Latest Review
Everyone likes to know that their watch is tough. We assume as much with most divers and sport watches. If you’re wearing them, they should be able to take a bit of a beating. But knowing it can simply withstand my daily treatment isn’t all too confidence inspiring as I don’t do too much. So, it’s nice to know that a watch can not only take what I will dish out, but also some absurdly more intense situations, ones that I will NEVER find myself in. Well, Davosa (whose Vanguard we reviewed this week) just put one of their watches through such a test. Why? Fun and to prove that despite being a small and relatively quiet player, their watches are made to a very high standard.
The test, dubbed the Stratosphere Flight, took their Argonautic Dual Time watch up to 33,000 M via balloon. In doing so, not only did they test it for very low pressure, but also for it’s ability to withstand extreme cold, getting down to -60 Celsius. The watch used is their primary tool/diver, very similar to the Argonautic we reviewed, but with an ETA 2893 dual-time movement and 24-hour bezel.
The experiment is quite a cool little project as is the video they made from it. They attached the watch to a helium ballon with a camera pointed directly at it. As the contraption ascends, the video shows the watch keeping time like nothing’s out of the ordinary. Once the balloon reached 35,400m, giving the camera not only a view of the watch, but also the curvature of the Earth, it pops, sending the watch plummeting back down. This descent triggers a parachute to open, slowing the fall to a safe rate, until it landed back on the ground 100km from its origin, no worse for the wear.
As they say, a pictures worth a thousand words. So, enjoy the video of the DAVOSA Argonautic Dual Time: Stratosphere Flight. I recommend putting it up to 720p and full screening it for full effect. Enjoy!
