By BILL PRINCE
however, the current world double
record holder and all-round rising star,
New Zealander William Trubridge, is
a Suunto ambassador.)
That success or failure in the
competitive apnea arena is measured
in minutes and seconds obviouslyW
plays a major role in enticing watch
brands’ participation. But hyper-
accurate timing underwater is surely
beside the point. More powerful is the
sport’s proximity to the history of the
wristwatch itself, from Hans Wilsdorf,
the founder of Rolex/Tudor, marketing
the first foolproof water-resistant
“Oyster” case in 1926, to the flotilla of
ISO 6425-rated submersibles derived
thereafter, which is one of the more
buoyant parts of the watch market.
No doubt with a nod to old Hans—
and an eye on the brand’s tag-line
“Born to Dare”—earlier this year, Tudor
ambassador David Beckham (left) chose
to overcome a fear of open water by
joining fellow ambassador and French
world champion free-diver Morgan
Bourc’his in a training session, during
which both men were filmed sporting
the handsome titanium Tudor Pelagos.
“I like to feel uncomfortable in
situations, because most of the time
it brings the best out in me,” the
former England football captain said
afterwards. “But I must admit this is
one of the toughest challenges I’ve
ever done. I now have a whole new
perspective on free-diving.”
For more rarefied brands, there’s
the chance to play up their watery
supremacy in marine chronometers—
those hyper-accurate mechanical
clocks that guided ships before the
advent of radiotelephony. To mark
the launch of its new Diver Deep Dive
series, one such pioneer of pinpointere it to go only by its
proper name, it’s unlikely
that any watch company
would get terribly excited
about competitive apnea. After all, set
against the antics of the F1 track or the
daring exploits of pilots (then and now),
what chance might breath-holding have
in enticing consumers to the counter?
But call it free-diving (broadly, six of
the 15 or so disciplines of competitive
apnea, stretching from motionless,
face-down floating in a swimming pool
to full-fat 100m-plus descents with or
without “aids”) and the ultimate test
of sapiens’ ability to withstand a lack
of oxygen—not to mention quieten the
fundamental survival instincts that kept
humans away from the water’s edge
for millennia—appears to be a slam
dunk for those looking to sell a superbly
water-resistant wristwatch.
Of course, it helps that success at
the highest level is largely genderless.
TAG Heuer and Oris have both picked
up on this: the former was one of the
earliest entrants into the field with its
sponsorship of World Champion Tanya
Streeter in 2004, while the latter had
Anna von Boetticher, the face of its
Aquis Lady Diver timepiece, join the
brand in 2013. No harm either that,
rather like boxing, there are enough
disciplines—dynamic apnea, constant
weight without fins, free immersion—
and intrepid individuals to keep records
tumbling. (Unfortunately for advocates
of traditionally powered wristwatches,Swimming to the depths of the sea without oxygen goes against every
instinct, yet the perilous sport of free-diving seems to encapsulate
humankind at its most liberated. Small wonder watches are getting deep tooBreath
DEPTH AND
INFOGRAPHIC BY SAMANTHA TOTTY; TUDOR (BECKHAM); GETTY IMAGES (FREE-DIVER)54 VANITY FAIR ON TIME AUTUMN^2019