Rubber B produces custom rubber watch bands for timepieces from a variety of leading global watchmakers, including Rolex, Tudor, and Panerai, as well as several others. Our complete product catalog features straps in a plethora of different colors, textures, and styles, and each one of our watch bands is made solely from 100% vulcanized rubber.
Our blogs often focus on a variety of topics within the world of horology, spanning everything from the watch collections of notable celebrities to important watch releases from prominent watchmakers. Occasionally, however, they will veer into the more technical side of things, and that is what today’s entry will focus on, as we will learn more about how the ring lock system for the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea watch works.
A Most Unusual Dive Watch
In order to understand more about the ring lock system for the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea, it is helpful to have a little bit of context about the watch itself, as the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea is a very unique dive watch – as you will see later, its uniqueness is what necessitated the construction of the ring lock system in the first place.
The most important thing, arguably, to understand about the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea is just how mechanically complex it is. For contrast purposes, the regular Rolex Sea-Dweller is water-resistant for a depth of up to 4,000 feet, which is well above the standard 1,000 feet that most dive watches on the market today offer consumers.
However, the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea is water-resistant for up to 12,800 feet. To put that number into an appropriate perspective, that is 100 times further under the surface of the ocean than any human is capable of physically surviving (outside of a submarine or other nautical vessel.)
Rolex clearly intended this to be a showcase timepiece in terms of its technical capabilities, and they accomplished their goal by constructing a watch that would go well and beyond what any reasonable person, or even seasoned diver, would possibly need. But how did they manage to achieve this feat? The ring lock system managed to play a significant part in making this feat possible.
How Does the Ring Lock System Work?
In order to be able to withstand those quite literally crushing deep-sea depths, the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea would end up needing to be a larger than normal watch, and at 44 mm, it is a bit bulkier than your standard luxury wristwatch. It also has a thickness of 18 mm, much of which has to do with the ring lock system that has been implemented in the design of the watch.
The ring lock system uses an incredibly durable, nitrogen-alloyed steel ring that is centrally positioned within the case of the watch. This allows it to support the sapphire crystal, which is of a thicker grade than normally seen in a timepiece, and the titanium case back, which is at a Grade 5 for this particular watch.
The interesting thing about the ring lock system is that, even though it accounts for the watch being larger than normal, without it, the watch would actually have had to be even bigger in order to achieve its stunningly impressive depth rating. By choosing to not utilize the traditional case back design here, Rolex’s engineers choose to gain a little bit of bulk but add a tremendous amount of water resistance in the process.
The primary function of the ring lock system is to help relieve the amount of stress placed on the case of the watch when it is exposed to extreme amounts of pressure while underwater. As the watch is exposed to greater and greater pressures, most of the pressure exerts itself on the front and back areas of the watch, as those are the largest surfaces.
Because of the implementation of the compression ring, that pressure is successfully displaced, which keeps the watch from being damaged or outright exploding while underwater. The design is also particularly clever in this instance, because as the crystal and case back are pushed closer and closer together by undersea pressure, the front and back gaskets of the watch are also more tightly compressed, which helps to ensure an extra tight seal.
The case back of the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea is comprised of two distinct components: an inner case back, which is constructed from Grade 5 titanium, and an outer portion, which is a screw-down case back ring that is made from specially patented Oystersteel (904L stainless steel). In the case of a traditional case back design, the enormity of the pressure placed on the case back would be solely exerted on the case of the watch itself, primarily near the threads.
By separating the case back into two components, Rolex was able to redistribute much of the force that was being exerted on the rear surface of the watch. The outer, screw-down ring is solely responsible for keeping the inner, titanium case back tight, while the steel compression ring redistributes all the pressure being exerted on the titanium case back itself.
Ultimately, the ring lock system of the Rolex Sea-Dweller Deepsea is truly an engineering marvel and one of Rolex’s most stunning horological achievements in recent memory, making it one of the most durable dive watches ever crafted.
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If you would like to learn more about our products, shipping policies, pricing, or have questions about our custom rubber watch straps, please visit the Rubber B website today for more information. One of our team members will be happy to answer your inquiry in a prompt manner.
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