As luck would have it, German watchmaker, VintageVDB seem to share my exact same sentiments and that's why they have just joined an elite club of dive watch engineers that have conquered the deep with a handmade dive watch, called the P 1070 deepsea that boasts a monumental . . . wait for it . . . 12,000 METERS of water-resistance!
So have VintageVDB set a new World Record? Well, not quite, while still an outstanding achievement, the P 1070 deepsea is now one of three of world's deepest mechanical wristwatches of which two are actually available for sale (I think).
One being the P 1070 deepsea, itself, and ONE coming from a relatively unknown Spanish watchmaker, Aeronaval Instruments Manufacturer Carlos. Although I have never seen any documentation to support AIMC's claimed 12000M WR, their watch certainty bares all the hallmarks of one that could happily reach such a depth.
Of the three 12000 meter watches, only Rolex and VintageVDB have documented evidence to support their claimed WR. The Rolex DEEPSEA Challenge watch was tested both in-house in a specially designed pressure-chamber and historically ocean-tested with an epic dive to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, tethered to a robotic arm on James' Cameron's deep sea submersible, the DEEPSEA Challenger.
VintageVDB's P 1070 was extensively tested by the Frauenhofer Institute in Ilmenau, Thuringia, Germany where it subsquently reached 12,000 meters, the equivalent of 1,200 bar of pressure! However, VDB say that they, too will conduct an actual ocean test on the watch that will be undertaken by a research team in the Marianas Trench! Watch this space!
For reference, Fraunhofer is Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization. With an annual research budget of €2 billion!
They are involved in the research of everything from Energy and Living to Information and Communication and Transportation and Mobility to the technologies employed for deep sea exploration and inspection with the use of AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) as in their TIETeK - Deep Sea Robotics work.
Features of the P 1070 deepsea include: a case in Stainless steel measuring 46mm in diameter x 55mm in length x 25mm thick and a vintage Universal Geneve Microtor self-winding movement.
Divers features of the include: a massive divers bezel with 5-min click and markers, a Plexiglas acrylic crystal, a screwdown crown and caseback (the caseback is features an engraved Marianas Trench map) and of course a water-resistance of 12,000M.
Finally VintageVDB P 1070 deepsea comes on VDB's new rubber divers strap and VDB screw buckle, a handmade leather strap and pressure-test certificate from the Fraunhofer Institute.
Liked this? See my world exclusive live pictures of two of Rolex's DEEPSEA Challenge watches HERE taken while on location not too far from the Marianas Trench in Guam.
Also read my articles on Rolex's two deepsea experimental wristwatches HERE, HERE and HERE
Also read my review of the 6000M HELBERG CH1 made in tribute to the original pioneer of the deep, the Deep Sea Special!
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