After completing the “Explorer’s Grand Slam” by climbing the highest mountain on each of the world’s seven
continents and skiing both Poles, the Dallas businessman and adventurer Victor Vescovo set himself the target
of conquering the mirror image of those peaks, by becoming the first person to dive to the deepest point of the
world’s oceans. Atlantic Ocean, tick; Southern Ocean, tick. And on April 28, 2019, Vescovo, 53, touched ground in
his submersible, Limiting Factor, at the southern tip of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific—known as the Challenger
Deep—setting a new record depth of 10,928 metres below sea-level. “I was drawn to the technical, organisational
and logistical challenge of these missions,” he said, acknowledging his reliance on his Omega Seamaster timepieces
in each operation. “I’ve worn my Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronometer on every dive on the Five Deeps
Expedition, to time the filling of my ballast tanks and help calculate my rate of descent. I also use it to set the master
clock in the submersible—which I check constantly to ensure I execute my regular communications check—and
to synchronise with the Omega worn on the surface by my dive master Patrick.” Three further Omega Seamaster
Planet Ocean Ultra Deep timepieces made the dive: two attached to the submersible’s robotic arm, another to a
lander. He jokes that in the submersible, as Einstein said, the passing of time is relative. “When you’re descending,
a minute feels like three because you’re impatient to get to the mission area. When you’re on the bottom—working,
exploring, mapping—a minute feels like 10 seconds. The older you get, the more you realise time is very precious
and you can’t waste it on negative emotions or unproductive pursuits.” —S.E.Photographed in Puerto Rico on July 16, 2019 wearing an Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Co-Axial Master Chronometer ChronographVictor Vescovo
UNDERSEA EXPLORERPhotograph by DAMELYS MENDOZA
86 VANITY FAIR ON TIME AUTUMN^2019