Some names deserve to be remembered.
For anyone interested in the history of diving, engineering or underwater exploration, Siebe Gorman is one of them.
It is a name with an extraordinary story stretching back more than two centuries — a story of invention, exploration, courage and of people working in some of the most hostile environments on Earth.
Today, we are incredibly proud to introduce a new chapter in that story.
Not as a replacement for Helicon, but as something with a very different and specific purpose: a specialist division dedicated to professional diving watches, built in select series and inspired by an extraordinary heritage beneath the surface.
And the first of those watches is the Siebe Gorman Type-D.
A Name Forged Under Pressure
The story begins with Augustus Siebe, the German-born engineer who settled in London in the early nineteenth century.
His pioneering work on diving equipment helped transform what was possible beneath the surface. The development of the closed diving helmet and the equipment that became known as Standard Diving Dress helped establish a system that would be used by commercial and military divers around the world for generations.
Siebe’s business evolved into Siebe Gorman, and the name became inseparable from professional diving.
Its history encompasses diving helmets, breathing apparatus, submarine escape equipment and some of the most important developments in underwater technology.
This wasn’t equipment designed simply to look adventurous.
It was equipment designed with a purpose, for people working in extraordinarily demanding environments.
That distinction is important to us.
Why Siebe Gorman?
When we first began exploring the history of Siebe Gorman, we became fascinated by just how significant the company had been.
And the deeper we looked, the more remarkable the story became.
Here was a great British name associated with generations of divers, engineers, the Royal Navy, underwater exploration and genuine innovation — yet today much of that extraordinary story is known only to enthusiasts and historians.
We felt it deserved to be remembered and celebrated.
But paying homage to a name such as Siebe Gorman cannot simply mean putting a historic name onto the dial of a watch.
For us, it has to mean something more.
It means taking inspiration from the qualities that made Siebe Gorman important in the first place: purpose, engineering, reliability, innovation and a determination to create equipment capable of operating in demanding environments.
We cannot recreate that history, nor should we try.
Instead, our ambition is to respect it by creating something new — a product that we are genuinely proud to put the Siebe Gorman name on.
Not a reproduction of something from the past.
Not simply a piece of nostalgia.
But a proper modern diving watch, created for today and inspired by an extraordinary history.
Helicon and Siebe Gorman
We also want to make something very clear.
Siebe Gorman isn’t replacing Helicon.
Helicon remains at the heart of what Danielle and I do and will continue to allow us to explore the wider world of watches — different ideas, inspirations, complications, colours and stories.
Siebe Gorman has a different purpose.
We see it as our specialist professional diving division, with its own distinct identity and a singular focus on watches designed around the world beneath the surface.
Siebe Gorman watches will be developed in individual series, each with its own purpose, character and story.
And the Type-D is Series One.
This approach gives us the freedom to create something very focused.
A Siebe Gorman watch shouldn’t exist simply because we want to make another watch. Each series must have a reason for being there and remain true to the principles we associate with the name.
Purpose. Functionality. Engineering. Reliability.
And, perhaps most importantly, a genuine connection with the world of diving.
Everything We Have Learned
Although Siebe Gorman has its own identity, everything we have learned through Helicon feeds into it.
We have spent years designing watches, working with manufacturers, assembling and testing watches in the UK, talking directly with our customers and constantly learning.
And one thing we have discovered is just how much the apparently insignificant details matter.
A fraction of a millimetre here.
The shape of a hand there.
The action of a bezel.
The depth of a dial.
The amount of lume.
The way a clasp sits against the wrist.
Individually, these things can seem insignificant. Together, they determine how a watch looks, feels and performs.
The Type-D brings those lessons together.
It has taken us around two years of development to reach this point.
There have been changes, prototypes, things that worked and things that didn’t. We’ve questioned details that most people will probably never notice.
But that is exactly the point.
If we are going to put the Siebe Gorman name on the dial, we want to be proud of what sits beneath it.
Introducing the Type-D
The Siebe Gorman Type-D is the first expression of what we want Siebe Gorman watches to become.
A modern 300-metre automatic diving watch, designed to be genuinely capable while remaining comfortable enough to wear every day.
At its heart is the high-beat Miyota 9039 automatic movement, beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour.
Around it we have created a 41mm stainless-steel case with sapphire crystal, integrated helium escape valve, screw-down crown and a 120-click unidirectional ceramic diving bezel.
But specifications only tell part of the story.
We wanted the Type-D to feel purposeful without becoming oversized, distinctive without being unnecessarily complicated and respectful of its heritage without becoming a costume version of a vintage diving watch.
This is not a watch designed to pretend it was made seventy years ago.
It is a modern diving watch designed to be worn today.
At the heart of Siebe Gorman are three words:
SUB AQUA VITA
Life Beneath the Water.
For us, they capture what this project is about.
Siebe Gorman’s history wasn’t created in a boardroom. It was created through engineering, experimentation and by the people who actually ventured beneath the surface.
Divers, engineers, servicemen, explorers and pioneers.
Over the coming months, we want to tell some of their stories.
We’ll explore the people, equipment and remarkable events connected with Siebe Gorman — from the earliest diving apparatus and pioneering breathing equipment to military diving, submarine escape and some extraordinary chapters of underwater exploration.
We also want to introduce some of the people who continue that world today.
Because Siebe Gorman shouldn’t simply be about looking backwards.
SUB AQUA VITA is still very much alive.
More Than a Name on a Dial
We are very conscious of the history represented by those two words:
Siebe Gorman.
And we believe carrying that name brings a responsibility to treat its story with respect.
We don’t want to manufacture history or make claims that aren’t ours to make.
Instead, we want to celebrate what came before, help introduce that remarkable story to a new generation and create watches that pay homage through their purpose and quality, rather than simply through their appearance.
Alongside those historical stories, we’ll also take you behind the scenes of the watches themselves.
We’ll share the development process, the prototypes, the decisions, the successes and probably a few mistakes along the way.
We want the people who eventually wear a Siebe Gorman watch to understand not only what they are wearing, but why it exists.
The First of a New Series
For Danielle and me, the launch of Siebe Gorman is something very special.
Helicon has taught us that there is still a place for small independent watch companies that are accessible to their customers, prepared to explain what they do and genuinely care about the details.
That doesn’t change.
Helicon continues.
But Siebe Gorman gives us a dedicated home in which to pursue another passion — professional diving watches and the remarkable world and history that surrounds them.
The Type-D is where that journey begins.
It is Series One.
And, above all, it is a watch that we are immensely proud to put the Siebe Gorman name on.
Respecting the past. Built for today. Ready for the next dive.
SUB AQUA VITA.