"If you've got the guts."
The Bulova Oceanographer — better known as the "Devil Diver" around these parts for its 666-foot depth rating — is one of the very best affordable sports watches from the 1970s. Housed in a cushion case and fitted with an automatic movement, the orange-dialed version is so good, in fact, that we made our own Analog:Shift collaborative version back in 2017!
This tongue-in-cheek ad from 1972 represents everything that we love about midcentury watchmaking — about midcentury advertising. "If you've got the guts, we've got the watch," it proclaims, as the SCUBA-diving scientist wrestling a shark would certainly attest. "The Bulova Oceanographer was designed for the man who is very brave. Or slightly crazy. Or terribly accident-prone.
It was designed for the man who absent-mindedly dunks his watch in his soup." This joking tone speaks, of course, to the watch's water resistance — which, at 666 feet (roughly 200m), was plenty deep for the time. The incredible photograph only serves to drive the point home.
This ad is custom framed in a 13 3/8” x 16 1/4” made of solid wood with light natural color finish. It features a custom-measured, "floating" style, hand-cut 4-ply border in a shade of white, complimenting all the ad tones. Every material used is acid-free and the glass is anti-reflective and offers UV-protection to keep this precious ad preserved no matter where you decide to hang it up. Speaking of which, hanging your newly purchased ad is a seamless task, as this particular frame comes with an additional hanging wire and felt pads for wall protection.
If you long for the golden days of inexpensive mechanical tool watches such as the original "Devil Diver," then this is the ad for you! (Extra points if you hang it in a shed, garage, or man cave outfitted with tanks, BCDs, fins, and wetsuits.)
About our collaboration with Ad Patina
We're thrilled to be collaborating once again with our longtime friend Nick at Ad Patina to bring you a selection of the most-popular and hard to find original vintage magazine advertisements curated specifically for Analog:Shift!
Scouring the world for forgotten marketing treasures, Ad Patina's raison de être very much mimics our own - to hunt down these wonderful bits of history, preserve and restore them as needed, and share them with an enthusiastic community.
These documents of horological and advertising history have entered the collecting conversation as the ultimate accompanying accessory to go along with hobbies and passions. They have found themselves framed in homes and offices around the world.
Every one of these wonderful pieces is a genuine, vintage advertisement that has been professionally framed to ensure years of enjoyment to come - no reprints or reproductions here!
Much like a traditional piece of art - a painting or photograph - an original advertisement can be appreciated for its design as well as for its power to evoke nostalgia. Something vintage enthusiasts know all about!
