Unless you’ve been living off the grid for the last few days you’ve no doubt already heard about the much hyped new Rolex Deep Sea Sea-Dweller D-Blue dial. Rolex has been teasing the launch of this special Deep Sea Sea-Dweller D-Blue Dial for a while now on its website, and officially unveiled the watch at a special event with highly acclaimed film-director James Cameron on Monday.
The Deep Sea Sea-Dweller D-Blue Dial
So what’s the backstory here? Well, in 2012, Cameron – with the support of Rolex and a few other brands – successfully solo dived and subsequently explored the Mariana Trench, the deepest point of the earth’s ocean (10,908 meters underwater.)
Accompanying Cameron on this journey, among other things, was a specially designed Rolex prototype known as the Deepsea Challenge which was engineered to withstand depths of up to 12,000 meters. It was attached to the manipulator arm of the Deepsea Challenger submersible which carried Cameron down into the depths of the ocean, and like the great man himself, survived the ordeal unscathed.
This was the first time such an expedition had been successfully attempted and not surprisingly Cameron was keen to share with the world what he saw. He filmed the entire experience and will be releasing the Deepsea Challenge 3D movie in the coming days, hence the timing of the announcement of the Rolex Deep Sea Sea-Dweller D-Blue Dial.
Like the original, the new Deep Sea Sea-Dweller D-Blue Dial has received mix reviews. This is largely attributable to the fact that with the exception of the distinctive dial color the watch is pretty much exactly the same as Deepsea Sea-Dweller, which many people believe is too big and chunky to be practical for daily wear. However, some fans have also questioned the arguably gimmicky dial design and the decision to even create a special watch for James Cameron in the first place, especially given that he is not even a Rolex ambassador.
To be fair the Deepsea Challenger Expedition was a pretty big deal, at least from a scientific point of view and represented yet another example of man triumphing over the limitations nature has imposed on him. The dial of the Deep Sea Sea-Dweller D-Blue Dial is meant to represent that, offering a subtle yet striking visual representation of the ocean’s depth. Things start off a lovely blue near the surface where light can reach and slowly descend into pitch blackness as you dive deeper and deeper. It’s almost saying “Man wasn’t meant to go this far down but we did it anyway.”
The other change which has really got some fans of the brand riled up is the decision to make the ‘DEEPSEA’ lettering on the dial a yellowy-green color, similar to that of the submersible Cameron piloted. It certainly stands out a lot more on the dial but I’m not sure if that is a good thing to be honest.
As with the original model the in-house, COSC-certified automatic Calibre 3135 is responsible for providing the power.
Pricing is set at US$12,350, which is only about US$300 more than the standard model. Personally I couldn’t see myself wearing either but then again I’m not a diver, let alone a Deep Sea diver.
For more information on the new Rolex Deep Sea Sea-Dweller D-Blue Dial please visit the official Rolex website.
James Cameron goes to the deepest point of the earths ocean! To celebrate this remarkable feat Rolex give us a standard Deepsea with a coloured dial…. How unimaginative!!!
Well said Calum!
I really am not precious about the tie-in to Cameron, the way i see it, is that Rolex were proving the heights (or depths in this case) of their engineering prowess. and simply hitched a ride on a submersible going to the bottom of the ocean. Whether it has been Cameron or John Smith, the point was the submersible, not the pilot.
As a lover of the rolex diving watches for a long time, there is no doubt in my mind that this is a STUNNING watch. Absolutely beautiful. On my shopping list already! NO QUESTION
Larry….. Its a Deepsea with a blue dial!!