20/18mm Original Tropic (22522). Pristine condition

In the 1950s recreational diving became a lot more popular and people were beginning to take the hobby up as a leisure pursuit. Exploring and experiencing the underwater kingdom was becoming a real possibility for everybody – who wouln’t love to watch the fish swimming amongst the reefs?

The leading watch brands recognised that there was certainly an opportunity to offer both a necessary safety tool for divers, but also a cool statement watch that could be worn both in and out of the ocean. Rolex launched the Submariner, Blancpain the Fifty Fathoms and Omega unveiled the Seamaster 300. In the pre-wrist-mounted dive computer era, these tool watches were vital for divers to time their dives…real life or death stuff.

The default option for the watches were stainless steel bracelets, but for those serious about their diving there was another option available – the Tropic strap…