Bigger is not always better

Within the watch loving fraternity, there are many devotees of the larger watch. Indeed many debates are to be had as to what size of watch is designed and designated for boys, ladies and gents. There are other classifications, such as small, mid-sized, sports, large and out-sized.

Rolex despite being comparatively staid, are not immune from the current trend to shift up the size scale and produce ever larger and bulkier watches, in an attempt to keep up with the likes of Panerai and Brietling whose watches are generally not small. They have however gone overboard (pun intended) with their latest diver’s watch, the DeepSea Sea-Dweller (DSSD).

In the beginning (1954) there was the Submariner. In the early sixties there was the Submariner Date and then the Sea-Dweller. Each evolution added better movements and greater water-proofness. The current Submariner for example is rated to a depth of 1,000 feet. The recently discontinued Sea-Dweller could take you down to 4,000 feet. Bear in mind that most divers on air do not go below 100 feet. The new DeepSea Sea-Dweller is rated to 12,800 feet. Of course at that depth, outside your bathysphere, you would be crushed to a pulpy mass by water pressure.

So the DSSD is ridiculously over-engineered and to my mind outsized.

Here’s a picture of the three Rolex divers, side by side, click for a closer view.

How here’s the DSSD on someone’s wrist – notice he’s not wearing a long sleeved shirt.

It could be worse. Here’s a Rolex pro-type of the Sea Dweller!

My Submariner feels puny in comparison…