In this article, we’re going on a trip – to North Greenland, to dive into the deepest oceans, to the most dangerous mountains in the world, far into space and by plane across the English Channel. We have compiled a list of five watches that were part of the most spectacular expeditions ever. Because one thing is certain: watches were included in almost every one of these important tours.
1. The British North Greenland Expedition
In 1952 the group set off. It consisted of British military, civilian researchers and a Danish officer. Together they had the mission to conduct extensive geological, meteorological, climatological and physiological studies in Northern Greenland. During their two years in Greenland, led by Royal Navy Commander James Simpson, the researchers recorded a record freezing temperature of -66.1° C, found that Greenland is covered by a 2,700 m layer of ice.
All participants in the expedition wore a Tudor Oyster Prince (Ref. 7809). Hans Wilsdorf, founder of Rolex and Tudor, asked the men of the BNGE for feedback on the performance of the watch. The precision of the Oyster Prince was recorded in a log book, measured using signals sent by the BBC. The watches proved extremely reliable, and Tudor used the values recorded in the logbooks to promote the Oyster Prince. Comparable Rolex models are more popular these days, but the Tudor’s performance on the expedition at the time is still very impressive.
2. Jacques Cousteau’s exploration of the oceans
Several watches have accompanied the world-famous French marine researcher Jacques Cousteau and the crew of his Calypso on their trips. The best known are the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, the Rolex Submariner and the Omega Seamaster Ploprof. Another model that Cousteau wore on many of his deep-sea explorations is the Doxa SUB 300T. Cousteau was particularly impressed by the original with the characteristic orange dial. He provided the dial with his black and yellow “Aqua Lung” company logo and brought it to the American market.
The SUB 300 was developed by Doxa in the emerging hype about scuba diving. But nobody in the company would have dared to dream that they would equip the most famous diving crew at the time. In addition to the version with the orange dial, Cousteau, his sons Jean-Michel and Philippe and other crew members also wore the black “Sharkhunter” on many expeditions. The impact on Doxa’s reputation was correspondingly great – nothing more was needed to demonstrate the performance of these watches. To get one of these originals from Cousteau and his team, it takes a lot of patience and a lot more budget.
3. With Louis Blériot across the English Channel
The English Daily Mail in 1908 called for a very special challenge: it offered a prize for those who would be the first to cross the English Channel on the fly. The order of the competitors was based on their registration. Frenchman Hubert Latham’s turn came before Louis Blériot, but his attempt ended in a crash. Blériot’s next turn was to fly the 40 km from Calais to Dover. At that time it was considered impossible.
On July 25, 1909 at 4:41 a.m. Blériot took off with his Type XI. He wore his Zenith watch on his wrist – a predecessor of the Zenith Type 20, which was launched in the 1930s. Zenith equipped many pilots with their watches in the early 1900s. Blériot’s model had a solid, grooved crown and glowing hands and numbers, which is typical of pilot watches from that time. Three years after successfully crossing the English Channel, Blériot wrote these words to Zenith: “I am extremely enthusiastic about my Zenith. I use it regularly and highly recommend it to anyone looking for the highest precision.” – quite strong words from a man who has achieved extraordinary things.
4. Uno Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni climb the K2
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. The most difficult thing to climb is the K2. There is a lot of debate about which watches Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay wore when they climbed Everest. It is not entirely clear.
In 1954, 14 Italian mountaineers set out to be the first people to reach the summit of K2. The occasion was the 90th anniversary of the Italian mountaineering association. The men wore Vulcain cricket watches on their mission. These were known to withstand the most adverse conditions. The expedition set up camp at the foot of the second highest peak in the world, very close to the Sino-Pakistani border. Then on July 31, 1954 the time had come. Uno Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni were the first people to reach the summit of the K2 at 8,611 m. On her wrists: Vulcain cricket watches. Their precision and robustness played a major role in the success of the mission to climb the most dangerous summit in the world.
5. Alexey Leonov and the first walk in space
It is well known that the Omega Speedmaster Professional was the first watch on the moon. Perhaps this is the most legendary story of a watch. But what watch did cosmonaut Alexei Leonov wear when he was the first person to set out in the vacuum of space? It was a Poljot Strela he was wearing when he went on his famous walk in space on March 18, 1965 on the Voshod 2 mission.
But not everything should go as planned. The spacesuit did not work properly when exiting the Voshod 3KD. He puffed up and stiffened. The walk ended after 12 minutes and 9 seconds, Leonow released the pressure from the suit manually and then went into the airlock. Once inside, other problems followed. It took longer than planned for Leonow and the accompanying cosmonaut Pavel Belyayev to finally get to their places to initiate the landing. This 46 second delay caused the spaceship to miss the originally calculated landing zone by almost 400 km. A landing occurred in the densely overgrown foothills of the western Ural Mountains, in an area full of bears and wolves and in freezing temperatures. The cosmonauts were not rescued until the next day. In all these adverse conditions and violent shocks, the Poljot Strela by Leonow always performed perfectly and reliably. A legendary watch and the watch that was on the first walk in space.
