Artefacts

Peruse these pieces of diving history in our photo gallery while they wait for their moment to shine in our museum. They are destined to go on display in the real world, but you can view them now. 

Visit the Museum at Pedro St. James

The artefacts featured here are housed at the ISDHF Museum, located at Pedro St. James in Savannah, Grand Cayman. Plan your visit and explore the rich heritage of diving in the Cayman Islands.

AKUSTISCHE HOUSING Austria, circa 1950’s – ISDHF Collection The Austrian made Akustische housing for Leica If, IIf, and IIIf cameras was designed with input from Austrian underwater photographer and explorer Hans Hass. Read more
BOLEX HOUSING Switzerland 1955 – ISCHF Collection Bolex-Paillard introduced the Swiss make housing for Bolex 16mm motion picture cameras. Read more
DENAYROUZE DIVER’S BOOTS France, circa 1900 When the Rouquayrol-Denayrouze scuba unit went into production in 1865 divers were walking on the sea floor and not using fins, which were introduced in the following century. Read more
GRAFLEX HOUSING U.S.A. circa 1920-1930 – ISDHF Collection This vintage housing is of unknown origin and houses the Graflex Series-C reflex camera. Read more
HOME-MADE UNDERWATER CAMERA HOUSING U.S.A circa 1954 – ISDHF Collection French naturalist Louis Boutan’s experiments in underwater photography lead to the publication of his first book on the subject in 1900. Read more
LA SPIROTECHNIQUE CG45 REGULATOR France, circa 1947.1948 – ISDHF Collection This was the first model of Aqua Lung regulator to be imported into the USA from France, and arrived in 1948. Read more
NIKONOS II Japan, circa 1970 – ISDHF Collection Following the popularity of the French Calypso Phot, the Japanese camera manufacturer, Nikon, purchased the rights to produce the camera under the name Nikonos. Read more
PROFESSOR LOUIS BOUTAN HOUSING (REPLICA) France, circa 1893 – ISDHF Collection French naturalist Louis Boutan’s experiments in underwater photography lead to the publication of his first book on the subject in 1900. Read more
ROLLEIMARIN HOUSING Germany, 1953 – ISDHF Collection German engineer Richard Weiss (with input from Hans Hass for whom the housing was named) designed the Rolleimarin housing for Franke & Heudecke, Fabrik Photographischer Prazisions-Apparate. Read more
SAMPSON HOUSING & CAMERA Ex Dalla Valle and Anderson U.S.A.circa 1959 – ISDHF Collection Herb Sampson applied for a patent on his motion picture camera housing. Read more
TARZAN UNDERWATER HOUSING France, circa 1955 – Leslie Leaney Collection French underwater photographer Henry Broussard designed the Tarzan housing for the French Foca camera. Read more
LA PHOTOGRAPHIE SOUS MARIN France 1900 – ISDHF Collection The majority of Boutan’s experiments, which indentified most of the major problems of underwater picture making, were done in the 1890’s at the Arago Marine Laboratory at Banyuls-sur-Mer, on France’s Mediterranean coast. Read more
COUSTEAU MOVIE CAMERA France, circa 1960’s – ISDHF Collection La Spirotechnique who worked closely with Jacques-Yves Cousteau designed this camera. Read more
GIDDINGS/FELGEN HOUSING U.S.A. 1970 - ISDHF Collection Al Giddings manufactured this camera for Nikon and Canon cameras. Read more
HANS HASS MOVIE CAMERA Austria, 1949 ISDHF Collection In 1949 Hans Hass filmed his classic movie Under the Red Sea with this camera. Read more
LA SPIROTECHNIQUE CALYPSO PHOT France, 1958 Belgian engineer Jean Guy Marie Josef de Wouters d’Oplinter designed the La Spirotechnique Calypso Phot. Read more
LE ROY FRENCH BAMBOO REEF HOUSING U.S.A circa 1960 - ISDHF Collection Le Roy French, owner of Bamboo Reef dive shop, designed this hosing in the mid 1960's. Read more
REBIKOFF TORPEDO SYSTEM UNDERWATER CAMERA Ex Jacques Stevens France, Circa 1960 – ISDHF Collection Dimitri Rebikoff joined Club Alpin Sous Marin in the late 1940’s and began building underwater housing and developing underwater lighting systems. Read more
ROUQUAYROL-DENAYROUZE “GROIN” SCUBA MASK REPLICA France, circa 1865 – ISDHF Collection In the early 1860’s in Espallion, France, Benoit Rouquayrol developed a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) for rescuing trapped miners. Read more
SEA NET WOODEN FINS U.S.A. circa 1947 – ISDHF Collection The Sea Net Company was located in Los Angeles, California and during the 1940’s and 1950’s was an early manufacturer of free diving and spear fishing equipment. Read more
SPORT DIVER REGULATOR U.S.A 1949 - ISDHF Collection This single hose, two-stage, demand regulator was manufactured and marketed by E.R. Cross from 1948 to 1953. Read more
UNDER THE RED SEA BOOK England, 1952 Under The Red Sea was Hass’s second English language book. Read more
WET SUIT FROM THE DARING GAME England, 1952 Lloyd Bridges of the hit TV show Sea Hunt played Vic Powers in this movie that was produced by Ivan Tors. Read more
WOLLMAN-SCHMIDT HOUSING U.S.A. circa 1957 – ISDHF Collection New York manufacturers Wollman & Schmidt built housings that incorporated a cam lock system for sealing the rear cover. Read more