The Rolex Deepsea Challenge RLX Titanium: ten years in the making

True to its passion for underwater exploration, Rolex actively participated in the historic Deepsea Challenge expedition of filmmaker and explorer James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) in partnership with the National Geographic Society. On 26 March 2012, the expedition’s submersible descended 10.908 metres (35,787 feet) to reach Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the world’s oceans located in the Mariana Trench, south-west of Guam in the Pacific Ocean (so far, considering that Omega and the Five Deeps expedition have reached an even deepest spot, with the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Professional project).

The Deepsea Challenger carried an experimental divers’ watch, the Rolex Deepsea Challenge, an extreme version of the standard Rolex Deepsea, on its robotic manipulator arm. The timepiece worked perfectly throughout the dive at extreme pressures, confirming Rolex’s position as the leading brand in waterproofness.

Echoing the historic dive of 1960, James Cameron’s expedition and the Rolex Deepsea Challenge directly take inspiration from the bathyscaphe Trieste’s historic dive on 23 January 1960, the first and, until 2012, the only human dive to the deepest-known point in the Mariana Trench.

On that exploit, an experimental Oyster model, the Deepsea Special, was attached to the hull and accompanied the Trieste into the abyss. It reached the record depth of 10,916 metres (35,814 feet), returning to the surface in perfect working order, a feat that remained unrivalled for over half a century.

James Cameron was thrilled at the additional opportunity to take a 1960 Deepsea Special with him in the cockpit of the Deepsea Challenger: “As soon as I got into the sub, I found a special place to attach the ‘Old Lady’, the sister of the watch that went down 52 years ago on the Trieste. She kept me company on the dive to the most remote place on this planet and was my good luck charm.”

Rolex was, therefore, a natural partner to the National Geographic Society for the Deepsea Challenge expedition, a project that combined human adventure and technological innovation, the pursuit of excellence and pushed the limits of man’s potential. Such endeavours correspond to the brand’s core values and the philosophy inherited from its founder, Hans Wilsdorf. The Trieste’s dive in 1960 marked the pinnacle of Rolex’s relationship with the underwater world.

And the partnership with James Cameron’s expedition marks a new and no less spectacular milestone in the history of the brand’s privileged ties with the oceans. A history dating back to 1926 and the invention of the Oyster, the world’s first-ever waterproof wristwatch. With this new achievement, the experimental ROLEX Deepsea Challenge perpetuates the adventure of the Oyster and the pioneering spirit of innovation that has forged the reputation of Rolex.

An experimental Diver’s watch.

A Rolex watch was attached to the manipulator arm of the submersible as James Cameron made the unprecedented solo dive. The Oyster Perpetual Rolex Deepsea Challenge, an experimental divers’ watch, was specially developed, tested and manufactured in record time for the occasion.

“The ROLEX Deepsea Challenge was the reliable companion throughout the dive; it was visible on the sub’s manipulator arm and working precisely 10,908 metres down at the bottom of Challenger Deep,” James Cameron said after his historic dive.“ It’s a tremendous example of engineering know-how and an ideal match for the Deepsea Challenger submersible.”

A watch for the deepest of the deep.

The Oyster Perpetual Rolex Deepsea Challenge is an experimental divers’ watch guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 12,000 metres (39,370 feet), entirely developed and manufactured by Rolex to resist the extreme pressure present in the deepest reaches of the oceans.

Through its inherent qualities, tested and proven in real-life conditions during filmmaker and explorer James Cameron’s dive, it is the emblematic product of an entirely integrated watchmaker with unparalleled design and production capacities.

Beyond the abyssal depth.

Technically, the Rolex Deepsea Challenge is an enhanced version of the commercial Rolex Deepsea professional divers’ watch (guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 3,900 metres or 12,800 feet) introduced in 2008. The new experimental watch is 51.4mm in diameter and 28.5mm thick.

Its design is based on the Ringlock System case architecture of the Rolex Deepsea. This intricate three-piece case architecture, developed and patented by Rolex, features a highly resistant nitrogen-alloyed stainless steel support ring as the backbone of the watch. Placed inside the 904L stainless steel superalloy middle case, it supports a 14.3 mm thick domed sapphire crystal made of high-purity aluminium oxide and a 5.3mm screw-down case back made of grade 5 titanium.

In the wake of the Rolex Deepsea.

The Rolex Deepsea Challenge is fitted with a patented Triplock screw-down winding crown with a triple waterproofness system, the same type that equips all Rolex divers’ watches.

It also has other technical features of the Rolex Deepsea, such as a unidirectional rotatable 60-minute graduated bezel with a Cerachrom insert in ceramic; a Chromalight display with long-lasting luminescence (hands and hour markers); a self-winding mechanical movement (calibre 3135) with a paramagnetic blue Parachrom hairspring; and a solid-link Oyster bracelet fitted with an Oysterlock clasp with a safety catch and the Rolex Glidelock and Fliplock diving extension systems.

A true Rolex Diver’s watch.

The Rolex Deepsea Challenge is a professional divers’ watch, both technically and aesthetically, a worthy member of the Rolex Oyster Professional product category. The watch – to meet the stringent certification requirements for divers’ watches – was tested by Rolex in a specially created hyperbaric tank at a pressure of 1,500 bars, corresponding to the pressure at a depth of 15,000 meters (nearly 50,000 feet), 25 per cent greater than the depth to which the watch is guaranteed waterproof.

At a depth of 15,000 meters, the load on the crystal is 17 tonnes (13.6 tonnes at 12,000 metres) and nearly 23 tons on the case back; the support ring in the middle case must withstand about 40 tons. A symbol of supremacy. The Rolex Deepsea Challenge symbolizes the brand’s prowess in mastering waterproofness.

Its spirit and the real-life circumstances for which it was developed echo the approach adopted for the Rolex experimental Deepsea Special model, which in 1960 accompanied the bathyscaphe Trieste on its record descent to a depth of 10,916 metres (35,814 feet) at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Perpetuating a pioneering spirit, the Rolex Deepsea Challenge embodies the heritage and technical and watchmaking know-how of a pioneering brand in wristwatches. This status dates back to the 1926-patented Oyster case, equipping the first-ever waterproof wristwatch, and proven by other divers’ watches, like the Submariner or the the Sea-Dweller.

Technical Specifications.

CASE

• Diameter: 51.4 mm
• Thickness: 28.5 mm
• Architecture: Ringlock System with a nitrogen-alloyed stainless steel support ring
• Materials: 904L steel superalloy, case back in grade 5 titanium
• Winding crown: Screw-down, Triplock triple waterproofness system
• Crystal: Domed synthetic sapphire, 14.3 mm thick
• Bezel: Unidirectional rotatable 60-minute graduated ring, Cerachrom ceramic inlay with numerals and graduations coated in platinum via PVD
• Dial: Black lacquer with Chromalight-filled indexes
• Waterproofness: 12,000 m (39,370 ft)

MOVEMENT

• Calibre 3135: in-house, with bidirectional self-winding rotor
• Functions: Hour, minute and seconds; quick date-change. Hack seconds for precise time setting
• Frequency: 28,800 beats/hour (4 Hz)
• Hairspring: Blue Parachrom hairspring with Breguet overcoil
• Balance wheel: Variable inertia, with high-precision adjustment mechanism via gold Microstella screws
• Power reserve: Approximately 48 hours

BRACELET

• Oyster: with folding Oysterlock safety clasp and Glidelock system for fine adjustment of bracelet length; Fliplock extension link.

The new Rolex Deepsea Challenge Titanium RLX reference 126067

On November 1, 2022, James Cameron unveiled the new Deepsea Challenge reference 126067. The new model squares off a circle started ten years ago with the introduction of a consumer-ready edition of a prototype that – back then – forced enthusiasts to call the brand’s authorized dealers worldwide in their quest to get the new “forbidden fruit” among professional diving watches.

That watch never rolled out on any production line. It was and still is a unicorn, developed from a standard Deepsea technical layout up and re-engineered to withstand the colossal pressure load at eleven kilometres below sea level.

When designing the Deepsea Challenge for all – despite thinking quantities per year will be small – the design upgrades are far more substantial than the aesthetic upgrades might suggest. For example, the new model adopts the Rolex calibre 3230 – and replaces the now-obsolete calibre 3135 equipping the experimental watch.

However, the most significant change for both model and brand is on the outside. The Rolex Deepsea Challenge RLX is Rolex’s first-ever titanium watch. The brand calls it “RLX Titanium”, and it comes from a grade 5 titanium alloy. We won’t know how much the RLX is a proprietary alloy or an ordinary grade 5 titanium, but – Rolex being Rolex – we will not be surprised to find out it is a new take on the widely used alloy. We’ll find out more in the coming future. Titanium is usually synonymous with a matte finish, something the brand’s designers tried to minimize by mirror-polishing part of the lugs and the crown protector (along with the bezel and crown’s knurlings).

Please read the experimental watch’s specs; you’ll soon discover the new Deepsea Challenge RLX 126067 measures 50 mm, instead of the original 51.4 mm. Designers dismissed the date window too, which looks hilarious on a timepiece this extreme while highlighting all the technical feats belonging to Professional Rolex watches like the Triplock crown, the Glidelock system and the Fliplock links. The latter two allow the diver to wear the watch over an an-up-to-7mm-thick diving suit.

Once again, Rolex partnered with COMEX, whose engineers created a machine to test every titanium case up to the pressure you’d face at a depth of 13,750 metres. The icing on the cake: the case back is engraved with two historic expeditions: the first in 1960 and the second on March 26, 2012. If you’re looking to get one, be ready to pay twice as much as a standard Deepsea. The new Rolex Deepsea Challenge reference 126067 retails for €26,100, and the waiting list seems long.

(Photo credit: Rolex, Horbiter®)

Giovanni Maria Di Biase @Horbiter®