People have lengthy had a fascination with the depths of the ocean, striving to go ever deeper, ever additional, and ever quicker by pushing the boundaries of the human physique, expertise, and advancing trendy science.
However like all issues, we people are confronted with limits.
Deep-sea divers used to face these limits when underwater for lengthy intervals. Throughout time underwater tissue absorbs gases, and the time wanted for ascension to the floor can take many hours, even when solely uncovered to sure depths for a couple of minutes.
Prolonged decompression instances posed an issue for divers needing to spend extended intervals of time at depth; and each decompression comes with dangers as effectively. An answer was wanted.
In 1957 Dr. George F. Bond, a United States Navy doctor, started the Genesis Undertaking, a medical experiment to review the results of exposing animals to varied respiratory gases at totally different underwater depths to watch the results on their our bodies.
The experiment proved that our bodies attain a saturation level and no extra time to decompress is required as soon as this has been reached, whatever the time spent underwater. All through the challenge, totally different mixes of gases at totally different depths have been used and it was noticed that if the vast majority of the respiratory gasoline was helium, all the themes survived at various depths for various lengths of time.
In 1962 human trials started at a gasoline mixture of 21.6 % oxygen, 4 % nitrogen and 74.4 % helium. With these trials proving profitable, a world of alternative had now opened up with divers having the ability to reside and work for intervals of 30 days at depths of 600 ft.
This considerably unknown experiment modified the horological panorama without end, producing one of the complicated and recognizable options of dive watches at the moment: the helium escape valve.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Sea-Dweller Deepsea D-Blue with helium escape valve
Sealab
After the success of the Genesis challenge, the USA Navy launched Sealab, which was additionally headed by Dr. Bond. Sealabs (I, II, and III) have been experimental underwater habitats developed by the U.S. Navy within the Nineteen Sixties to show the viability of saturation diving in addition to people dwelling in isolation for prolonged intervals of time. Sealab I bumped into some technical issues on account of an approaching storm, with the experiment canceled after 11 days. Sealab II and Sealab III quickly adopted with extra profitable outcomes.
These underwater habitats have been pressurized dwelling quarters for divers, offering a mixture of respiratory gasoline composed primarily of oxygen, nitrogen, and helium. The Sealabs included a sleeping space, toilet, and dwelling space and ensured that divers might spend a number of days at a time underwater performing all needed duties with out having to make time-consuming, harmful ascents regularly.
Helium escape valve
Throughout ascents in diving chambers, it was famous that occasionally the crystal from one of many divers’ watches would pop off with a loud bang.
This was attributed to helium buildup within the case, which makes its method in by way of diffusion by penetrating the rubber gaskets.
Because the diver ascends within the chamber, the gasoline strain outdoors of the watch decreases, with the strain within the watch remaining larger. As soon as the distinction is just too nice, the strain buildup causes the crystal to pop off the watch as a result of crystals have been typically merely friction fitted on dive watches of the Nineteen Sixties.
Rolex determined to deal with the issue head-on and launched what it known as the gasoline escape valve, a one-way pressure-release valve that allowed the helium to flee the case as soon as the strain distinction reached a certain quantity.
This valve was included into the now-loved Rolex Sea-Dweller. On the Sealab III mission, Rolex Sea-Dwellers geared up with gasoline escape valves have been issued to the diving crew, thus fixing the issue of helium getting into the case.
Commercial for the Doxa Sub 300T with helium escape valve
On the similar time Rolex was creating its gasoline escape valve, the Doxa watch model was additionally concerned with its personal challenge. In 1964 Doxa teamed up with a number of skilled divers, one being Claude Wesly, who was a part of the legendary Jacques Cousteau dive crew, having taken half within the Precontinent I, I, and III dive missions just like Sealab carried out by Cousteau and his crew.
Whereas Rolex was targeted solely on industrial functions, Doxa’s aim was making an inexpensive dive look ahead to leisure {and professional} divers.
Rolex and Doxa loved an excellent relationship and the choice was made to share the patent for the helium launch valve.
Michael Phelps’s private Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M Grasp Chronometer Chronograph as photographed in Rio de Janeiro throughout the 2016 Olympic Video games; it too has a helium escape valve
Conclusion
The historical past of helium escape valves is unquestionably an attention-grabbing one, with humankind as soon as once more proving it’ll cease at nothing to beat the unknown.
And, as at all times, the watch trade was on the forefront of serving to boundaries to be pushed.
Whereas the typical shopper doesn’t actually need a helium escape valve fitted to his or her dive watch, it’s a great piece of diving historical past to hold round.
Common shoppers don’t want watches that may attain depths of three,900 meters or preserve time to inside two seconds per day; nor do they want vehicles that may attain prime speeds of 300 kilometers per hour. However that isn’t the purpose.
The purpose is you’ll be able to have these issues as a result of people could make them. These feats of human engineering and ingenuity are what push us to go additional, quicker, longer, and better.
So I say, lengthy reside the helium escape valve.
* This text was first revealed on March 18, 2018 at Deeper, Additional, Sooner: Why Do Some Dive Watches Have Helium Escape Valves?
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