Looking back, the details of our first contact are maybe not so fascinating – I returned a missed phone call while waiting for a flight. It’s certainly no daring raid to rescue hostages, but these are the humble beginnings of an exciting collaboration.
The Danish Frogman Corps conduct missions in diverse environments, to say the least. One week they could be battling 50°C heat (122°F) in combat but the next they are inspecting the safety of structures in Greenland, where it might be -40°C (-40°F). In one operation they may be scaling mountaintops and in the next they are diving at a depth of 100 metres. Thus the Frogmen’s simple question to me:
“Can you design a watch that could cope with all this, that would tie us together as a unit?”
A timepiece has the unique ability to not only carry sentimental value but to strengthen personal bonds and act as a symbol of unity. A shared timepiece to represent a shared history. That is exactly what the Oktopus Frogman does. It unites generations. Since 1957, only a little more than 300 have graduated from the selection process and served with the Frogman Corps. Not all of them know each other personally, but with the Oktopus they carry a constant link to the Corps with them everywhere.
That is precisely what Conventus Ranae, the formal association of Frogmen, wanted to achieve when they commissioned this piece.
Recommended: Read the story of the Oktopus Frogman and Frømandskorpset.
As for the watch itself, it bears resemblance to its Oktopus siblings, but it exhibits traits that resonate with the Special Forces operatives that wear it. Its understated black and grey exterior is perfect for a unit that, by necessity, keeps itself hidden in the shadows. Or, as one of the Frogmen put it, “the discrete appearance of the timepiece goes perfectly hand-in-hand with the spirit of the Frogman Corps.”
The collaboration was incredibly smooth and a great experience. Unusually for a civilian, I was allowed the privilege of observing them during training, where they were wearing existing Oktopus models, crash-testing them. It’s definitely the best environment to test the watches, probably the most extreme to which any Oktopus will ever be exposed.
Their number one piece of feedback: they wanted better luminescence in the dial for night-time diving and operations. Clearly this would require larger blocks of luminant for the indexes to capture more light. Initially I tried simply adhesive on bigger blocks, but with sharp knocks (and I witnessed plenty of those) the Frogmen would have shaken the indexes loose. Instead, we had to get creative.
The solution: a Luminova sandwich construction. In effect, drill out the indexes from large blocks of Luminova, leaving the base and then placing the dial over them. The watch itself holds the blocks in place, much like the construction of the movements of timepieces. In so doing, we were able to raise the blocks out of the dial allowing them to capture the maximum amount of light possible from their surroundings.
It fills me with pride to know that one of our timepieces, one that I designed, has become a symbol of unity for one of the world’s most elite unit of divers.
M. Linde