This VCR-5 was cataloged in both 1959 and 1960.  The 1961 version was chromed instead of painted blue.  This is an almost perfect example of a 50 FATHOM with nearly all of it's original paint!  How this example has lasted in the shape that it has is not known.  I would guess that it was not dived very much when it was new.  I now treat it with kid's gloves.  I have another "diver" now that I had repainted/restored so this one can stay safely on display.  Again the GRAY silicone hoses really set off the paint job on this regulator.  This regulator originally arrived from the factory with chromed tinnermanns instead of the nylon clamps seen here.  This regulator housed a downstream Gagnan valve mechanism.  Mike Nelson would surely have approved.

Click here for pictures of the 50 Fathom in action.