Watches

Rolex introduced the Submariner in 1953 with a rotating bezel for timing dives, and most dive watches still follow its outline. Omega's Speedmaster Professional passed NASA's tests in 1965 and was on Buzz Aldrin's wrist on the Moon in 1969. Gérald Genta designed the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak in 1972 and the Patek Philippe Nautilus in 1976, two steel sports watches sold at luxury prices. Kikuo Ibe's team at Casio built the G-Shock DW-5000C to survive a fall, and it went on sale in 1983. The Seiko SKX007, the Tudor Black Bay and the Cartier Tank get the same treatment, with reference numbers, movements and production changes laid out plainly. Then there is the quartz crisis, when cheap Japanese accuracy nearly wiped out the Swiss industry and a plastic Swatch helped drag it back.