Corum Bubble Dive Bomber Flying Tiger Special Limited Edition Automatic 45mm

Remembering it well. It was the year 2000, and Corum was exhibiting at Baselworld right in the front hall. In fact, the brand occupied the space immediately to the left as you walked into the main entrance of Hall 1. What hit you? The Bubble.  The oversized Bubble watch with huge domed crystal that went on to become a legend of this century made its debut — with a bang. It was not a watch to take lightly and watch lovers either loved it or hated it. In fact, by today’s standards with all the social media, who knows how the watch would have been judged. It took some getting used to, but it met with rave reviews from fans. Now, Corum celebrates the 21st anniversary of the famed Bubble watch with a new X Ray version.

How Severin Wunderman Conceived Of The Corum Bubble

The first Bubble collection was the brainchild Severin Wunderman, a legend in his own rights. He had built the Gucci brand in the United States and then moved on to aquire Corum. Wunderman was a quirky (I think I can say that since I knew him fairly well), passionate man with an astute business sense. He was able to integrate his love of watches with his passions for things like the concept of Dia de Muertos, death and life.  He had, after all, been hidden in a school for the blind during the Nazi occupation of Poland until his family could get him safely out of the country and  into America (at the age of 10) to live with his sister.

During those years, he developed some odd interests and became enthralled with the unconventional side of everything he did. In watches, that tendency resulted in the first Bubble watches — most of which had skulls or skeletons in the design. In fact, the windows of that first exhibit were maybe even more enticing than the watches themselves, as they were also bedecked with skulls, pirate’s swords, skeletons and more — much of it from Wunderman’s own collection. When he conceived of the Bubble watch, his goal was to disrupt the watch industry — a goal he accomplished.

When the Original Bubble was released, Wunderman said he was inspired by an experimental diving watch from the 1960’s that had an enormous, curved glass. He paired that domed look, which also had some distorting effects, with creative themed dials, and the rest, as they say,  is history. The Bubble fast became a new millennium icon, with a variety of intriguing renditions released over the years that included the Bubble Jolly Roger, to Bubble Lucifer, Bats and more. Throughout the past years, Corum has even worked with individual artists for collaborations on Bubble dials.

Taking inspiration from a distinctive chapter of World War II history, the CORUM Bubble Dive Bomber ‘Flying Tiger’ wristwatch is more than just a timepiece. It’s a tribute to courage, heroism, and the human spirit, embodied in the stories of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the Flying Tigers.

Here is one of the “First Five” from 2004! Super Cool Limited Edition BubbleDive Bomber Flying Tiger from Corum! This is one of the Original Severin Wunderman Bubble Models! This Special Edition comes with the Oversized Corum Special Edition Military “Bomb” Box Set, Special Edition Certificate, warranty card, etc! Pretty cool!

BRAND: Corum

MODEL: Bubble Dive Bomber Flying Tiger Special Edition

MOVEMENT: Swiss Automatic 

CASE: Stainless Steel

CROWN: Screw-Down Crown

SIZE: 45mm

LUGS: Fitted

DIAL: Limited Edition Flying Tiger Dial

BEZEL: rotating 

CONDITION: Pre-Owned – Excellent!!

BOXES/PAPERS: Yes/Yes – Corum Oversized Limited Edition Military Box Set, Limited Edition Certificate, etc – Everything you see in the pictures!

WATER RESISTANCE: – 100m

STRAP/BRACELET: – Original Corum Brown Leather Bund Style strap with signed steel Deployment buckle.