[QUOTE=HiDive;10027890]Take whichever statement you like but I was a Saturation Diver in the late 1970's as well as many other variations of surface supplied diving and SCUBA. I have been diving since 1970 and today I still dive at work here in Hawaii for a tourist Submarine company, where I am the Chief Diving Officer / Lead Diver. I have about 10 -12 thousand hours in the water and hyperbaric systems and an associates degree in Marine Diving Technology. I have been there and done that a few times. I never saw a watch crystal pop off regardless of the watch having a HRV or not.
There was a step in the decompression procedure to have each diver open the crown of their watch during the five days or so of saturation decompression.[/QUOTE]
Rolex once stated on their website that their Triplock was rated to 500 Bar with the crown unscrewed.
If this statement is correct opening the crown on a Rolex would not release any internal pressure during decompression.
Could it be that these pesky Helium molecules sneak out of the watch over these 5 days?