If any auctioneer ever says to you ‘seen one, you’ve seen them all’ then politely ask them to finish their cup of tea and leave. If there is one thing that cataloguing the Tony and Yvonne Pardoe Collection of Diving Helmets and Equipment has taught me, it is that there are a vast number of variations of a single item that means, as an auctioneer, you can never stop learning.
An early 12 bolt sqaure corselet diving helmet by CE Heinke & Co Ltd.
Diving helmets are instantly recognisable from their basic shape, which has essentially remained unchanged for over 100 years. Even today you can still buy a figure in a diving helmet and suit for your fish tank at home! The large copper bonnet with small windows, the weighted chest plate and the umbilical cord airline remains the basic principal behind its use, but seeing such a collection of diving helmets together in preparation for an auction later on in the year, shows how solutions to the development of diving helmets and technology have produced various results.
A US Navy Mark V Helium Re-Breather Diving Helmet by Morse (front).
From this early 12 bolt diving helmet with square corselet by CE Heinke with breast plate air outlet through to the rather Steampunk looking Mark V helium re-breather by Morse, the variations in the Tony and Yvonne Pardoe collection are quite simply fascinating. Taking time cataloguing the collection has been an interesting and educational experience.
A US Navy Mark V Helium Re-Breather Diving Helmet by Morse (front).
