Into the Blue: A Holiday Tribute to the Deep-Sea Adventurer

Geared up and ready to descend, this charming resin diver hangs mid-column as though he's just slipped beneath the surface on a perfect morning dive. His bold blue wetsuit with vivid yellow accents is rendered in wonderful detail — you can practically hear the hiss of his regulator and the satisfying gurgle of rising bubbles. With his trusty black tank strapped snugly to his back, yellow mask in place, and blue fins pointed earthward, he is the very portrait of a man with somewhere magnificent to be.

Recreational scuba diving as we know it wouldn't exist without the invention of the Aqua-Lung in 1943, developed by Jacques Cousteau and engineer Émile Gagnan in occupied Paris during World War II. Before that breakthrough, exploring the underwater world required either cumbersome surface-supplied equipment or the lung capacity of a pearl diver. Cousteau's invention opened the ocean to everyday adventurers, and by the 1960s, scuba diving had become one of the world's most beloved recreational sports — with millions of certified divers now exploring reefs, wrecks, and underwater caves on every corner of the globe.

Hang him from a branch and he'll look perfectly at ease suspended in mid-water, perhaps searching for a nudibranch in the tinsel or inspecting an ornament for signs of coral bleaching. A must for anyone who counts their dives the way others count their stamps.

• Material: Hand-painted resin
• Dimensions: 4.5 in. tall (11.4 cm)
• Color & Design: Blue wetsuit with yellow accents; yellow diving mask; black scuba tank and BCD harness with belt detail; blue fins with black foot pockets; red/auburn hair
• Pose: Upright, feet-down descent position
• Hanger: White cord loop
• Type: Hanging Christmas ornament