Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Britain: Britmarine (W. W. Haffenden)

[David Wilson]

Next up is the Pearl Dive Mask. The name was probably chosen in homage to the B119 Coraldive Double Flange Mask (above), which was marketed in the early 1970s but not later.

B134 Pearl Dive Mask

Catalogue caption: "B134 Pearl Dive Mask. Tempered glass lens. Double flange. Easy pinch compensator. Stainless steel clamp." So the Coraldive's double-flange skirt remains but without the top screw, which soon vanished from 1970s-vintage Britmarine masks.

 

[David Wilson]

Last up today is a traditionally styled 1970s mask that I believe came from the Haffenden stable, but which was intended for the American market in the wake of the success of the "Sea Hunt" TV series there starring Lloyd Bridges. Haffenden had already found some success States-side with its "Marlin" open-heel and "Jantzen" closed-heel fins. As I have written several times in this thread, Haffenden was also an OEM, making underwater products for other companies. The mask in question was called the "Malibu".

Malibu Mask

The "Malibu" appears to be a unique Haffenden design separate from the other models listed but combining certain features from them. The unusual V-shaped compensator can be found on the B123 Mermaid, while the top screw was a feature of all the early 1970s Britmarine traditionally styled masks other than the B133 Salamander Panoramic Mask.

So that's your lot for now. In several days' time I shall be back to review the then newly designed Britmarine goggle-style diving masks of the 1970s.

 

[David Wilson]

I launched the 1970s Britmarine adult diving mask range several posts ago as follows: "For the sake of convenience and manageability I am going to divide them into two groups based on the criterion of shape. The first group covers older, traditional mask designs with oval or rounded rectangular lenses. The second group brings together newer, goggle-type mask designs with kidney-shaped lenses." The time has come to review the seven models in this second group of newer, goggle-type mask designs with kidney-shaped lenses. We'll begin with the B129 Dolphin.

B129 Dolphin Mask

Like other models in this group, the B129 was absent from the first Britmarine catalogue of the 1970s. The catalogue caption read: "B129 Dolphin Mask. Twin lenses in tempered glass. Fluorescent orange clamp. Contoured compensator."

The mask shows a passing resemblance to the Mares Vedo, which first appeared in Lillywhites' 1963 underwater catalogue and came with the additional feature screw-in lenses:

 

[David Wilson]

The second 1970s Britmarine new-design diving mask was the B136 Atlantic, which the Haffenden company had made in Italy.

B136 Atlantic Mask

The catalogue caption read: "B136 Atlantic Mask. Tempered glass lens. Double flange. Contoured compensator. Stainless steel clamp."

This model was doubtless inspired by the Cressi Pinocchio designed by Luigi Ferraro (below) more than half a century ago and endlessly copied since around the world:

 

[David Wilson]

The third is this series is the B138 Pacific.

B138 Pacific Mask

Catalogue caption: "B138 Pacific Mask. Tempered glass lens. Double flange. Fluorescent orange clamp. Contoured compensator." The mask's appearance and description indicate that the Pacific is an adult version of the B109 Caribbean Junior mask (below):

We'll look at the remaining four masks in this group in a few days' time.

 

[David Wilson]

Right, let's finish off our review of the remaining 1970s Britmarine new-design kidney-shaped diving masks. Four more models to go. We'll begin with the B140 Oceanica.

B140 Oceanica Mask

The catalogue caption: "B140 Oceanica. Tempered glass. Double flange.Contoured compensator with optional exhaust valve." This description closely followed the wording of the specification for the orange-framed Pacifica mask reviewed in the previous post and illustrated below.

The B140 Oceanica appears to have been the adult version of the B109 Splendido Junior Mask, which featured a similarly coloured frame but a larger nosepiece:

The Oceanica appeared only once in Britmarine catalogues of the 1970s.

 

[David Wilson]

The second mask to be showcased today is the B141 Super Cirano diving mask.

B141 Super Cirano mask

The product name pays homage to seventeenth-century French novelist
Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (below)

A fictionalised version of his life was celebrated in Edmond Rostand's famous play Cyrano de Bergerac, which helped to create and perpetuate the legend of the man blighted with an oversized nose but blessed with a honeyed tongue:

"Cyrano" made an appropriate and probably more positive alternative name to "Pinocchio" when naming diving masks with prominent nosepieces during the 1970s.

Here's the catalogue description: "B141 Super Cirano Mask. Twin lenses in tempered glass. Double flange. Contoured compensator." A specification similar to the Pacifica and Oceanica therefore, but unlike the latter, the Super Cirano had apparently no junior counterpart.

 

[David Wilson]

Third in this series was the B142 Calypso.

B142 Calypso Mask

Catalogue description: "B142 Calypso Mask. Latest streamlined design close fitting professional mask. Double flange. Contoured compensator."

The mask's design was somewhat reminiscent of the B136 Atlantic mask, which was made in Italy, however, with a stainless steel clamp:

The B142 Calypso only made a single appearance in the Britmarine catalogues of the 1970s. Again no obvious young person's equivalent, but the model shared the same orange colour as the frame of the B109 Caribbean junior mask (below) and calypsos are certainly a cultural feature of the Caribbean world :

 

[David Wilson]

Fourth and last in the series. The Bermuda diving mask doesn't appear in the Britmarine catalogues of the 1970s and was probably manufactured by the Haffenden company on behalf of another firm.

Bermuda Mask

This model shares the same name as a different Britmarine diving mask from the 1970s, the B107 Bermuda Junior mask (below):

Despite the common name, the designs of the two models differ fundamentally.

That's it for today and for Britmarine diving masks of the 1970s. The Haffenden company seems to have discontinued its entire line in diving masks a few years later, probably contemplating the failure of their thermoplastic elastomer and plastic composite fins to replace their popular natural rubber fins. I have found no evidence of any silicone-skirted diving masks in the Haffenden repertoire. Material can really matter when moving, or not, from one generation of technology to another. Next time we'll take a look at the Britmarine range of snorkels from the 1970s.

 

[David Wilson]

On to Haffenden's 1970s Clipper and Britmarine ranges of breathing tubes. We'll begin with the Clipper range, which comprised the Seacrest snorkel and the Seadiver combined mask and snorkel mentioned earlier in this thread.

C113 Seacrest Snorkel

Its product description read: "C133 Seacrest Snorkel. Snorkel fitted with free moving uncrushable polystyrene float valve and comfortable soft rubber mouthpiece."

The Seacrest with its sliding float valve passed into history after the first Britmarine catalogue of the 1970s. Its predecessor from the late 1960s was simply called the "Clipper Tube":

The late-1960s Britmarine catalogue image above includes the term "wide bore", which meant very different internal diameters back then and nowadays. There was no trace of the descriptor "wide bore" in the early-1970s specification for the Seacrest, which unlike the "Clipper Tube" came with a mask attachment device as standard.