Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Italy: Other manufacturers

[lowwall]

So a traditional oval mask complete with stainless-steel rim, top screw and split headstrap. This launched at a time when mask design was changing, not least at Technisub itself. The sole concession to the passage of time is the use of "antiallergenic rubber", probably neoprene. The Universal mask was conspicuous by its absence from subsequent catalogues.

I wonder how many of these were hoarded by diehards who refused to get one of those newfangled screwless nose masks

 

[Popgun Pete]

I remember a dive shop owner saying he was going to set aside a then new silicone dive mask from a quality manufacturer to see how long it would last on the shelf. I recall early silicone masks tended to yellow and some would be stained by prolonged contact with normal rubber, but I never found out how long that mask endured. When they first came out there were all sorts of theories and conjecture’s on how they would hold up and this was long before black and silvery shades became available. This was also before any dive gear churning out of China except maybe the odd fin and mask, mainly for kids. He has long since retired, as have I.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for your input, Angelo. It is indeed curious how long Technisub and other companies kept their non-compensator masks in production and perhaps it was because there were still enough "old-timers" around who knew how to equalise without the feature.

Thanks too for your message, Iowwall. I recall being one of the diehards who stuck with our oval masks with their stainless-steel rims with top screws necause I couldn't see the point of changing "if it ain't broke and hence doesn't need fixing".

I am grateful as well for your posting, Pete. I too was sceptical about new-fangled silicone becoming a standard mask skirt material in the last decades of the twentieth century. In my opinion back then, silicone was just for people who had latex allergies. It indeed was at first, until Jacqueline Bisset came along with a clear silicone mask in "The Deep" to highlight her facial expressions and then everybody wanted one. A bit of advertising hype about "space-age materials" and improved resistance to ageing and the bandwagon took off. I suspect that silicone masks were easier, quicker and hence cheaper to mass-produce than labour-intensive natural rubber skirted ones were, so the "bottom line" also played its part. Suffice it to say that I did snorkel once with a silicone-skirted twin-lens mask in La Jolla Cove, California, but couldn't wait to get back to my traditional single-lens one because the latter felt and sealed much better on my face.

 

[David Wilson]

Now back to vintage Technisub masks. We shall start with the Bella model, which made its début in the 1976 Technisub catalogue. "Bella" is the feminine form of the Italian adjective "bello", which is used extensively in Italian to express admiration, when in English we might say "beautiful, lovely, superb, nice, wonderful, fine".

Upper caption
Italian: "Una serie di maschere eccezionali scaturito da una nuovissima concezione tecnica, che esalta al massimo l'estetica, la praticità e la funzionalità. Questo grazie ad un principio costruttivo assolutamente originalo che consente di realizzaroe la chiusura stagna tra corpo elastico e vetro secondo una superficie curvilinea. anziché su di un piano, come è avvonuto sino ad oggi".
English: "A range of extraordinary masks arising from a brand new technical conception which at most improves aesthetic. Working and fitting performances". This is to go through an absolutely unusual design by which mask are watertight between lenses and rubber body along a curved surface. whilst up now lenses always have been pressed against a flat seal by this".
French: "Une choix de masques Cxcepronets mis à point grâce à une nouvelle conception technique qui mène à des solutions pratiques et esthétiques d'avant-garde. Ces avantages sont en conséquence du système qui assure l'étanchéité entre les verres et la partie en caoutchouc moulé selon une surface courbée, tandis que dans toutes masques produites jusqu'à présent ces verres sont pressés contre des sièges plats.

Lower caption
BELLA art. 125100
Italian: "Il nome dà già una definizione delle qualità estetiche della maschera. Appartiene a settore delle maschere bioculari. E una maschera aderentissima, ideale per immersione in apnea. Vetri temperati".
English: "The name gives immediate!y an idea of Its essential fine-looking qualities. This is a two-lens close-fitting mask specially suited for skin diving. Tempered lens".
French: "Le nom donne tout de suite une idée des qualités esthétiques de ce masque. Il s'agit d'un masque à deux verres avec une adhérence optimale pour tous les visages, l'idéal pour les plongées en apnée. Verres trempés".

So quite a modern-looking mask with a rubber nose pocket for equalisation and a plastic frame. Here is the mask in 1980:

and in 1981:

 

[David Wilson]

Second mask of the day is the Nova, which is the feminine form of the Italian adjective "novo", meaning "new". The model was also launched in 1976:

So "a brand new style single-glass mask (...) Exceptionally wide field of vision even if inside volume and external sizes are very small". A similar model to the Bella with breadth of view and a low internal volume.

The Nova in 1980:

and in 1981:

That must suffice for today. We shall take a look at the Technisub Solo and the Kiss masks some time midweek. Until then, stay safe and keep well.

 

[Popgun Pete]

Ralph Shamlian, who founded Farallon Industries, got a look at the Nova before it came out and suddenly realized if he changed the proportions slightly in the curving coloured frame then side windows could be placed in the black inner frame edges at right angles to the front faceplate. This mask was released as the “Prismatic” in the original orange and black colour scheme and was a sensation when it appeared as previous tri-lens masks were a bucket on your head. The “Nova” appeared here at about the same time, however another feature of the Prismatic were the sprung loaded tab buckles for rapid adjustment of the strap replacing the usual slotted and doubled up strap locking on previous masks. They were not that easy to adjust in the water and if you had any sense you did so beforehand. One advantage was you could store the mask with the strap set at another setting and remembering the number of lugs pulled through on the strap adjust it to what you knew was right for diving. This took the load off the rubber and reduced fatigue cracking with the strap being continually at the one position. The snorkel keeper could be on the doubled up return loop as well rather than against your head. I had two Prismatic masks, the orange when they first came out and years later the blue frame version. They fitted me like a glove as the wraparound frame cupped your face, but if you had a narrow face then the masks leaked at the sides. My dive buddy had a “Nova”, but he was impressed with the “Prismatic” so I bought him one as a Christmas present. They were expensive masks in their day, much more than the “Nova” although the side windows were more an out of the corner of your eye alert rather than viewing the underwater scene through them.

 

[lowwall]

I wonder if the Bella was also meant to serve as the eventual replacement for the Falco for prescription lens wearers. Guess I'll have to wait for the next installment to find out.

 

[Angelo Farina]

I wonder if the Bella was also meant to serve as the eventual replacement for the Falco for prescription lens wearers. Guess I'll have to wait for the next installment to find out.

My wife (at the time my girlfriend) did buy a Bella for her first diving course, when she was 16. It was 1976...
There were no optical lenses for it, as the lenses were a single piece with the plastic part. That mask was considered a "mask for females".
My wife was not particularly happy of this mask. She replaced it a couple of years later with a Cressi one, which had better fitting on her face.

 

[David Wilson]

I am grateful for the input, Angelo, Pete and Iowwall.

Today's Technisub masks are the Solo and the Kiss. "Solo" is Italian for "only" or "alone". The Solo seems to have made its début in 1976:

Italian: "SOLO art. 127100. È il solo occhiale per nuoto ed osservazione dalla superficie, costruito secondo gli schemi delle più affermate maschere per impiego subacqueo. Si ottiene cosi una perfetta tenuta stagna e quindi una protezione assoluta e reale degli occhi, oltre a consentire una corretta visione subacquea. È quindi raccomandabile a chi usa lenti a contatto. SOLO art. 141310. "Versione per piscina con lenti di plastica".
English: "Top performances swimming goggles which actually protect eyes and offer a right view of the underwater world. Very small inside volume".
French: "Lunettes binoculaires de natation ayant des performances qui suscissent tout produit similaire. Protection efficace et réelle des yeux, parfaite vision subaquatique, volume intérieur minimal".

A translation of the longer Italian caption: "SOLO art. 127100. It is the only pair of goggles for swimming and observation from the surface, built according to the patterns of the most successful masks for underwater use. In this way a perfect watertight seal is obtained and therefore an absolute and real protection of the eyes, as well as making correct underwater vision possible. It is therefore recommended for contact lens wearers. SOLO art. 141310. Version for swimming pools with plastic lenses".

So a twin-lens goggle-like mask promising a leaktight seal and relief for contact lens wearers.

The mask in 1980:

and in 1981:

 

[David Wilson]

And now for the Technisub Kiss, which entered the scene in 1977. This from Mondo Sommerso that year:

Italian: "L’ultima maschera della famiglia Technisub è la Kiss, che ad un ampio campo visivo unisce un’estrema facilità di compensazione. Ha il corpo in gomma antiallergica nera e un vetro unico, tenuto in posizione da una ghicra in ABS colorato (giallo e aragosta). Particolarità interessante: il suo cinturino si può regolare molto facilmente, anche in immersione. Il prezzo, competitivo, ma che può essere soggetto 2 variazioni di mercato, è di lire 6.650. Technisub, Piazzale Kennedy 1/D, 16129 Genova, Tel. 010/595.571".
English: "The last mask of the Technisub family is the Kiss, which combines a wide field of view with extreme ease of compensation. It has a body in black antiallergic rubber and a single glass, held in place by a coloured ABS apron (yellow and lobster). Interesting feature: its strap can be adjusted very easily, even underwater. The price, competitive, but which can be subject to 2 market variations, is 6,650 lire. Technisub, Piazzale Kennedy 1 / D, 16129 Genoa, Tel. 010 / 595.571".

The Kiss mask in 1980:

And in 1981: