It’s funny how memory works. It seems that the older I get, the foggier the specifics become about the places and things that I have done in my life. Perhaps I have a case of early senility or maybe I just choose to live in the moment… seldom looking backwards. The mind can play tricks with the details one remembers, so photos can be invaluable to reconstructing events of the past… like that time I met Jacques Cousteau when I was just a small child in 1979.
I have told this story to some of my friends, and hearing it come out of my mouth sounded like a far fetched exaggeration, even to me. Honestly, how in the world would a 9-year old get to meet one of his childhood heroes that he’d regularly watched on television programs? Certainly, regular kids did not have this kind of access to a living legend.
My childhood photo album that my mother made for me
My admiration for Jacques Cousteau only grew as I got older and became a scuba diver. Seeing his “silent world” for myself gave me an understanding of how mankind fits into nature. We are at once seemingly insignificant next to the wonders of the sea, yet we have the power to destroy it along with all the creatures that live in it. My father, Charles E. Hughes, Jr., was a marine biologist and teacher for 52 years always said that “man is the most dangerous creature in the ocean.”
Charles E. Hughes, Jr. in his classroom
Speaking of my father, it is he who was responsible for taking me to see Jacques Cousteau. Everything that my Dad did with me or for me contained a lesson. Good teachers do not just turn off this side of their personality. Even as a 9-year-old, I was excited to see a scientific lecture. The location was the Hampton Coliseum on January 29, 1979. I grew up nearby in Virginia Beach and had access to the ocean. We children would often help my father collect aquatic specimens of fish and crustaceans for his classrooms that were filled wall to wall with saltwater tanks. This was a time before every city had its own aquarium. This was old-school hands-on teaching. My father taught thousands of children over the years about respecting the oceans and the wonderful “aquatic aliens” within it.
My souvenir ticket from 1979
I still have snippets of Mr. Cousteau’s lecture stored in my brain though I cannot recall everything he said. I remember his French accent and the gist of his message. Some of his most famous quotes catch the spirit of the night
“Mankind has probably done more damage to the Earth in the 20th century than in all of previous human history.”
“We must plant the sea and herd its animals using the sea as farmers instead of hunters. That is what civilization is all about – farming replacing hunting.”
“What is a scientist after all? It is a curious man looking through a keyhole, the keyhole of nature, trying to know what’s going on.”
Jacques Cousteau’s legacy lives on and there is no way that I could do his life and accomplishments justice. His feats are well documented in print and film. He is a hero to many and is probably the most famous ocean explorer in our modern times. He was also a famous watch wearer, which is the real point of my story.
Cousteau wearing an Omega Marine Chronometer
Jacques Cousteau and his Calypso crew wore many of the most iconic dive watches of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. While there has been some fantastic coverage of the watches they wore, I am frankly surprised that more people are not jumping on the bandwagon. By contrast, if Steve McQueen wore a watch for even 5-minutes, collectors would call that watch a Steve McQueen “fill in the blank” watch. Please don’t misunderstand me. I love Steve McQueen too, but there can be too much of a good thing. Isn’t about time that Jacques Cousteau becomes a little more celebrated in the watch world. IWC has already done this with several Cousteau Divers watches, but DOXA, Omega, ZRC, Rolex… are you reading this? How about some historic reissues that link directly to Cousteau. Wink wink! What about a Cousteau Society branded Doxa!!!
Deep Background Reading aboout Cousteau’s Watches by Monochrome Watches
Luckily, the guys a Monochrome watches wrote an extensive three-part series on the watches worn by Jacques Cousteau and members of the Calypso, the famous research vessel from which so many expeditions were launched. These articles are must-read material for any Cousteau or dive watch fan. The archival photos of the watches in use have to be seen.
Part 1 – Introduction to Cousteau’s Watches
Part 2 – 1960s
Part 3 – 1970s-1980s
By now, you might be wondering what was Jacques Cousteau wearing when I approached his table to get his autograph. Was it one of the amazing dive watches that accompanied him on his underwater adventures? Was it a Rolex still salty from the sea? Was it a distinctive Doxa? Nope, it was none of those things. In 1979, on the night that I met him, Jacques Cousteau was wearing what appears to have been a digital quartz watch. Really?!
If you are surprised, then I have to admit that I was too. Luckily, photographic evidence exists in my album to back up my claim. By the way, that young rascal getting the autograph in the photo below is me. Dang! I sure was short back then.
Waiting in line to meet Jacques Cousteau
Kodak X-35
The watch on Cousteau’s wrist was not familiar to my modern-day eyes. Even if it looked similar to late 1970s contemporary dimestore digital watches, it was not clear what it was. I wasted many hours scouring the internet attempting to find the perfect visual match for Cousteau’s watch from that night, but despite my efforts, the brand and model of his watch remained a mystery. Admittedly, the photo is not very clear. I am sure that it was taken with my Mom’s trusty Kodak Instamatic X-35 with a plastic lens. This was no Leica that snapped this semi-blurry image. Also, the face of the watch is completely obscured. Even after lightening the image in Photoshop, no hidden details were revealed. Those forensic TV shows make it look so effortless, but it’s not that simple in real life.
Dark LCD Screen
Besides the blurry photo, the fact that there was no “dial” detail confused me. The dial looks completely blacked out so I thought that maybe this was one of the LCD watches that have reverse coloration and appear to have a black screen with light numerals. However, I am not sure that style of LCD screen existed in 1979. I found a photo that might explain why the dial might look black. It seems that an LCD screen does not reflect much light when viewed at oblique angles. It appears darker than when viewed straight-on (when the silvery surface reflects light back at the viewer).
Luckily, there are always smarter people who can point you in the right direction. You just have to know where to look. Thankfully, I am a member of a large community of lovable watch nerds who are more than happy to give an opinion. The collective knowledge of enthusiast forums is vast and very specific. Their knowledge predates many watch blogs and some of these guys could probably write books. Their importance in researching any watch-related subject should never be under-estimated. I posted my photo on the WatchUSeek forum and got assistance from the fine watch experts there. I got several great suggestions based on the shape of the watch and the features that were barely visible through the graininess of the 40-year photo.
At first, I did not think that any of the suggested models fit the photo. The late 1970s had a plethora of digital quartz watches from Seiko, Casio, Armitron, Timex, and even Swiss brands. This was during the so-called “Quartz Crisis” after all… although probably nobody called it that at the time. Everyone had a quartz watch it seemed, apparently even Jacques Cousteau.
If you read the Monochrome Watch articles about Jacques Cousteau’s watches, then you know that most of his watches were certainly not digital quartz. They were usually the best automatic dive watches of the day. A good dive watch must have been a source of pride for professional divers. That is why I was so surprised to see a digital quartz watch in my old photo.
Zooming into to Mr. Cousteau’s wrist does not reveal much
I figured that it would be time to magnify the watch and try to find any visual similarities to the suggested watches. There were no matches at first, but there is a good reason for this. I was trying to compare the suggested models the wrong way. The way Jacques Cousteau is wearing his watch, it would actually appear upside down to the angle of the camera. Once I realized this, things started to fall into place.
The consensus on the forum was that the watch seen on Jacques Cousteau’s wrist from my photo most looked like an Omega Sensor Quartz 1640. This watch has a very distinctive button arrangement and you can see the shape of the elongated trigger-style pusher clearly (unless that is just a shadow). I’ll admit that the perspective is not perfect here, but I feel pretty good about the match. It makes more sense that Jacques Cousteau had a high-end Omega quartz watch instead of a department store Casio like I originally thought. Why not?
Omega Sensor Quartz 1640
I want to thank the watch experts on the WatchUSeek forum who were generous with their time and opinions. It is very possible that they solved this personal mystery for me. Also, we might be able to officially add another model to the list of watches that Jacques Cousteau wore. While I cannot 100% definitely swear to it, it’s a pretty good guess…. more or less.
