Karl Shreeves and the Diving With Legends SUB

Once again, Karl Shreeves has been good enough to share a story about one of the watches in his collection.  Karl and his story were featured in the Diving with Legends book this past year.

The DOXA 1200T HRV DWL

Besides being high-quality, robust and functional automatic dive watches, the DOXA line holds a special place among timepieces. It enjoys an historical legacy as the dive watch for serious enthusiasts – a recogition DOXA earned with innovative features, not the least of which was the first helium-release valve watch available for general purchase in 1969 – the SUB 300T Conquistador.

For those not familiar, commercial divers sometimes work under pressure in helium atmospheres.  Helium itself a very small atom, over time and under pressure, slowly penetrates seals that are perfectly water and air tight. Upon surfacing and releasing the surrounding pressure, a dive watch can burst due to the build up of helium gas inside, unless it has a release valve.  Historically this has been the fun visual of the crystal popping right off of the watch!  Of course, apart from commercial divers very few divers need a helium release valve, and what does this have to do with DOXA today? Glad you asked.

This past spring, DOXA rolled out the limited-edition (99 issued) DOXA 1200T HRV DWL (Helium Release Valve, Diving With Legends) with the publication of Dr. Peter Millar’s Diving With Legends. The book features the biographies and stories of two dozen divers, many of whom are well-known in the underwater community (www.divingwithlegends.com). In celebration, DOXA graciously gave a 1200T DWL to each of those featured, with the remaining available to collectors at www.doxawatches.com.

Those familiar with the DOXA line will recognize the 1200T DWL’s heritage immediately. It is a hefty, solid watch (approx 171 g/6 oz with bracelet) that sports DOXA’s trademark orange dial (with DWL logo) and one-way bezel with USN no decompression limits. Those familiar with its cousin 1000T will find it similar, though the T1200 is rated to 1200 metres versus 1000 (hence the names, of course), with the DWL inscribed with its release number (shown is 50/99).

Arguably, the 1200T DWL’s standout feature is the recessed helium-release valve at the 9:00 position. You probably don’t need an HRV, but that’s besides the point. Beyond the cool-factor, the valve subtly reminds us that DOXA engineered this watch for leading-edge divers – not a small statement coming from a company that has engineered top-end automatic dive watches for hardcore divers for more than 40 years.

More at www.doxawatches.com

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.