The stricken SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 was now at the mercy of the storm clouds that enveloped it. Its 260-horsepower engine made a laboured whining sound as it fought the relentless windshear threatening to force it out of the sky and into the raging Indian ocean. (Click to continue reading)
The 77-day Siege of Khe Sanh
When Jerry Hinkle was posted to the most remote US combat base in South Vietnam, he could not have guessed that he would soon be fighting for survival in the deadliest battle of the entire conflict. 50 years on, as a tribute to his late father, Jeffrey Taylor Hinkle set out on his own mission: to find the exact same Ollech & Wajs watch that had served his father so well all those years ago. (Click to continue reading)
Dr Anthony Llewellyn: From Astronaut to Aquanaut
When Dr Anthony Llewellyn posed for his official NASA portrait at 10.30 on Tuesday, July 26th 1967, he couldn’t help but reflect on the unlikely journey that had bought him to Houston. (Click to continue reading)
Jack Bruce: Perfect timing →
One of the greatest bass guitarists of all time could just as easily have been a great classical musician and composer, were it not for the antiquated attitudes and snobbery of the late 1950s. (Click to continue reading)
Only one watch went to the moon in 1969, but several others helped get it there →
Aviators have been using Chronograph watches to navigate and make fast calculations since the early twentieth century. But chronographs and watches with the functionality to help make complex calculations were just as useful on the ground as they were in the air. For a pilot to be able to do any reckoning in flight, a network of engineers, physicists and mathematicians must first have made innumerable accurate calculations during the aircraft’s development. (Click to continue reading)
In 1964 Ollech & Wajs was well below the leading Swiss watch companies. 1,312ft to be precise.
As the big brands ventured ever deeper into the ocean’s interior they had no idea what may lurk in the darkness beneath. It never occurred for a moment that it might be another watch. This is the story of the dive watch that came out of the blue to beat the behemoths to the bottom of the sea. (Click to continue reading)
Alberto Novelli, the Diving Dentist →
In 1958 Alberto Novelli was forced to make a difficult and unforeseen career choice — whether to continue as a dental surgeon or become a professional deep sea diver. A dilemma few people, if any, have faced before or since. (Click to continue reading)
The North Pole, where better to test a dive watch called the ‘Caribbean’? →
In the summer of 1966 an Italian exploration team, led by award-winning underwater photographer Roberto Dei, embarked on an expedition to the North Pole. The purpose of the expedition was essentially divided into two parts…(Click to continue reading)