Mission 31

So it's always fun to see what my former colleagues at DOXA are up to, and in the VERY near future they will be on hand for the start of Mission 31 in Florida.  Here is a video of the Mission 31 DOXA SUBs being presented to the team by Fabien Cousteau

DOXA and Fabien Cosuteau

DOXA will be partnering with Fabien Cosuteau on his 31 day mission -

Courtesy of DOXA

A re-run - Jean-Michel Cousteau is "all wet"

This originally ran on May 6th of last year, but it is a pretty good interview and I thought I might put it out there again. 

© Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society

James Henderson - What was your first watch, was it a gift?

Is there a story behind it?


Jean-Michel Cousteau – I don’t remember exactly. But I can tell you that when I was a kid, watches were different. They were valuable, expensive – special! You received one at a certain age, and you held onto it forever. It was only later that I realized the importance of a good diving watch. One that would not only tell you the time, but keep the water out.

But things have definitely changed. I think for both watches and the concept of time. I feel that young people today do not appreciate the value of a single watch – just as we do not value our time on this planet to the fullest.

© Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society

JH – What do you mean by that?



JMC – We are spoiled today. We are wasteful. Today we are in such a hurry to buy things, to consume things that we don’t need (and probably don’t really even want)! This doesn’t mean that the standard of living has improved – because in a lot of ways it really hasn’t! Consider for a moment how much we waste – you live here in Santa Barbara, as I do. You know the homeless people who go through our trash, our recycling, and take the bottles and cans to the recycling center to get money? I think those guys are great! As odd as it sounds, they are helping to keep the city clean.



JH - Where did you go to school, what did you study?


JMC – I studied architecture in Paris. And now many years later I am still waiting for my first “commission” 55 years later! But I am a licensed architect. After that, I worked in a shipyard in Brittany because what my real goal was something different than merely building houses and offices. You see, from the time I was a kid, my brother and I were always in the water. We were “wet” at a very early age! 

© Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society

JH – Well, given your famous father’s profession, had you ever considered doing something else?



JMC – I think not really – BUT – I will say that what I do today is a true evolution. I studied architecture with the idea of combining it with life in the ocean – that the future was (and will be) closely linked to the sea. This, in turn, led me to working at the shipyard in Brittany, because I wanted to better understand the nature of structures for the water. But I must say that my father in many ways was my greatest teacher. He was invaluable in helping me work in and produce film and television. Just as in architecture, each project has a beginning, a middle, and an end.



JH - Ocean Futures continues to grow and evolve - obviously a great deal of this is tied in with you and your family's efforts. What does the future hold?



JMC – I am fortunate that my children are involved, but more than this I feel that we have created a strong foundation for others to continue our work. As the population of the earth continues to grow, it is more and more apparent that our quality of life is strongly connected to the health of our planet. And the health of the planet is inseparable from the health of the oceans.



JH - What are some of the biggest challenges you currently face?


JMC – Funding. It is ironic, because people hear, or read the name Cousteau, and feel that we must be rich and that money is no problem. In many ways, the name Cousteau works against us. So I have to be out there, giving lectures, promoting the work of the organization. The single biggest way for us to promote our work is through images – be they video or photographs. To this end, we work tirelessly to compile as many images as possible.


Another challenge for us is education – but this is a challenge that we embrace! We need to get the kids “WET”. We need to introduce them underwater life – whether it’s the ocean, a river or a lake. We need to challenge the young people’s sense of curiosity and adventure.




JH – Okay, as this is a watch blog – favorite all-time dive watch?


JMC – When I started diving there were only a few companies that made true diving watches. Today, there are many choices and we are lucky that several companies have supported us over the years. I did design a watch made literally of recycled materials. It was manufactured for a short time but is no longer available.





JH - Being based in Santa Barbara, I imagine that you enjoy fairly consistent conditions for diving? If you can recall, what is one of your most challening/difficult dives?


JMC – There has been one dive in 67 years that really stands out for me. I was diving in a cave, and I suddenly realized that I would run out of air before I could surface. But – I did not panic. I motioned to my dive “buddy” and we were able to “buddy breath”. This was in Papua New Guinea in 1982 or 1983.





JH - If you weren't doing this, what do you think you might be doing?


JMC – This is the truth – either an astronaut or a farmer! That would really be great if I could have “three lives”. The sea, the land, and space!




JH - What is a typical "day in the life" of Jean Michel Cousteau?


JMC – There truly are no “typical” days and this is what keeps things interesting! For all of us here at Ocean Futures, there are constant surprises and challenges to adapt to.





JH - What do you like to do in your spare time?


JMC – What is “spare time”? (laughs).


© Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society

JH - Who is the next "Cousteau" out there?



JMC – There are many out there! And luckily – they don’t have to be Cousteaus!



Get Wet with Ocean Futures -



http://www.oceanfutures.org/







Proud uncle

Back in my DOXA days, I had the opportunity to work on some fun and interesting projects.  Perhaps the high mark for me was the Project AWARE.  It was my first real opportunity to work with a partner and create something new -

That was back in 2008.

Later, in 2009 I was walking through the Tourneau store in Boston, and while looking at the selections one of the sales people grabbed my wrist and said - "That's the Project AWARE!"  And then grabbed one of the copies of Watch Time, and pointed out the article - a belated thank you to Norma!

And now time has moved on, I have moved on - but I heard the news that there was now a successor to the original Project AWARE -

Courtesy of DOXA

And like a proud uncle, I smile at my new "nephew", and wish him a long and healthy life!  Best of luck to DOXA and Project AWARE!

You can own a Cousteau's DOXA SUB!

Here's your chance to own Jean-Michel Cousteau's DOXA SUB!!!
http://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/Item.action?id=144622656

This auction benefits Ocean Futures, based here in my hometown of Santa Barbara.

DOXA SUB 4000T Sapphire

Courtesy of DOXA

In celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the reintroduction of the DOXA SUB,
DOXA is releasing something very special - the 4000T - but with a Sapphire
bezel!

Here are the specs from DOXA -

Diameter 47.00mm including crown protection
Diameter excluding the crown protection is 44.00mm
Lug width 22.00mm
Lug to lug 48.00mm
Height 16.00mm
Bezel diameter 40.80mm
Crown diameter 6.50mm
Diameter 47.00mm including crown protection
Movement: ETA 2897 Top grade

Courtesy of DOXA

This is a very limited edition - so you've been warned!


www.doxawatches.com

DOXA SAFE DIVE

DOXA has something new in the works.  More to come, and follow the story at:

www.doxawatches.com

Orange, yellow, and the DOXA SUB

It goes without saying that most divers of a certain age, not to mention dive watch collectors can't hear the word DOXA without thinking orange.  Why orange?  Well, it would of course be easy to say that it was down to a marketing decision - all of the other professional grade dive watches were black or blue and orange was different.  Of course by now most people know that the choice of orange was the result of a series of tests at nearby Lake (Lac) Neuchatel to determine which color was most visible at a depth of 30 meters.  So orange...

DOXA SUB 1000T Divingstar

A funny thing happened a few years later.  The same team went back out to the "R & D" lab (or lake) and tried some more colors.  And it was decided that in fact yellow was the more legible/brighter color at 30 meters.  But with all things like the DOXA SUB, you sometimes are most remembered for your first dramatic act, and the Inventors of Orange are no exception!  But the Divingstar lived on and is still a member of DOXA's fleet today.  

www.doxawatches.com

DOXA SUB 1200T...NUMA

Rick and the folks at DOXA have been working feverishly with some of their counterparts over at NUMA. For those of you not dialed-in to all things DOXA, NUMA is the National Underwater and Marine Agency - founded by none other than Clive Cussler - the creator of the Dirk Pitt adventure series.

Having spent three years handling public relations for DOXA Watches I cannot tell you the number of times someone would grab me and and say - "You have to make a NUMA SUB", or "You have to make a turquoise SUB!" Well, in fact DOXA will now have both! Keep in mind, this is a working mock-up and the final version might be a bit different, but so far it looks pretty good!

Check out the Official DOXA Forum for more info. on this limited edition:  http://forums.watchuseek.com/f34/

Something a little different from DOXA

I know that when most of you think about DOXA, you think about dive watches.  But DOXA was famous for making car clocks, and also pilot's watches.  This year DOXA released 2 versions of a pilot's watch "re-edition".  One self-winding, the other a hand-wound model.  This is the hand-wound version.

This is a nice, large, visible timekeeper and it is available from DOXA Direct.  This is essentially an "off the menu" item, so you need to contact them directly to order.  

www.doxawatches.com

(877) 255 - 5017

Ode to the high beat movement

Andy Bard and I met working for DOXA watches.  Andy is the very friendly guy you get when you call to order a watch or arrange for service.  Andy has collected all sorts of different types of watches, and now he has focused his collection on the high beat movement.  Now in his own words, Andy talks about his favorite movements.

There’s just something hypnotic about a high frequency movement. The sweep hand seems to float around the dial, and lying in bed with my wrist under the pillow I drift to sleep form the sound of 36,000 beats per hour.

It's a real shame that today’s watch companies don’t embrace the high beat movement. Yes, it is not as robust as a more sensible 28,800 movement, but just the thought of that balance wheel whirring around at that speed is mesmerizing. Today, Zenith is the only company that uses a 36,000 BPH movement on a large scale.  In the late 1960’s into the early 1970’s just about every watch company had a high frequency model in their lineup. Longines, Zodiac, Seiko, DOXA, and Girard Perregaux, just to name a few. Pictured is my early 1970’s DOXA Ultraspeed, and someday soon I hope to add a Zenith New Vintage 1969 El Primero to my meager collection.

Karl Shreeve's Aquadive

This is the first of what I hope will be a recurring section of the Tempus Fugit blog - a sort of "guest blog".

A bit about the contributor - Karl Shreeves has travelled around the world, participated in some of the world's most challenging dives, gets paid to do what he loves as an underwater photographer, is rated a "Legend of Diving" and contributed to Peter Millar's Diving With Legends book.

I met Karl back in 2007, before I started working for DOXA Watches. It seems fitting that he is the first contributor here. He is generous to a fault, thoughtful, intelligent and in all honesty looks a lot better than me. Despite all of this I am proud to call him a friend! In all seriousness, I am very pleased that Karl is sharing his story here.



Thank Goodness for Mothers

A few years ago, my mother surprised me with the pocket watch on the left. Manufactured in 1900 (about), it is a gold plated Centra Lanco, inscribed on the interior with Metal Plaque Lamine Garanti 10 Ans, Centra Lanco 1399. She’d had it restored and it runs (well, sort of – I don’t push my luck.)
The watch on the right is a dive watch I’d bought in1975 or 1976 and used until it flooded on a dive in the Bahamas, in the mid 1980s. At that point, I tossed it in a drawer and forgot about it -- until 2008, when I was online and landed on a picture of a Jenny that looked identical to it. I had to check with the one person I know who knows way too much about watches – James – and sure enough, he confirmed what I suspected: Jenny released watches in the US under the name “Aquadive.” Could have some collector value – if I could find it and get it restored.

As far as I knew, it was long gone. But, an email to my mother with the picture proved otherwise. Moms don’t throw away anything that relates to their kids, and a few days later it showed up. With James help, technicians at Jenny restored it – astoundingly, they still had parts after 30+ years (I guess watch technicians don’t throw anything away either).
In truth, both watches only exist because of my mother, and they have a scuba-related connection for me. The Aquadive is obviously a watch I used to use diving (I wear it but I don’t dive with it today.) The Centra Lanco? Today, the Dutch ABC islands are among the Caribbean’s top travel and scuba destinations; I had the pleasure of visiting Curacao in connection with an article I wrote for Skin Diver magazine. When my great grandfather carried the watch, he owned a plantation and landhouse called Savonet, on Curacao. The island’s tallest mountain, Mt. Christoffel, was on the property. After he passed away in the 1960s, the plantation eventually became the center of today’s Christoffel national park – a popular stopover for visiting divers and nondivers.


An editor's note - as some of you know, DOXA is owned by the Jenny family. Karl sent his watch to me and I took it with me to BaselWorld in 2008. Mr. Jenny senior and his son, Romeo Jenny both recognized it immediately, and were pleased to help Karl with his watch.

For those of you divers out there, I urge you to check out Peter Millar's book.