Bühlmann becomes Official Watch of the 2026 CMAS World Championship in Underwater Photography & Video
From 5 to 11 October 2026, some of the world's finest underwater photographers and videographers will gather in Pemuteran, Bali, for the 2026 CMAS World Championship in Underwater Photography & Video.
Bühlmann is proud to join them as Official Watch of the Championship.
For us, the partnership is a particularly natural one. Because underwater photography exists at the intersection of two worlds that are also central to Bühlmann: technical competence and aesthetics.
First, you have to be a diver
A remarkable underwater photograph may ultimately be judged by what appears within the frame. But creating it begins long before the shutter is pressed.
The photographer must first be a diver.
Buoyancy, depth, time, breathing, positioning, currents, equipment and awareness of the environment all remain part of the equation. At the CMAS World Championship, this is not incidental: competitors and their assistants are accomplished divers, and the images are created during actual competition dives.
Only then does another layer begin.
Light. Composition. Colour. Perspective. Timing. The ability to see something others might pass without noticing and to capture it in a fraction of a second.
Underwater photography therefore asks something unusual of its practitioners: master the technical so completely that it becomes the foundation for creativity.
Function can create beauty
This idea is very close to our own approach to watchmaking.
At Bühlmann, we do not believe that function and aesthetics are opposing forces. Our watches begin with a purpose and with the realities of the environment in which they are intended to be used.
The Decompression 02 was designed around diving. Its displays, rotating decompression scale, safety bezels, ergonomics and underwater readability exist for functional reasons. Yet together, those decisions also give the watch its visual identity. The aesthetics are not applied afterwards.
They are a consequence of the function.
The same can be said of some of the greatest underwater photographs. The final image can appear effortless and beautiful, while behind it lie considerable knowledge, preparation, control and technical skill.
Seeing the underwater world differently
There is another reason why this championship matters to us.
Albert A. Bühlmann dedicated much of his life to understanding what happens to the human body under pressure. His research helped generations of divers explore the underwater world with greater knowledge and safety.
Underwater photographers and videographers bring something back from that world. They allow the rest of us to see it.
At Pemuteran, competitors will work across photography categories ranging from macro and fish photography to wide-angle, creative imagery and images incorporating a diver or model, alongside three video disciplines.
The location itself adds another dimension. Pemuteran, on the north-west coast of Bali, is known not only for its marine biodiversity but also for long-running community reef-restoration initiatives. The Championship's rules explicitly prohibit touching, feeding or manipulating marine life — an important reminder that creating a great image never comes before respecting the environment in which it is made.
Precision below the surface
A mechanical dive watch and an underwater camera are very different instruments, but behind both is a similar philosophy: Know your equipment, Understand your environment and Master the technical fundamentals. Then use them to create something remarkable.
That is why Bühlmann is proud to be the Official Watch of the 2026 CMAS World Championship in Underwater Photography & Video.
Because beneath the surface, technical mastery and beauty are not separate things.