Helium escape valve
Specific sections/general information3
Your OMEGA Seamaster Professional Diver is the watch for profes-
sional and amateur divers, as well as demanding sportsmen and –
women. A robust design, the new helium escape valve (exclusive
OMEGA patent), together with all the protection systems, offer opti
-
mal security and reliability. In order to ensure that your watch remains
watertight, we recommend that you have it checked by an authorised
OMEGA partner every year.
Helium escape valve (fig. 1)
Why a helium escape valve? When
carrying out work at great depths,
professional divers stay in a diving
bell for several days, breathing a
mixture of gases containing a high
proportion of helium. The pressure
is gradually increased to reach the
pressure at the working depth. The
divers, still inside the bell, are then lowered to the working site. They
leave the bell to carry out their work.
Once their work is complete, they re-enter the bell, which is then
raised to the surface. Pressure is then returned to atmospheric levels
and this is when the valve must be opened (only for deep-sea dives
lasting several days).
The helium molecules diffuse and penetrate the material of the gas
-
kets. The quantity is sufficient to push out the crystal during the return
to atmospheric pressure. To avoid this, the Seamaster Professional
Diver is equipped with a valve specially developed by OMEGA.