The Chief Diver Story - an ode to the side guy.

“Il faut aller voir,” a phrase often used by explorer, inventor, adventurer, and sea advocate Jacques Cousteau, is both a way to live life and a challenge. Translated, it means, “We must go and see for ourselves.”

Some years ago, I came across an episode of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. My wife would tell you I enjoy rather boring TV—or as she calls it, “nerd shows.” I’ve spent a lot of time with my head in the clouds researching the early manned space program—its triumphs, its tragedies, and, most fascinating of all, its stories of perseverance and leadership. There were some truly remarkable leaders woven into those stories: Gene Kranz, Deke Slayton, and so many of the astronauts themselves—ready to stick their necks out for the sake of a common goal. After devouring many books over the years and collecting signatures and artifacts from the program, I somehow ended up going from space… to the sea.

I’ve found a fascinating place I often go to research, relax, and escape the regular rhythms of day-to-day life (don’t get me wrong—those rhythms are so important, especially in a family like ours with six people, six schedules, six mouths to feed, plus two dogs who think they’re humans—so let’s just call it eight people). But from time to time, you need a break, and for me it’s been in space or under the sea in the 1960s and ’70s.

Since first watching the Cousteau Odyssey episodes on YouTube, I’ve grown to love the old monotone narrations and slow pace of the films. Even my kids enjoy watching. In our fast-paced world of Marvel and action movies, there’s something about The Silent World or World Without Sun that is calming to the soul. Though it’s now a closed chapter in the history books, something about it still encourages me in my own life adventure—because truly, we must go and see for ourselves.

My love for Cousteau, his team, and the adventures aboard the old wooden-hulled minesweeper Calypso now runs deep. Over the years, I’m not sure how many hours I’ve spent watching, listening, and reading, but I’ve gathered a few fun tokens along the way: a handful of old books—no longer in print—with that fantastic smell of an old library and browned page edges (I’d take an old book over a new one any day of the week). I also tracked down a piece of the Calypso that was given to Cousteau Society members who were “High Donors” after a repair. It still has white paint on one side.

One of the great pieces of the Cousteau saga is how, as a filmmaker, he created space for the people on his crew. One of those people who stands out across the episodes and films—and who was arguably essential to Cousteau’s decades-long success—was Albert Falco, affectionately called “Bebert” by those close to him. Some time back I learned there was a book written by Falco about his adventures (and I highly recommend you track down a copy): Falco: Chef Plongeur de la Calypso by Falco and Philippe Diole. There are countless stories in the book—travel logistics, extreme sunburn, and everything in between, including being Cousteau’s right-hand man for many expeditions and innovations. Falco was also one of the first Aquanauts to live in an underwater habitat and have his body studied for science. He absolutely earned his stripes with the sea.

As Tab and I began dreaming about our next watch, we knew we wanted to build a diver. Our Linden Chronograph (named after our fourth kiddo) has been so fun to see come to life and find its way onto wrists in the wild, and we wanted to continue with something that represents the Dasher Watch Co. brand but also pays homage to history—and can truly take a beating in the salty sea.

We are thrilled to announce that the new “Chef Plongeur,” or Chief Dive. It’s a 200m automatic diver (sapphire, bracelet, date) with a very meaningful story behind it—part of which is the story of Albert Falco. We wanted to honor the story of the side-guy. He’s not the main character, but without him, Cousteau would not have had the same reach—or even all the accolades. He was pivotal to the mission, and we’re excited to weave the story of the support crew into our newest watch, the Chief Diver.

We’re not only excited about the watch, but also the packaging and what comes with it. Receiving your new watch will be an experience, with purpose built into every piece of content that ties back to the watch.

We hope that when you strap on the Chief Diver, you feel transported back to a time when watches were tools—when they meant something… when you needed one to complete the mission.

Each Chief Diver is assembled in small batches and we’ll do our very best to keep the wait short. And we hope the new Chef Plongeur encourages you—whether you’re sitting in the sand, at a desk, on a boat, or on a plane—to go and see for yourself.

Your adventure awaits…

—Ashley