Odyssey Skin-Diver
These 10 watches were a part of a series of dives off the coast of Mexico, just south of Puerto Vallarta, for a program known as “Odyssey”. The exact goal of this program is still vague but some say it was to test a new underwater breathing apparatus, possibly something to do with Aqualung. Others say it was a program that set underwater listening devices on the sea floor. There are rumors that these underwater microphones blended in with the surrounding coral and rocks and would be virtually unseen by those diving above. We cant find anything confirming that this is what was happening under the surface.
These watches were recovered on a recent trip to Mexico where we learned that a local dive shop was closing and wanted to see what old gear we could pick up. They were in a plastic baggy at the bottom of cardboard box that had a couple old diving masks and a few crumpled papers with the word “Odyssey” written on them. It appeared to be a cover page to an old document. The papers were faded and looked as though they had previously been wet.
What we know is that this program operated in the waters off the coast of Mexico, two hours south of Puerto Vallarta, in the mid 80’s. These watches are mentioned on a few of those faded pages along with dolphin fins, tanks, Scubapro masks, depth gauges, weight belts, a couple spear-guns, and a few Aqualung dive compass’s. And that’s about it. The specifics of the program are still unknown. Those pages were missing from the box and I cant find anything about it online. We did find a few old maps with circles marked in the ocean. We weren’t sure if this was part of the file or someones vacation destination. We asked the owner of the shop a few questions about the box but he forgot how he ended up with it. He thinks someone brought in a box of stuff on trade in for a few new dive tanks and a new dive knife. He said he put it in the corner and forgot about it. A lot of things tend to be forgotten that way. A box gets moved, something gets set on top of it, and you forget and the contents escape the space of your mind completely.
Anyhow, The watches seemed to be in good shape. We sat with the owner outside his shop for a bit talking about the box, and after a few shots of tequila and a couple Pacifico’s, we made him an offer. Then we took the box back to the house and packed everything into our luggage for the trip back to the states.
The sun, salt, and sand have left their mark on each of these watches and each tells a slightly different story. All of the watches appear to be identical in style. They all have an orange lollipop seconds hand, pencil style hour and minute hands, and a matte black dial. No watch is exactly the same however, and some have a few more scars than others. Each watch has been pressure tested to ensure that its still water tight. The movements have been looked over by our watchmaker and parts that needed replacing, have been replaced.
There are rumors that more of these divers exist, up to 20 in total. These 10 are the only ones known at the moment.
These watches will come with a rubber strap along with a black Maratac Nato and a 20mm stainless steel BOR (beads of rice) bracelet.
Watches will be available for purchase, Wednesday August 21st and will ship immediately.
Full disclosure: This story is fiction, but our goal was to create a cool story about these 10 watches that would capture the imagination of the wearer, and hopefully it will.
Marin Instruments isn’t in the business of making faux vintage watches, but we know how much we all like old dive watches and old tales of adventure.
In this way, I hope the Odyssey Story captures that sense of adventure.
J.
These 10 watches were a part of a series of dives off the coast of Mexico, just south of Puerto Vallarta, for a program known as “Odyssey”. The exact goal of this program is still vague but some say it was to test a new underwater breathing apparatus, possibly something to do with Aqualung. Others say it was a program that set underwater listening devices on the sea floor. There are rumors that these underwater microphones blended in with the surrounding coral and rocks and would be virtually unseen by those diving above. We cant find anything confirming that this is what was happening under the surface.
These watches were recovered on a recent trip to Mexico where we learned that a local dive shop was closing and wanted to see what old gear we could pick up. They were in a plastic baggy at the bottom of cardboard box that had a couple old diving masks and a few crumpled papers with the word “Odyssey” written on them. It appeared to be a cover page to an old document. The papers were faded and looked as though they had previously been wet.
What we know is that this program operated in the waters off the coast of Mexico, two hours south of Puerto Vallarta, in the mid 80’s. These watches are mentioned on a few of those faded pages along with dolphin fins, tanks, Scubapro masks, depth gauges, weight belts, a couple spear-guns, and a few Aqualung dive compass’s. And that’s about it. The specifics of the program are still unknown. Those pages were missing from the box and I cant find anything about it online. We did find a few old maps with circles marked in the ocean. We weren’t sure if this was part of the file or someones vacation destination. We asked the owner of the shop a few questions about the box but he forgot how he ended up with it. He thinks someone brought in a box of stuff on trade in for a few new dive tanks and a new dive knife. He said he put it in the corner and forgot about it. A lot of things tend to be forgotten that way. A box gets moved, something gets set on top of it, and you forget and the contents escape the space of your mind completely.
Anyhow, The watches seemed to be in good shape. We sat with the owner outside his shop for a bit talking about the box, and after a few shots of tequila and a couple Pacifico’s, we made him an offer. Then we took the box back to the house and packed everything into our luggage for the trip back to the states.
The sun, salt, and sand have left their mark on each of these watches and each tells a slightly different story. All of the watches appear to be identical in style. They all have an orange lollipop seconds hand, pencil style hour and minute hands, and a matte black dial. No watch is exactly the same however, and some have a few more scars than others. Each watch has been pressure tested to ensure that its still water tight. The movements have been looked over by our watchmaker and parts that needed replacing, have been replaced.
There are rumors that more of these divers exist, up to 20 in total. These 10 are the only ones known at the moment.
These watches will come with a rubber strap along with a black Maratac Nato and a 20mm stainless steel BOR (beads of rice) bracelet.
Watches will be available for purchase, Wednesday August 21st and will ship immediately.
Full disclosure: This story is fiction, but our goal was to create a cool story about these 10 watches that would capture the imagination of the wearer, and hopefully it will.
Marin Instruments isn’t in the business of making faux vintage watches, but we know how much we all like old dive watches and old tales of adventure.
In this way, I hope the Odyssey Story captures that sense of adventure.
J.
These 10 watches were a part of a series of dives off the coast of Mexico, just south of Puerto Vallarta, for a program known as “Odyssey”. The exact goal of this program is still vague but some say it was to test a new underwater breathing apparatus, possibly something to do with Aqualung. Others say it was a program that set underwater listening devices on the sea floor. There are rumors that these underwater microphones blended in with the surrounding coral and rocks and would be virtually unseen by those diving above. We cant find anything confirming that this is what was happening under the surface.
These watches were recovered on a recent trip to Mexico where we learned that a local dive shop was closing and wanted to see what old gear we could pick up. They were in a plastic baggy at the bottom of cardboard box that had a couple old diving masks and a few crumpled papers with the word “Odyssey” written on them. It appeared to be a cover page to an old document. The papers were faded and looked as though they had previously been wet.
What we know is that this program operated in the waters off the coast of Mexico, two hours south of Puerto Vallarta, in the mid 80’s. These watches are mentioned on a few of those faded pages along with dolphin fins, tanks, Scubapro masks, depth gauges, weight belts, a couple spear-guns, and a few Aqualung dive compass’s. And that’s about it. The specifics of the program are still unknown. Those pages were missing from the box and I cant find anything about it online. We did find a few old maps with circles marked in the ocean. We weren’t sure if this was part of the file or someones vacation destination. We asked the owner of the shop a few questions about the box but he forgot how he ended up with it. He thinks someone brought in a box of stuff on trade in for a few new dive tanks and a new dive knife. He said he put it in the corner and forgot about it. A lot of things tend to be forgotten that way. A box gets moved, something gets set on top of it, and you forget and the contents escape the space of your mind completely.
Anyhow, The watches seemed to be in good shape. We sat with the owner outside his shop for a bit talking about the box, and after a few shots of tequila and a couple Pacifico’s, we made him an offer. Then we took the box back to the house and packed everything into our luggage for the trip back to the states.
The sun, salt, and sand have left their mark on each of these watches and each tells a slightly different story. All of the watches appear to be identical in style. They all have an orange lollipop seconds hand, pencil style hour and minute hands, and a matte black dial. No watch is exactly the same however, and some have a few more scars than others. Each watch has been pressure tested to ensure that its still water tight. The movements have been looked over by our watchmaker and parts that needed replacing, have been replaced.
There are rumors that more of these divers exist, up to 20 in total. These 10 are the only ones known at the moment.
These watches will come with a rubber strap along with a black Maratac Nato and a 20mm stainless steel BOR (beads of rice) bracelet.
Watches will be available for purchase, Wednesday August 21st and will ship immediately.
Full disclosure: This story is fiction, but our goal was to create a cool story about these 10 watches that would capture the imagination of the wearer, and hopefully it will.
Marin Instruments isn’t in the business of making faux vintage watches, but we know how much we all like old dive watches and old tales of adventure.
In this way, I hope the Odyssey Story captures that sense of adventure.
J.