Thursday, September 18, 2014

Philippe Cousteau's Double Red SEA-DWELLER Coming To Auction

Update: Philippe Coustau's Rolex SEA-DWELLER sold on September 30, 2014 for $183,750 @ Antiquorum Auction House in New York.

...Rolex Ultra-Super Coolness...

Philippe Cousteau
Rolex Double Red SEA-DWELLER
Patent Pending Reference 1665 with Mark I Dial

Coming To Auction

Legendary underwater oceanographer and explorer, Philippe-Pierre Cousteau's Patent Pending Rolex Double Red SEA-DWELLER is coming to auction at the end of the month at Antiquorum. Philippe Cousteau was the son of the greatest explorer that ever lived, Jacques-Yves Cousteau.


Philippe Cousteau's Double Red Rolex SEA-DWELLER. which is about to be auctioned is pictured below.


In this next photo of Philippe-Pierre Cousteau taken during a Jacques Cousteau documentary named "Voyage To The End Of The World", he is wearing his trademark Rolex SEA-DWELLER in stainless steel.




Philippe Cousteau's father, Jacques Cousteau conducted DEEP-SEA testing on prototype Rolex Submariner watches back in 1953, as seen in the photo below.



Jacques Cousteau not only invented SCUBA diving but taught his wife and two sons how to dive which you see in the photo below. Jacques Cousteau's oldest son, Jean-Michel is pictured on the far left; Jacques wife, Simone is pictured in the center; then Jacques Cousteau with his younger son Philippe pictured on the far right exploring in the Mediterranean Sea.




To Light Up The Darkness And Show Us The Way

Jacques-Yves Cousteau brought both of his sons with him on the Calypso when he shot The Silent World. In the photo below taken in 1953 onboard the Calypso by Harold Eugene Edgerton we see a young Jean-Michel Cousteau, with Philippe Cousteau in between his Father, Jacques-Yves & brother Jean-Michel.



In this next image also taken in 1954 onboard the Calypso by Harold Edgerton we see Jacques-Yves with his son Philippe.




In this next family portrait we see Jacques next to his son Philippe who is next to his brother Jean-Michel. You can learn much more about Jacques-Yves Cousteau, an his sons in an article I wrote named "The Complete History Of The Rolex Submariner & SEA-DWELLER, Rolex's Conquest Of The Ocean: Part 5: Jacques Cousteau, Emile Gagan & The Aqua Lung."


I have written extensively about Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and his children, and grandchildren's achievements as stewards of the ocean.

The photo below is from a Rolex SEA-DWELLER story I am still working on, and have not published yet, about Philippe Cousteau's involvement as a diver on the U.S. Navy SEA-LAB III expedition. Suffice it to say that the Rolex SEA-DWELLER was developed as part of that program as a venture between the U.S. Navy SEA-LAB and Rolex. The photo below of Philippe Cousteau preparing to dive as part of SEA-LAB III would have been taken just around the time he obtained his Double Red SEA-DWELLER which will soon be auctioned.



The photo below of Philippe Cousteau with the sun behind him was taken by John Harding. The location was Seal Rocks in New South Wales where Philippe spent a few days diving and conducting an interview for John Harding's magazine which was named Fathom.

Above photo of Philippe Cousteau appears courtesy of John H Harding ©1971



Philippe-Piere Cousteau was quite an explorer and risk taker. Unfortunately in 1979 Philippe was attempting to land the Cousteau amphibious Flying Calypso airplane boat (seen below) and he crashed in in the Tagus River in Portugal and lost his life. His father Jacques-Yves Cousteau was completely devastated by the supreme tragedy.




Philippe Cousteau Jr.

At the time of Philippe Cousteau's death, his American wife, Jan, was seven months pregnant with their son Philippe Cousteau Jr. who is pictured below. Philippe Cousteau followed in his father and grandfather's footsteps.

"I'll never be able to fill my father's or grandfather's shoes, but hopefully I can stand on their shoulders and reach farther." –Philippe Cousteau Jr.

Philippe Cousteau was born in Santa Monica, California, U.S.A. on January 20, 1980 and is 34 years old today. He has followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by educating the public about environmental and conservation issues as well as encouraging people to take better care of planet earth. Philippe Cousteau Jr. grew up in France and the U.S. and in 2000, he co-founded EarthEcho International with his older sister Alexandra Cousteau.

Philippe is also the Chief Ocean Correspondent for Animal Planet, where he is producing a series of ocean documentary programs.

In the next three photos of Philippe Cousteau Jr., he is testifying before the United States Congress in a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee on Capital Hill on February 11, 2009 in Washington D.C. The hearing examined the environmental and commercial aspects of offshore oil drilling.

Philippe Cousteau Jr., wears a Rolex SEA-DWELLER which looks similar to the Submariner his father, uncle and grandfather wore–as you can see in the photo above and the two photos below. As Scott pointed out in the comment section, Philippe's mother, Jan gave him his Rolex SEA-DWELLER when he graduated from Saint Andrews University.



Philippe Cousteau Jr., gave a TED Talk on which you can view below. At the end of his talk, he quoted his grandfather, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who once profoundly said:


“We can find happiness in protecting the world around us, not only because we cherish it for its awesome beauty, power and mystery, but because we cherish our fellow humans. Those who live today, and those who will come tomorrow. Human beings, who like ourselves, will increasingly depend on the environment for happiness and for health.“ –Jacques Cousteau



As we can see in the video above and in the photo below, we see Philippe Cousteau sporting his Rolex SEA-DWELLER.



Philippe Cousteau is pictured below with his older sister, Alexandra Cousteau in a recent photo. Alexandra was born in 1976. Alexandra is an achieved environmentalist and advocate of the importance of conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of water resources for a healthy planet earth. 



Philippe Cousteau was also survived by his older brother, Jean-Michel Cousteau. Jacques-Yves Cousteau is pictured below in 1989 in Papaua, New Guinea with Philipe Cousteau's older brother, Jean-Michel Cousteau. Jean-Michel produced all of his father's TV shows. Notice Jean-Michel is also wearing a stainless steel Rolex Sea-Dweller.




Below is a recent Jean-Michel Cousteau TED Talk, which is fascinating...



Jean-Michel Cousteau's son, who is another one of Jaques Cousteau's grandsons, is Fabien Cousteau who is featured below in a superb TED Talk he recently gave. 


Philippe Cousteau is pictured board the Calypso with his Father Jacques Cousteau in 1978.




The First SEA-DWELLER's In History

Have you ever wondered why a Rolex SEA-DWELLER is named SEA-DWELLER? In other words, what is a SEA-DWELLER and where did the name come from? It is a fact, that Jacques Cousteau was responsible for creating the first underwater house/structure/habitats, as part of Operation Conshelf in September of 1962. The objective of Operation Conshelf was to create underwater habitats for saturation divers to "DWELL" in, on the "SEA" floor.



Albert Falco and Claude Wesly of the Calypso diving team (pictured below wearing red caps) swam into history when they became the first "Oceanauts [French]" or "Aquanauts [American]" or "SEA-DWELLERS [ROLEX]" to live or "DWELL" under the sea. Also in the photo below we see Jacques Cousteau visiting with Falco and Wesly inside the Conshelf I habitat.