In March 2016, the Oris Carl Brashear Limited Edition (40mm) was launched. The launch was such a success for the Swiss-based Hölstein brand that all 2,000 limited editions were being talked about as Baselworld 2016 got underway.
Today, we take a moment to remind ourselves who Brashear really was. 1948 saw President Harry S. Truman issue Executive Order 9881, which began the desegregation of the United States military. That same year, Carl Brashear, the African-American son of a Kentucky sharecropper, joined the US Navy. He encountered racism and brutal hostility in his early years while serving food in IWC Ingenieur Replica the officers' mess, and in 1954, after many requests were ignored, he was finally accepted into the Naval Diving School. He graduated the following year and became the Navy's first black diver.
Carl Brashear during his service, seen here in full gear, with his bronze diving helmet clearly visible in the lower right corner
In the mid-1960s, while involved in the recovery of a thermonuclear bomb lost by the United States Air Force in the waters of southern Spain, an accident resulted in the amputation of Brashear's left leg. Remarkably, he re-qualified as a diver and returned to full service two years after the loss of his limb. He reached the rank of Chief Petty Best Replica Watch Officer and Divemaster when he retired in 1979 and following his death in 2006, the US Navy issued a statement recognising him as the truest American hero of all time.
The Carl Brashear Limited Edition is the first Oris watch to be issued in bronze. This material is perfectly aligned with the man it is intended to commemorate. You see, the diving helmet that Brashear wore during his service in the 1950s was also made from this material. The back of the watch is in stainless steel and is engraved with Brashear's diving helmet and the slogan: "It's not a crime to be beaten, it's a crime not to be beaten".