The Official TRF Rolex Deepsea Challenge aka DSC Owners’ and Admirers’ Club!!!

[diracpoint]

Haven’t seen one started yet, so, in keeping with the long term TRF tradition, let’s start an Official TRF Rolex Deepsea Challenge Owners’ and Admirers’ Club!!!



As I had mentioned in earlier threads, I totally love this release. It seems a few members have also added this to their collections recently. I’m sure the number will definitely grow with time.

Please post your pics (owner or not), thoughts, admirations, wearing habits and experience here — hopefully it will become a one-stop source of all the information about this model someday, and will chronicle the future evolution of this model line in due time.

Let me start off with a few pics and some context …

According to Rolex, Deepsea Challenge is the “one true heir” to their “groundbreaking divers’ watches of decades past”! More specifically, it pays “homage” to the historic dives of 1960 (by Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard) and 2012 (by James Cameron) to the deepest part of the ocean. During these expeditions, these watches were tied outside of the submersible, and were subjected to the full force of the Pacific Ocean. Still, these watches continued to work flawlessly during the entire expedition!

So, let’s start off with a picture of these historic watches:



Explorers and their watches … (left) Jacques Piccard with Deepsea Special, and (right) James Cameron with Deepsea Challenge:



Here’s the infamous Mariana Trench, where lies the deepest spot of our planet (“Challenger Deep”) …



Zoomed-in image:



As we can see from the map, there is a lot of unevenness on the seafloor. This is because the Pacific tectonic plate (on the East) collides with the Mariana plate (on the West) and slides below it, a process known as “subduction”. This causes a lot of volcanic activity, which created a lot of volcanic islands in that region. At the ocean floor, the subduction process created massive chasms or trenches, which formed the Mariana trench. The schematic below shows these two key features: oceanic trenches and volcanic islands.



The deepest part of this trench is called the “Challenger Deep”, which is roughly 11 km from the surface of the earth. On this planet, this is the farthest you can go from the surface of the earth. This is the so-called “Hadal zone” of the ocean, named after Hades, the ancient Greek god of the underworld.

A pic of the 2012 watch ticking away merrily at the bottom of the Challenger Deep. The watch is tied with the submersible’s manipulator arm, which was being used to collect samples from the seafloor:




Full Ocean Depth (FOD) rating of the 2022 Deepsea Challenge watch (matching the depth of the Challenger Deep): 36O9Oft = 11OOOm:




Why is this such a big deal? From Wikipedia, “at the bottom of the trench, the water column above exerts a pressure of 15,750 psi (pounds per square inch)”. But what does this number actually mean?

The weight of an above-average sized African male elephant is ~14000 pounds [Source: National Geographic]:



Deepsea Challenge watch has a diameter of 50 mm = 1.97 inches, resulting in a surface area of roughly 3 square inches.

This means, if we imagine three such elephants standing on the watch, the watch will keep on ticking as if nothing happened!!! That’s the kind of pressure that can crush a state-of-the-art nuclear submarine in an instant, but the watch will be totally impervious to it!!!



This is precisely why this watch is a BIG deal!!!!

Rolex is primarily known for their waterproof “oyster” watches, and their entire collection (except the Cellini line) is built on this platform. DSC represents the ULTIMATE pinnacle of this technology. There is literally no place on earth where the waterproofness of this watch will be challenged!

Proudly show-off your DSC pics in this thread!

[Dirt]

A great presentation and summary

[AaronRolex]

If you live close to a Apple retail store could you stop in and try on the Titanium Apple Watch next to the DeepSea Challenge.

Asking for a Friend

[Token74]

Excellent job! Here’s mine…





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[travisb]

Great post! I can definitely appreciate the watch for what it is. I hope all the owners truly enjoy owning them.


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[diracpoint]

Originally Posted by Dirt

A great presentation and summary

Originally Posted by travisb

Great post! I can definitely appreciate the watch for what it is. I hope all the owners truly enjoy owning them.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks guys! 😊🙏

Originally Posted by AaronRolex

If you live close to a Apple retail store could you stop in and try on the Titanium Apple Watch next to the DeepSea Challenge.

Asking for a Friend

I do have plans to visit an Apple Store before the Christmas. Will pm you if I manage to get a pic! 🍻

[tifosi]

Love this post! I enjoyed reading it.
I thought it was so cool in 2012 that Rolex was doing the Deepsea Special thing again.

While I don't plan on owning the DSC...I still really want a Deep Blue.

[AaronRolex]

Thank you

[diracpoint]

Since this is a new model, I'd like to summarize a few details in one place for future reference ...

1. The box:

As shown in Token74's image below, the correct box should have the markings on the inner lid. This is important, since I have seen a few online listings without the correct box!

Originally Posted by Token74

Excellent job! Here’s mine…



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2. Lug width: 24 mm




3. Fliplock extension aka diver's extension: Present in this model.




4. Laser etched coronet (LEC) on the crystal: Present, even though the crystal is almost 1 cm (0.95 cm to be exact) thick and domed!




5. Dot-dash-dot on the crown: This is apparently a new symbol, presumably indicating triplock crown made of Ti.



However, forum member Dirt, offered an interesting explanation, based on the fact that dot-dash-dot represents "R" in Morse code!! What are the chances that this was just a coincidence! 😀

Quoting Dirt's message below!

Originally Posted by Dirt

Seeing as you are fully subscribed to this watch, I would like to share something a little obscure with you that you may also appreciate about the designator on the Winding crown

._. is the letter "R" in Morse code.
I know this because in my much younger years, I was being proudly taught Morse by my Old Man who was a bit of a gun W/OP during "The war" and I was going to go for my Amateur radio licence.
As soon as I saw what was on the crown of this watch a few weeks ago, I fell over backward laughing.

I'll leave it up to the group to debate whether it's by chance or by clever design, that ROLEX would choose to use ._. On the Winding crown of their biggest and badest watch they have ever brought to market and to deliver the biggest possible finger to OMEGA
What are the chances they assed it by using the ._. combination for their first Titanium watch when it's always been standard custom and practice for ROLEX to use a combination of dots or dashes as an identifier?

I honestly think they're being much too clever
Remember, you heard it here first

...

[diracpoint]

Took some outdoor winter shots recently ...



(This pic recently got published in rolexmagazine!😊 Thanks Danny!🙏)

A few more ...

[Gerry62]

Stunning ! Great..... Excellent post! Thanks for sharing

[DCheeta]

Great post! I hope more owners pop up here, I love seeing these in use.

[Avs Fan]

Not an owner but count me in as an admirer!

[77T]

Don’t have one but the elephants had me dazzled.




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[diracpoint]

Originally Posted by 77T

Don’t have one but the elephants had me dazzled.




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Love this pic!!!😊 Much better than mine!
If you don't mind, I'm going to steal it for future posts!!🤗

[77T]

Absolutely.
All done with your art on the iPhone.


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[fskywalker]

Great thread OP !


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[JSolution]

You’ve almost made me want to buy one

[Shadow Play]

Lucky I came across this thread as I was about to start a new thread asking if it’s safe for an elephant to stand on your Rolex (not while wearing the Rolex on your wrist of course because that would just be a silly question)

In all seriousness, congratulations to all DSC owners on a truly awesome watch.

[Driver8]

Originally Posted by 77T

Don’t have one but the elephants had me dazzled.

For a second there I thought the height of 3 elephants was showing how thick the DSC is!

[SearChart]

Fits me well I think

[joli160]

Nice thread of the diver that rules them all. Great admirer

[brandrea]

I love the passion you have for this reference OP. This is an example and one of the reasons I joined TRF in the first place … people sharing their passion. Well done

[CFR]

I did try it on my 6" (154mm) wrist the other day...

[diracpoint]

An interesting tidbit about DSC ...

The bracelet pins come with ceramic inserts. This has been available on pm models for many years now, but to the best of my knowledge, it is the first time they are being offered on a non-pm model!

[Deepseadog]

Originally Posted by diracpoint

An interesting tidbit about DSC ...

The bracelet pins come with ceramic inserts. This has been available on pm models for many years now, but to the best of my knowledge, it is the first time they are being offered on a non-pm model!

If there's an award for most excited forum member of 2022, you win...

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by diracpoint

An interesting tidbit about DSC ...

The bracelet pins come with ceramic inserts. This has been available on pm models for many years now, but to the best of my knowledge, it is the first time they are being offered on a non-pm model!

Could it be because, like gold, titanium is softer than steel?

[diracpoint]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

Could it be because, like gold, titanium is softer than steel?

Most likely!


[Source: CNClathing]

On a related note, it seems the choice of Ti is primarily to reduce the weight.

One could argue that high tensile strength (and yield strength) of Ti is also relevant, because it allows the watch case to withstand large pressures without breaking (and permanently deforming). But the 2012 watch was ss, so perhaps that's not the deciding factor ... 🤷

[Skabadi]

Guys I accepted the challenge today. Interestingly the AD told me that rolex had told them that the DSC will be as rare as a rainbow Daytona… really interesting if true…

[diracpoint]

Originally Posted by Skabadi

Guys I accepted the challenge today. Interestingly the AD told me that rolex had told them that the DSC will be as rare as a rainbow Daytona… really interesting if true…

Congrats on that amazing monster!!!

This is the ultimate diver from Rolex, with all their innovations packed on a single platform for the ultimate depth.

I hope your AD is correct! 😊 After all, Rolex is a master of marketing, and they must know that this is a watch for super-enthusiasts and/or guys with huge wrists --- both of which are small pools!

Enjoy!