaph-trieste-600m-limited-dc1028a-8871
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 16:23:39 +0000
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