Deepsea Challenge, RLX Titanium, 50mm

THE HORIZON OF THE DEEP

The Oyster Perpetual Deepsea Challenge in RLX titanium with a Cerachrom bezel insert in black ceramic and an Oyster bracelet.

The 60-minute graduated, unidirectional rotatable bezel of the Deepsea Challenge enables divers to precisely and safely monitor their dive and decompression times.

It is equipped with a patented black Cerachrom bezel insert manufactured in a virtually scratchproof ceramic whose colour is unaffected by ultraviolet rays. The graduation is coated via PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) with a thin layer of platinum. The dial features large Chromalight hour markers and hands, filled with luminescent material that emits a long-lasting blue glow for excellent legibility in dark conditions.

The dial’s luminescent Chromalight display is an innovation that improved visibility in dark environments, an essential feature for divers.

Hour markers in simple shapes – triangles, circles, rectangles – and broad hour and minute hands enable instant and reliable reading to prevent any risk of confusion underwater.

RLX titanium is a grade 5 titanium alloy selected for its weightlessness and resistance to deformation and corrosion. Although insensitive to abyssal pressure, the experimental watch that accompanied James Cameron in the Mariana Trench still posed a wearability problem due to its weight, as it was made of 904L steel.

The use of RLX titanium to create the case and bracelet of the Deepsea Challenge considerably lightened its weight: it is 30 per cent lighter than the experimental watch that inspired it. The watch also features a particularly visible grain in the satin finish on the bracelet and the case – with the exception of the crown guard. In order to highlight the curved profile of the lugs, the top edges have been chamfered and polished.

The innovative Glidelock and Fliplock extension systems require no tools for use. Made of RLX titanium, the Deepsea Challenge’s Oyster bracelet is equipped with both the Fliplock extension link and the Glidelock system.

Thanks to the combination of these two extension systems, the watch can be worn comfortably over a diving suit up to 7 mm thick.