The history of water-resistant watches goes back to the 20s, and less than a decade later, in 1926, Rolex tested the first waterproof watch, which we will discuss in detail in this section. the payment.
Today, wristwatches have become an integral part of formal and informal wear, and their range is so wide that there are different watch models for every wear and style of clothing. The fact that it doesn’t matter if you have another mobile phone or not with a watch is not very wise, however, many follow this method, but when the mobile battery runs out, which usually happens all the time, the watch will no longer be heard from. . Therefore, if you care about time, be sure to get a wristwatch. When we talk about the modern watch, there are various points that may not be seen at all, one of them is the “water resistance” or “water resistance” of the watch.
Where did waterproof watches come from?
The history of water-resistant watches goes back to the 20s, and less than a decade later, in 1926, Rolex tested the first waterproof watch, which we will discuss in detail in this section. the payment.
Diving watches are the most popular waterproof sports watches, but these watches are not necessarily used for diving and underwater adventures, and many of them fall into the category of luxury watches. These watches are very popular today due to their beautiful style, comfort on the wrist, accuracy, durability and longevity, and every true watch enthusiast must have one or more examples of these watches in their collection.
The first men’s watch that was worn on the wrist dates back to the end of the 18th century and World War I, the reason for its production and popularity was the freedom of hands when using the watch on the battlefield. Wristwatches were originally considered a women’s jewelry and men did not pay much attention to its early versions. Being delicate, low durability, and low resistance to humidity, water, and dust have been among the reasons for not paying attention to this type of watch, and if these problems were not resolved over time, the watch would never have reached its current popularity. does not reach
The most important source of all these problems is water, humidity and dust, which easily passed through the holes of the watch and found its way to the engine. The first brand that took the initial steps to solve these problems and create the first waterproof wristwatch was the Rolex company and its innovative founder, Hans Wilsdorf.
One of the clearest and easiest ways to solve the problem of water penetration is to use an additional case on the main case of the watch, the first example of which is the “Rolex Hermetic” or “Submarine” from 1922, which, of course, should not be confused with the famous watch. Submariner, which was launched three decades later, will be wrong. The main problem with the early waterproof watches was that whenever the watch needed to be adjusted, the outer case had to be completely removed, and in addition, the outer case made the watch very large and thick, which is a disadvantage for a wristwatch. It was big.
The only way was to present all the mechanism of the previous watch case in the form of a case. “Francois Bourgell”, a frame-making master from Geneva, registered two frame designs in his name in 1891 and 1903, and the most important point of them is to remove the outer frame and achieve a level of insulation in a frame. His 1903 case model is very similar to today’s watches, in that a narrow ring is placed around the motor and the space between the glass and the case, and the caseback is similarly screwed to the case. Many brands such as “IWC” and “Longines” used the innovative “Bourgel” case for their watches, but there was still an important problem, the insulation of the crown or the adjustment screw of the watch.
The original idea, or at least the first patent, for the waterproof crown belongs to Paul Perreault and Georges Perret, which was added to the waterproof watches of the time in October 1925. Of course, this model of insulation had problems that were fixed later. Here again, the name “Hans Wilsdorf” of the Rolex company plays an important role in solving the problems. Seeing the potential of the said designers’ design and combining it with his own design, he designed the first truly waterproof watch. He bought the Swiss patent of Paul Prego and Georges Peret and in 1926-27 registered his new invention in the United States, England and Germany.
Which brands produced waterproof watches or how did waterproof watches become global?
It is natural that with all the mentioned interpretations, the first example of a real waterproof watch was marketed by Rolex. Rolex launched its completed crown design and original case design under the name Rolex Oyster. The Oyster watch was a great achievement, but there was still a lot of skepticism about this watch in the public eye.In 1927, an ideal situation occurred, and the intelligent Wilsdorf immediately took advantage of this opportunity. At that time, the young English secretary and long-distance swimmer Mercedes Glitz decided to swim across the English Channel for the second time. Why the second time? Because his record was broken the first time, which was 15 hours in total, by another swimmer.
The event made a lot of noise at the time, so Wilsdorf decided to be a part of the media stream. The story ended here when the swimmer who claimed to break the Mercedes record failed and did not swim this route at all, and this caused the media to question the Mercedes record as well. The story ended here that in the second attempt, Mercedes swam with the Rolex watch but did not cross the channel completely. A few days later, the story of his swimming with a Rolex watchIt hit the front page of the Daily Mail, drawing public attention to the first truly waterproof watch. For further promotion, Wilsdorf placed the Rolex Oyster watch in the stores that supplied the fish tank. All these efforts made Rolex and its waterproof watch take the initial steps of global and pandemic, this process continues to this day and Rolex has become the brightest name and one of the peaks of the world of watchmaking.