History.

The history of efforts to use watches underwater and to make watches that are water resistant, or waterproof and to make dive watches goes back to perhaps the 17th century. In the 19th century water and dust resistant watches were usually one-off pieces custom made for a particular customer and described as "Explorer's Watches". Hard hat divers of that period sometimes placed common pocketwatches on the inside of their helmets in order to know the time spent under water. Early in the 20th century such watches were industrially produced for military and commercial distribution. Like their predecessors early 20th century dive watches were developed in response to meet the needs of several different but related groups: explorers, navies, and professional divers.  In 1926, Rolex bought the patent for the “Oyster” watch case, featuring a hermetic seal. On 7 October 1927 an English swimmer, Mercedes Gleitze attempted to cross the English Channel with a new Rolex Oyster hanging round her neck by a ribbon on this swim. After more than 10 hours in the chilly water the watch remained sealed and kept good time throughout.  Omega SA is credited as the creator of the world's first industrially produced diving watch intended for commercial distribution, the rectangular Omega "Marine" with a patented double sliding and removable case, introduced in 1932. After a series of trials undertaken by the Swiss Laboratory for Horology in Neuchâtel in May 1937, the watch was certified as being able to withstand a pressure of, equivalent to a depth of, without any water intake whatsoever.  Following a request made by the Royal Italian Navy, in September 1935, for a luminous underwater watch for divers, Panerai offered "Radiomir" underwater timepieces in 1936. These watches were made by Rolex for Panerai.  In addition, a large number of "canteen" style dive watches by Hamilton, Elgin or Waltham were made to military specification during and after World War II. However, these watches were made in small numbers, and were not intended for large-scale commercial distribution. Today, interest in these watches is limited to collectors.  In 1953, Lip-Blancpain's "Fifty Fathoms" waterproof watch came on the market in France. Various models were issued by Blancpain in small quantities to the military in several countries, including US and French Navy combat diver teams. The Fifty Fathoms was worn by Jacques Cousteau and his divers during the underwater film "Le monde du silence", which won the Palme d'or at the Cannes film festival in 1956, and in the US when TV star Lloyd Bridges wore a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms dive watch in a photo that appeared on the cover of the February 1962 edition of "Skin Diver Magazine".  The Rolex Submariner was introduced at the Basel Watch Fair in 1954 which coincided with the development of self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, known as scuba. In 1959, the United States Navy Experimental Diving Unit evaluated five diving watches that included the Bulova US Navy Submersible Wrist Watch, Enicar Sherpa Diver 600, Enicar Seapearl 600, Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, and the Rolex Oyster Perpetual.  In 1961, Edox launched the "Delfin" line of watches, with industry-first double case backs for water resistance to 200 meters. They later released the "Hydrosub" line in 1963 featuring the first crown system with tension ring allowing depths of 500 meters.  In 1961, Rolex began to include a skindiver handbook with the Submariner, then available in two models, one water resistant to, the other, less expensive version, to. It was the choice of watch for the character of 007 in the first ten James Bond films, causing the "Sub" to achieve an iconic status.  In 1965, Seiko put the 62MAS on the market, the first Japanese professional diver watch.  During the 1960s, commercial work in the oceans and seas created professional diving organisations that needed more robust watches designed for diving operations at greater depths. This led to the development of the first 'ultra water resistant' watches like the Rolex Sea-Dweller 2000 (2000 ft = 610 m), that became available in 1967, and was produced in several variations, and the Omega Seamaster Professional 600m/2000 ft, also known as the "Omega PloProf" (Plongeur Professionnel), that became available in 1970, and was produced in several variations.  In 1983, the US Navy Experimental Diving Unit evaluated several digital watches for use by US Navy divers.  In 1996, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) introduced the standards and features for diving watches regulated by the "ISO 6425 - Divers' watches" international standard.  Many contemporary sports watches owe their design to diving watches.  The vast majority of divers now use electronic, wrist-worn dive computers. A dive computer or decompression meter is a device used by a scuba diver to measure the time and depth of a dive so that a safe ascent profile can be calculated and displayed so that the diver can avoid decompression sickness. Diving watches and depth gauges are however still commonly used by divers as backup instruments for overcoming dive computer malfunctions.

Characteristics.

Many companies offer highly functional diving watches. Whilst diving watches are primarily tool watches, some companies offer models that can in addition to this be regarded by some as jewellery or fine mechanical devices. Diving watches can be analog or digital. Besides pure analog and digital models some diving watch models combine digital and analog elements.

ISO 6425 standard for diving watches.

The standards and features for diver's watches are regulated by the International Organization for Standardization in the ISO 6425 standard; German Industrial Norm DIN 8306 is an equivalent standard. Besides water resistance standards to a minimum of 100 m depth rating ISO 6425 also provides minimum requirements for mechanical diver's watches (quartz and digital watches have slightly differing readability requirements) such as:  Testing diving watches for ISO 6425 compliance is voluntary and involves costs, so not every manufacturer present their watches for certification according to this standard.

Watch case.

The watch cases of diving watches must be adequately water (pressure) resistant and be able to endure the galvanic corrosiveness of seawater, so the cases are generally made out of materials like grade 316L or 904L austenitic stainless steel and other steel alloys with higher Pitting Resistance Equivalent factors (PRE-factors), titanium, ceramics and synthetic resins or plastics. If metal bracelets are used they should be made of the same metal alloy as the watch case to prevent corrosion of the metal with the lower PRE-factor as it will act as a sacrificial anode. The case must also provide an adequate degree of protection against external magnetic influences and shocks, though diver's watches do not have to be able to endure strong magnetic fields and shocks. To make mechanical watch movements themselves shock resistant various shock protection systems can be used.  The cases of diving watches have to be constructed more stoutly than typical dress watches, because of the requirements necessary to withstand a seawater environment at depth. As a consequence diving watches are relatively heavy and large compared to dress watches made out of similar materials. Under water sheer weight is of less consequence than buoyancy, which a diver can address by a buoyancy compensator ("BC") vest. Before the introduction of other case materials diving watch cases were made of stainless steel. Stainless steel is however still often used as case material in contemporary diving watches.

Elapsed time controller.

Analog diving watches will often feature a rotating bezel, that allows for an easier reading of elapsed time of under one hour from a specific point. This is used to compute the length of a dive. (See Tachymeter.) Upon entering the water, the diver aligns the zero on the bezel with the minute (or sometimes second) hand, allowing the elapsed time to be read from the bezel. This saves the diver having to remember the exact water entry moment and having to perform arithmetic that would be necessary if the watch's regular dial was used. On diving watches the bezel is "unidirectional", i.e., it contains a ratchet so it can only be turned anti-clockwise to "increase" the apparent elapsed time, should the bezel be unintentionally rotated further during the dive. This is an important "fail safe" feature. If the bezel could be turned clockwise, this could suggest to a diver that the elapsed time is shorter than reality, thus indicating a falsely short elapsed time reading, and therefore falsely short saturation period, an assumption that can be highly dangerous. Some diving watch models feature a lockable bezel to minimize the chance of unintentional bezel operation under water.  The exclusive use of a rotating bezel is considered a rudimentary diving technique in the 21st century, suitable for basic, shallow single gas (air) diving only. Non-basic diving profiles and depths past require other more advanced timing and measuring methods to establish suitable decompression profiles to avoid decompression sickness. Besides for basic diving and as a backup for monitoring time during more complex preplanned diving, the one-way bezel can also be used for other situations in which a measurement of elapsed time of under one hour might be useful, like cooking.  Digital dive watches usually perform the elapsed time function by use of a standard stop watch function. Digital dive watches may also feature a depth gauge and logging features, but are not usually regarded as a substitute for a dedicated dive computer.

Bezel markings.

Most contemporary dive watches with non-uniform time markings – generally in one minute intervals for the first 15 or 20 minutes – on their bezels are the result of copying old bezel designs. In the past divers typically planned a dive to a certain maximum depth based on now obsolete US Navy dive tables, and dived according to the planned dive profile. If the dive profile allowed a bottom time of 35 minutes the diver, upon entering the water, would set the marker on the bezel, 35 minutes ahead of the minute hand. The diver calculated this with the 60 - bottom time formulae (60 - 35 = 25, for 35 minutes bottom time the diver would align the 25 minute bezel-mark with the minute hand). Once the minute hand reached the main-marker on the bezel the diver would begin his ascent to the surface. The one minute intervals scale helped with timing the ascent and whatever safety stop the diver deemed necessary. For contemporary diving methods the 15 or 20 minute "count-down" bezel is quite antiquated, yet still the only useful mechanical dive timing device available to date. A different type of bezels used on dive watches are (multiple) decompression time interval bezels as featured on Doxa and Jenny watches.

GMT dive watches.

There are some analog dive watches available with a GMT complication. GMT watches were designed for long-haul aircrew and other users who want to track time in different time zones. These watches have an additional GMT watch hand and in the case of diving watches can have a rotating bezel with 24-hours markings instead of minute markings used for reading of elapsed time. With the help of the GMT hand and a correctly adjusted 24-hours bezel the time in two different time zones can be easily read without having to perform arithmetic.

Crystal.

Diving watches have relatively thick watch crystals. Sometimes domed crystals are used to enhance the pressure-resistance of the watch and to improve the watch face legibility under water. The typical materials used for crystals are acrylic glass, hardened glass and synthetic sapphire which all have their pros and cons. Acrylic glass is very resistant to breakage; it can easily be scratched, but small scratches can be buffed out with polishing compounds. Hardened glass is more scratch-resistant than acrylic glass and less brittle than sapphire. Sapphire is very scratch-resistant but less shatterproof than the other options. Anti-reflective coatings are generally applied on sapphire crystals to enhance the legibility of the watch. Some manufacturers use sapphire/hardened glass laminate crystals, where the scratch-resistance of sapphire is combined with the better shatter-resistance of hardened glass.  Watch crystals can also be applied as display backs to view the watch movement, but these are a rare feature on diving watches.

Crown.

Analog diving watches must have a water resistant crown. Some models have the crown mounted in unconventional positions like 4, 8 or 9 o'clock to avert or reduce discomfort from the crown touching the wearers (left) wrist or back of the hand. Often the crown has to be unscrewed to set or adjust the time and date and afterwards retightened to restore the water resistance of the watch and minimize the chance of unintentional operation under water. There are also watch models where a locking handle, separate knob or an extra crown cover has to be manipulated before the crown can be operated. There are however models that have crowns that are operated like the crowns of non diver's analog watches. Screw down or otherwise locking crowns and traditionally operated water resistant crowns can not be operated under water.

Pushers.

Digital and some analog chronograph diving watches - such as the Breitling Avenger Seawolf Chronograph or Sinn U1000 - have specially-designed push pieces that can be operated at depth without allowing water to enter the case.

Helium release valve.

Some diving watches intended for saturation diving at great depths are fitted with a helium or mixed breathing gas release or escape valve to prevent the crystal from being blown off by an internal pressure build up caused by helium that has seeped into the watch case in helium enriched environments (helium atoms are the smallest natural gas particles found in nature) as the watch and diver adjust to normal atmospheric conditions. Other helium safe/for mixed-gas rated diving watches can withstand the helium used in certain diving situations by using gaskets that simply do not allow helium gas to enter the watch case in a harmful way in the first place.

Watchstrap/bracelet.

Watchstraps or bracelets for diving watches are generally made of materials that are adequately water (pressure) resistant and able to endure the galvanic corrosiveness of seawater. In practical terms most diving watches feature a rubber, silicone rubber, polyurethane or fabric watchstrap or a stainless steel or titanium metal link or mesh bracelet of adequate length to facilitate wearing the watch over a diving suit sleeve. For a wrist with a circumference wearing a thick diving suit sleeve increases the strap or bracelet length required the fit the watch over the sleeved wrist to. For this bracelets often have a (concealed) divers extension deployant clasp by which the bracelet can be appropriately extended by approximately to. Some watchstraps allow an increase in length by adding a diving suit extension strap piece to the standard watchstrap. If required more than one diving suit extension strap piece can be added to the standard watchstrap. With increasing depth and rising water pressure the (sleeved) wrist of a diver is exposed to compression effects that have a shrinking effect on the wrist circumference. Many watchstraps intended for diving watches have rippled or vented sections near the attachment points on the watch case to facilitate the required flexibility to strap the watch tightly for normal wear at the surface whilst keeping the watch sufficiently tightly in place on the divers wrist at depth. Metal link bracelets theoretically have more failure points compared to metal mesh bracelets and watchstraps due to the use of link connection parts like split pins or screw pins. One piece (NATO style) nylon fabric straps that slide under the watch case through both spring bars (or attaching points between the watch case and strap) are used to minimize the chance of losing the watch due to a spring bar or attachment point failure.

Legibility.

The dials and markers on the watch face and bezel have to be legible under water and in low light conditions. An indication that the watch is running in total darkness also has to be present. For easy legibility most diving watches have high contrasting, non-cluttered dials and markers with a large, easily identifiable minute hand. The markers for 3, 6, 9 and (especially) 12 o'clock on the watch face and the zero marker on the bezel of analogue diver's watches are usually conspicuously styled to prevent disorientation induced read out errors. A styling of the hands where no hand can temporarily totally overlay and hence obscure the position of another hand is also desirable to promote constant legibility and prevent read out errors. For low light conditions luminous phosphorescent non-toxic strontium aluminate based lume pigments marketed under brand names like Super-LumiNova or NoctiLumina and tritium based self-powered lighting devices called "gaseous tritium light source" (GTLS) are applied on the dials and markers. On digital diving watches, lighted displays are used for legibility under low light conditions.

Power reserve indicator.

A diving watch with an electric battery powered movement must have an End Of Life (EOL) indicator, usually in the form of a two or four second jump of the second hand or a warning message on a digital display to safeguard against insufficient power reserve during underwater activities. Some electric and mechanical powered movement models have power reserve indicators that show the current power status of the watch.

Water resistance.

The International Organization for Standardization issued a standard for water resistant watches which also prohibits the term "waterproof" to be used with watches, which many countries have adopted.  Water resistance is achieved by the gaskets which forms a watertight seal, used in conjunction with a sealant applied on the case to help keep water out. The material of the case must also be tested in order to pass as water resistant.  None of the tests defined by ISO 2281 for the Water Resistant mark are suitable to qualify a watch for scuba diving. Such watches are designed for everyday life and must be water resistant during exercises such as swimming. They can be worn in different temperature and pressure conditions but are under no circumstances designed for scuba diving.  The standards for diving watches are regulated by the ISO 6425 international standard. The watches are tested in static or still water under 125% of the rated (water) pressure, thus a watch with a 200 m rating will be water resistant if it is stationary and under 250 m of static water. The testing of the water resistance is fundamentally different from non-dive watches, because every watch has to be fully tested.  ISO 6425 water resistance testing of a diver's watch consists of:  Except the thermal shock resistance test all further ISO 6425 testing should be conducted at 18 °C to 25 °C temperature. The required 125% test pressure provides a safety margin against dynamic pressure increase events, water density variations (seawater is 2 to 5% denser than freshwater) and degradation of the seals.  Movement induced dynamic pressure increase is sometimes the subject of urban myths and marketing arguments for diver's watches with high water resistance ratings. When a diver makes a fast swimming movement of 10 m/s (32.8 ft/s) (the best competitive swimmers and finswimmers can not swim nearly that fast) physics dictates that the diver generates a dynamic pressure of or the equivalent of 5 meters of additional water depth.

Water resistance classification.

Watches are classified by their degree of water resistance, which roughly translates to the following (1 meter ≈ 3.28 feet):  Note: The depth specified on the watch dial or case represents the results of tests done in the lab, not in the ocean.  Some watches are rated in bars instead of meters. Since 1 bar is approximately the pressure exerted by 10 m of water, a rating in bars may be multiplied by 10 to be approximately equal to that based on meters. Therefore, a 20 bar watch is equivalent to a 200-meter watch. Some watches are rated in atmospheres (atm), which are about 1% greater than bars. In the United Kingdom, scuba divers and others often use the word atmosphere interchangeably with bar (1 atm = 1.01325 bar, or 101,325 Pa).

Watches designed for extreme water resistance.

The design and actual availability of divers' watches certified for more than is not explicable solely by practical diving needs. The diving depth record for off-shore (saturation) diving was achieved in 1988 by a team of professional divers of the Comex S.A., industrial deep-sea diving company performing pipe line connection exercises at a depth of of seawater (msw/fsw) in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the Hydra 8 programme. In 1992, a Comex diver achieved a record of of seawater in an on-shore hyperbaric chamber as part of the Hydra 10 programme. A hydrogen-helium-oxygen gas mixture was used as breathing gas. The watches used during this scientific record dives were Rolex Sea-Dwellers with a depth rating and these feats were used in advertising. The complexity, medical problems and physiological limits such as those imposed by high pressure nervous syndrome and accompanying high costs of professional saturation diving to extreme depths and the development of deep water atmospheric diving suits and remotely operated underwater vehicles in offshore oilfield drilling and production effectively nixed the need for ever deeper non-atmospheric manned intervention in the ocean.

Air filled watches.

At the BaselWorld watch and jewellery show 2009, the CX Swiss Military Watch 20'000 FEET diving watch with an official depth rating of was introduced. This watch represented in its launch year, 2009, the most water resistant (mechanical) watch in production. For obtaining this official depth rating the water resistance is tested to a depth of to offer the 25% safety reserve required by the ISO 6425 divers' watches standard.  Normal surface air filled watch cases and crystals designed for extreme depths must be dimensionally large to cope with the encountered water pressure. To obtain its water resistance the CX Swiss Military Watch 20'000 FEET solid titanium watch case has a diameter of 46.0 mm, thickness of 28.5 mm (domed crystal thickness 10 mm) and the case and bracelet weigh 265 g.

Liquid filled watches.

The cases of some diving watches designed for extreme depths are filled with silicone oil or fluorinated oil (oil in which all the hydrogen is replaced by fluorine) exploiting the relative incompressibility of liquids. This technology only works with quartz movements as a mechanical movement does not work properly in the oil filled case. An example of these watches is the Sinn UX (EZM 2B), whose case is certified by Germanischer Lloyd for, which is deeper than the Challenger Deep. However, the quartz controlled movement is only certified for. At extreme liquid pressures, the metal tube or the glass vial that shields the movement's quartz crystal oscillator in a quartz movement will eventually implode and the movement will stop functioning. The watch battery is another critical part that might fail under extreme liquid pressure. A problem with this technology is to accommodate for thermal expansion of the liquid contained inside the watch. The employed oil changes volume by 10% over a temperature range from to. This property endangers a traditional watch case since the crystal would blow out from any significant internal overpressure. On the UX (EZM 2B), the case back contains a large movable piston with an o-ring seal, allowing the liquid inside the watch case to expand and contract to adjust internal fluid volume and equalize with outside pressure. The liquid filling improves the watch face legibility under water significantly, due to reduced refractive index differences between the watch crystal and its adjacent media and eliminates crystal fogging due to condensation. To obtain its water resistance the Sinn UX (EZM 2B) stainless steel watch case has a diameter of 44 mm, thickness of 13.3 mm and the case and bracelet weigh 105 g. This is dimensionally modest compared to air filled diving watches designed for extreme depths.

Full ocean depth prototype/experimental watches.

In January 1960, a Rolex Deep Sea Special prototype diving watch attached to the hull of the bathyscaphe "Trieste" reached a record depth of ± of seawater during a descent to the bottom of the "Western Pool" of the Challenger Deep, the deepest surveyed point in the oceans. The watch survived and tested as having functioned normally during its descent and ascent. The Deep Sea Special was a technology demonstration and marketing project, and the watch never went into production.  In March 2012 a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Sea-Dweller Deepsea Challenge prototype diving watch attached to a manipulator arm of the DSV "Deepsea Challenger" descended to in the "Eastern Pool" of the Challenger Deep. The watch was designed to be waterproof up to 1500 bar/ and functioned normally during its descent and ascent. The normal surface air filled watch case has a diameter of and a thickness of (domed synthetic sapphire crystal ) to cope with the water pressure at the deepest surveyed point in the oceans. , the record for the deepest normally functioning experimental diving watch is held by the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Professional after reaching a (revised) depth of ± of seawater during a descent to the bottom of the "Eastern Pool" of the Challenger Deep by the Five Deeps Expedition. Two of these watches were attached to the outside of the Deep-Submergence Vehicle "Limiting Factor": one on each of the main vessel's robotic arms and an additional one on the ultra-deep-sea lander "Skaff". Due to a technical problem the watch fixed to the ultra-deep-sea lander stayed on the bottom for two days before it and the lander were salvaged from an unrevised depth of. The normal surface air filled watch case is made of (DNV GL certified) forged grade 5 Titanium alloy (same as the hull of the DSV "Limiting Factor") has a diameter and is almost thick and has been tested and certified for up to 1500 bar/.

Maintenance.

Most diving watch manufacturers recommend divers to have their diving watch pressure tested by a service and repair facility annually or every two to five years and have the seals or gaskets replaced. Besides that, simple maintenance by the owner is also important. Most manufacturers recommend rinsing the watch in fresh water after use in seawater, but leaving a diver's watch in fresh water overnight is a good method to protect the watch from corrosion and to keep the crown, bezel, buttons and pressure sensors on digital ones working. Some watch companies have restricting or limiting policies like manufacturer service center maintenance and repair only in effect that can interfere with other precautionary and maintenance policies or expeditious turnaround, modification or long term support needs.

Precautions.

Divers have to inspect their watch and the wrist band for defects before every dive and especially in case it came into contact with dirt, gasoline or strong chemicals, powerful magnetic fields or was banged against something hard during use. Additionally watches with mechanical movements should also be hand-wound or in case of automatic movements that can not be hand-wound given sufficient motion to self-wind before every dive to ensure a fully charged mainspring.

A diving watch, also commonly referred to as a diver's or dive watch, is a watch designed for underwater diving that features, as a minimum, a water resistance greater than, the equivalent of. The typical diver's watch will have a water resistance of around, though modern technology allows the creation of diving watches that can go much deeper. A true contemporary diver's watch is in accordance with the ISO 6425 standard, which defines test standards and features for watches suitable for diving with underwater breathing apparatus in depths of or more. Watches conforming to ISO 6425 are marked with the word DIVER'S to distinguish ISO 6425 conformant diving watches from watches that might not be suitable for actual scuba diving.

Die Taucheruhr ist eine wasserdichte und druckfeste Armbanduhr (wasserdicht bis mindestens 20 atm, entsprechend 190 m Wassertiefe). Sie dient zur Messung der Tauchzeit und ist zu diesem Zweck mit einer drehbaren Lünette ausgestattet, mit der man die Startzeit des Tauchgangs markiert, indem die mit Leuchtmasse markierte 12-Uhr-Position der Lünette auf die aktuelle Position des Minutenzeigers gedreht wird. Die vergangene Tauchzeit kann nun direkt auf der Lünette in Minuten abgelesen werden. Aus Sicherheitsgründen kann die Lünette nur gegen den Uhrzeigersinn gedreht werden. Sollte sie sich während des Tauchgangs ungewollt verstellen, liegt die markierte Startzeit stets vor der tatsächlichen. Somit ist es unwahrscheinlich, dass die vergangene Tauchzeit unterschätzt wird, sodass der Taucher früh genug mit dem Auftauchvorgang beginnt und die nötigen Dekompressionszeit einhalten kann.


History.

In the 19th century, a number of men had employed an electric arc to melt iron. Sir Humphry Davy conducted an experimental demonstration in 1810; welding was investigated by Pepys in 1815; Pinchon attempted to create an electrothermic furnace in 1853; and, in 1878–79, Sir William Siemens took out patents for electric furnaces of the arc type.  The first successful and operational furnace was invented by James Burgess Readman in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1888 and patented in 1889. This was specifically for the creation of phosphorus.  Further electric arc furnaces were developed by Paul Héroult, of France, with a commercial plant established in the United States in 1907. The Sanderson brothers formed The Sanderson Brothers steel Co. in Syracuse, New York, installing the first electric arc furnace in the U.S. This furnace is now on display at Station Square, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Initially "electric steel" was a specialty product for such uses as machine tools and spring steel. Arc furnaces were also used to prepare calcium carbide for use in carbide lamps. The "Stassano electric furnace" is an arc type furnace that usually rotates to mix the bath. The "Girod furnace" is similar to the "Héroult furnace".  While EAFs were widely used in World War II for production of alloy steels, it was only later that electric steelmaking began to expand. The low capital cost for a mini-mill—around US$140–200 per ton of annual installed capacity, compared with US$1,000 per ton of annual installed capacity for an integrated steel mill—allowed mills to be quickly established in war-ravaged Europe, and also allowed them to successfully compete with the big United States steelmakers, such as Bethlehem Steel and U.S. Steel, for low-cost, carbon steel "long products" (structural steel, rod and bar, wire, and fasteners) in the U.S. market.  When Nucor—now one of the largest steel producers in the U.S.—decided to enter the long products market in 1969, they chose to start up a mini-mill, with an EAF as its steelmaking furnace, soon followed by other manufacturers. Whilst Nucor expanded rapidly in the Eastern U.S., the companies that followed them into mini-mill operations concentrated on local markets for long products, where the use of an EAF allowed the plants to vary production according to local demand. This pattern was also followed globally, with EAF steel production primarily used for long products, while integrated mills, using blast furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces, cornered the markets for "flat products"—sheet steel and heavier steel plate. In 1987, Nucor made the decision to expand into the flat products market, still using the EAF production method.

Construction.

An electric arc furnace used for steelmaking consists of a refractory-lined vessel, usually water-cooled in larger sizes, covered with a retractable roof, and through which one or more graphite electrodes enter the furnace. The furnace is primarily split into three sections:  The hearth may be hemispherical in shape, or in an eccentric bottom tapping furnace (see below), the hearth has the shape of a halved egg. In modern meltshops, the furnace is often raised off the ground floor, so that ladles and slag pots can easily be maneuvered under either end of the furnace. Separate from the furnace structure is the electrode support and electrical system, and the tilting platform on which the furnace rests. Two configurations are possible: the electrode supports and the roof tilt with the furnace, or are fixed to the raised platform. A typical alternating current furnace is powered by a three-phase electrical supply and therefore has three electrodes. Electrodes are round in section, and typically in segments with threaded couplings, so that as the electrodes wear, new segments can be added. The arc forms between the charged material and the electrode, the charge is heated both by current passing through the charge and by the radiant energy evolved by the arc. The electric arc temperature reaches around 3000 °C (5000 °F), thus causing the lower sections of the electrodes to glow incandescently when in operation. The electrodes are automatically raised and lowered by a positioning system, which may use either electric winch hoists or hydraulic cylinders. The regulating system maintains approximately constant current and power input during the melting of the charge, even though scrap may move under the electrodes as it melts. The mast arms holding the electrodes can either carry heavy busbars (which may be hollow water-cooled copper pipes carrying current to the electrode clamps) or be "hot arms", where the whole arm carries the current, increasing efficiency. Hot arms can be made from copper-clad steel or aluminium. Large water-cooled cables connect the bus tubes or arms with the transformer located adjacent to the furnace. The transformer is installed in a vault and is water-cooled.  The furnace is built on a tilting platform so that the liquid steel can be poured into another vessel for transport. The operation of tilting the furnace to pour molten steel is called "tapping". Originally, all steelmaking furnaces had a tapping spout closed with refractory that washed out when the furnace was tilted, but often modern furnaces have an eccentric bottom tap-hole (EBT) to reduce inclusion of nitrogen and slag in the liquid steel. These furnaces have a taphole that passes vertically through the hearth and shell, and is set off-centre in the narrow "nose" of the egg-shaped hearth. It is filled with refractory sand, such as olivine, when it is closed off. Modern plants may have two shells with a single set of electrodes that can be transferred between the two; one shell preheats scrap while the other shell is utilised for meltdown. Other DC-based furnaces have a similar arrangement, but have electrodes for each shell and one set of electronics.  AC furnaces usually exhibit a pattern of hot and cold-spots around the hearth perimeter, with the cold-spots located between the electrodes. Modern furnaces mount oxygen-fuel burners in the sidewall and use them to provide chemical energy to the cold-spots, making the heating of the steel more uniform. Additional chemical energy is provided by injecting oxygen and carbon into the furnace; historically this was done through lances (hollow mild-steel tubes) in the slag door, now this is mainly done through wall-mounted injection units that combine the oxygen-fuel burners and the oxygen or carbon injection systems into one unit.  A mid-sized modern steelmaking furnace would have a transformer rated about 60,000,000 volt-amperes (60 MVA), with a secondary voltage between 400 and 900 volts and a secondary current in excess of 44,000 amperes. In a modern shop such a furnace would be expected to produce a quantity of 80 metric tonnes of liquid steel in approximately 50 minutes from charging with cold scrap to tapping the furnace. In comparison, basic oxygen furnaces can have a capacity of 150–300 tonnes per batch, or "heat", and can produce a heat in 30–40 minutes. Enormous variations exist in furnace design details and operation, depending on the end product and local conditions, as well as ongoing research to improve furnace efficiency. The largest scrap-only furnace (in terms of tapping weight and transformer rating) is a DC furnace operated by Tokyo Steel in Japan, with a tap weight of 420 metric tonnes and fed by eight 32MVA transformers for 256MVA total power.  To produce a ton of steel in an electric arc furnace requires approximately 400 kilowatt-hours per short ton or about 440 kWh per metric tonne; the theoretical minimum amount of energy required to melt a tonne of scrap steel is 300 kWh (melting point 1520 °C/2768 °F). Therefore, a 300-tonne, 300 MVA EAF will require approximately 132 MWh of energy to melt the steel, and a "power-on time" (the time that steel is being melted with an arc) of approximately 37 minutes. Electric arc steelmaking is only economical where there is plentiful, reliable electricity, with a well-developed electrical grid. In many locations, mills operate during off-peak hours when utilities have surplus power generating capacity and the price of electricity is less.

Operation.

Scrap metal is delivered to a scrap bay, located next to the melt shop. Scrap generally comes in two main grades: shred (whitegoods, cars and other objects made of similar light-gauge steel) and heavy melt (large slabs and beams), along with some direct reduced iron (DRI) or pig iron for chemical balance. Some furnaces melt almost 100% DRI.  The scrap is loaded into large buckets called baskets, with "clamshell" doors for a base. Care is taken to layer the scrap in the basket to ensure good furnace operation; heavy melt is placed on top of a light layer of protective shred, on top of which is placed more shred. These layers should be present in the furnace after charging. After loading, the basket may pass to a scrap pre-heater, which uses hot furnace off-gases to heat the scrap and recover energy, increasing plant efficiency.  The scrap basket is then taken to the melt shop, the roof is swung off the furnace, and the furnace is charged with scrap from the basket. Charging is one of the more dangerous operations for the EAF operators. A lot of potential energy is released by the tonnes of falling metal; any liquid metal in the furnace is often displaced upwards and outwards by the solid scrap, and the grease and dust on the scrap is ignited if the furnace is hot, resulting in a fireball erupting. In some twin-shell furnaces, the scrap is charged into the second shell while the first is being melted down, and pre-heated with off-gas from the active shell. Other operations are continuous charging—pre-heating scrap on a conveyor belt, which then discharges the scrap into the furnace proper, or charging the scrap from a shaft set above the furnace, with off-gases directed through the shaft. Other furnaces can be charged with hot (molten) metal from other operations.  After charging, the roof is swung back over the furnace and meltdown commences. The electrodes are lowered onto the scrap, an arc is struck and the electrodes are then set to bore into the layer of shred at the top of the furnace. Lower voltages are selected for this first part of the operation to protect the roof and walls from excessive heat and damage from the arcs. Once the electrodes have reached the heavy melt at the base of the furnace and the arcs are shielded by the scrap, the voltage can be increased and the electrodes raised slightly, lengthening the arcs and increasing power to the melt. This enables a molten pool to form more rapidly, reducing tap-to-tap times. Oxygen is blown into the scrap, combusting or cutting the steel, and extra chemical heat is provided by wall-mounted oxygen-fuel burners. Both processes accelerate scrap meltdown. Supersonic nozzles enable oxygen jets to penetrate foaming slag and reach the liquid bath.  An important part of steelmaking is the formation of slag, which floats on the surface of the molten steel. Slag usually consists of metal oxides, and acts as a destination for oxidised impurities, as a thermal blanket (stopping excessive heat loss) and helping to reduce erosion of the refractory lining. For a furnace with basic refractories, which includes most carbon steel-producing furnaces, the usual slag formers are calcium oxide (CaO, in the form of burnt lime) and magnesium oxide (MgO, in the form of dolomite and magnesite). These slag formers are either charged with the scrap, or blown into the furnace during meltdown. Another major component of EAF slag is iron oxide from steel combusting with the injected oxygen. Later in the heat, carbon (in the form of coke or coal) is injected into this slag layer, reacting with the iron oxide to form metallic iron and carbon monoxide gas, which then causes the slag to foam, allowing greater thermal efficiency, and better arc stability and electrical efficiency. The slag blanket also covers the arcs, preventing damage to the furnace roof and sidewalls from radiant heat.  Once the scrap has completely melted down and a flat bath is reached, another bucket of scrap can be charged into the furnace and melted down, although EAF development is moving towards single-charge designs. After the second charge is completely melted, refining operations take place to check and correct the steel chemistry and superheat the melt above its freezing temperature in preparation for tapping. More slag formers are introduced and more oxygen is blown into the bath, burning out impurities such as silicon, sulfur, phosphorus, aluminium, manganese, and calcium, and removing their oxides to the slag. Removal of carbon takes place after these elements have burnt out first, as they have a greater affinity for oxygen. Metals that have a poorer affinity for oxygen than iron, such as nickel and copper, cannot be removed through oxidation and must be controlled through scrap chemistry alone, such as introducing the direct reduced iron and pig iron mentioned earlier. A foaming slag is maintained throughout, and often overflows the furnace to pour out of the slag door into the slag pit. Temperature sampling and chemical sampling take place via automatic lances. Oxygen and carbon can be automatically measured via special probes that dip into the steel, but for all other elements, a "chill" sample—a small, solidified sample of the steel—is analysed on an arc-emission spectrometer.  Once the temperature and chemistry are correct, the steel is tapped out into a preheated ladle through tilting the furnace. For plain-carbon steel furnaces, as soon as slag is detected during tapping the furnace is rapidly tilted back towards the deslagging side, minimising slag carryover into the ladle. For some special steel grades, including stainless steel, the slag is poured into the ladle as well, to be treated at the ladle furnace to recover valuable alloying elements. During tapping some alloy additions are introduced into the metal stream, and more lime is added on top of the ladle to begin building a new slag layer. Often, a few tonnes of liquid steel and slag is left in the furnace in order to form a "hot heel", which helps preheat the next charge of scrap and accelerate its meltdown. During and after tapping, the furnace is "turned around": the slag door is cleaned of solidified slag, the visible refractories are inspected and water-cooled components checked for leaks, and electrodes are inspected for damage or lengthened through the addition of new segments; the taphole is filled with sand at the completion of tapping. For a 90-tonne, medium-power furnace, the whole process will usually take about 60–70 minutes from the tapping of one heat to the tapping of the next (the tap-to-tap time).  The furnace is completely emptied of steel and slag on a regular basis so that an inspection of the refractories can be made and larger repairs made if necessary. As the refractories are often made from calcined carbonates, they are extremely susceptible to hydration from water, so any suspected leaks from water-cooled components are treated extremely seriously, beyond the immediate concern of potential steam explosions. Excessive refractory wear can lead to breakouts, where the liquid metal and slag penetrate the refractory and furnace shell and escape into the surrounding areas.

Advantages for steelmaking.

The use of EAFs allows steel to be made from a 100% scrap metal feedstock. This greatly reduces the energy required to make steel when compared with primary steelmaking from ores.  Another benefit is flexibility: while blast furnaces cannot vary their production by much and can remain in operation for years at a time, EAFs can be rapidly started and stopped, allowing the steel mill to vary production according to demand.  Although steelmaking arc furnaces generally use scrap steel as their primary feedstock, if hot metal from a blast furnace or direct-reduced iron is available economically, these can also be used as furnace feed.  As EAFs require large amounts of electrical power, many companies schedule their operations to take advantage of off-peak electricity pricing.  A typical steelmaking arc furnace is the source of steel for a mini-mill, which may make bars or strip product. Mini-mills can be sited relatively near the markets for steel products, so the transport requirements are less than for an integrated mill, which would commonly be sited near a harbor for better access to shipping.

Issues.

Although the modern electric arc furnace is a highly efficient recycler of steel scrap, operation of an arc furnace shop can have adverse environmental effects. Much of the capital cost of a new installation will be devoted to systems intended to reduce these effects, which include:  Because of the very dynamic quality of the arc furnace load, power systems may require technical measures to maintain the quality of power for other customers; flicker and harmonic distortion are common power system side-effects of arc furnace operation. For this reason, the power station should be located as close as possible to the EA furnaces.

Other electric arc furnaces.

For steelmaking, direct current (DC) arc furnaces are used, with a single electrode in the roof and the current return through a conductive bottom lining or conductive pins in the base. The advantage of DC is lower electrode consumption per ton of steel produced, since only one electrode is used, as well as less electrical harmonics and other similar problems. The size of DC arc furnaces is limited by the current carrying capacity of available electrodes, and the maximum allowable voltage. Maintenance of the conductive furnace hearth is a bottleneck in extended operation of a DC arc furnace.  In a steel plant, a ladle furnace (LF) is used to maintain the temperature of liquid steel during processing after tapping from EAF or to change the alloy composition. The ladle is used for the first purpose when there is a delay later in the steelmaking process. The ladle furnace consists of a refractory roof, a heating system, and, when applicable, a provision for injecting argon gas into the bottom of the melt for stirring. Unlike a scrap melting furnace, a ladle furnace does not have a tilting or scrap-charging mechanism.  Electric arc furnaces are also used for production of calcium carbide, ferroalloys, and other non-ferrous alloys, and for production of phosphorus. Furnaces for these services are physically different from steel-making furnaces and may operate on a continuous, rather than batch, basis. Continuous-process furnaces may also use paste-type, Søderberg electrodes to prevent interruptions from electrode changes. Such a furnace is known as a submerged arc furnace, because the electrode tips are buried in the slag/charge, and arcing occurs through the slag, between the matte and the electrode. A steelmaking arc furnace, by comparison, arcs in the open. The key is the electrical resistance, which is what generates the heat required: the resistance in a steelmaking furnace is the atmosphere, while in a submerged-arc furnace, the slag (or charge) supplies the resistance. The liquid metal formed in either furnace is too conductive to form an effective heat-generating resistance.  Amateurs have constructed a variety of arc furnaces, often based on electric arc welding kits contained by silica blocks or flower pots. Though crude, these simple furnaces can melt a wide range of materials, create calcium carbide, and more.

Cooling methods.

Smaller arc furnaces may be adequately cooled by circulation of air over structural elements of the shell and roof, but larger installations require intensive forced cooling to maintain the structure within safe operating limits. The furnace shell and roof may be cooled either by water circulated through pipes which form a panel, or by water sprayed on the panel elements. Tubular panels may be replaced when they become cracked or reach their thermal stress life cycle. Spray cooling is the most economical and is the highest efficiency cooling method. A spray cooling piece of equipment can be relined almost endlessly; equipment that lasts 20 years is the norm. However while a tubular leak is immediately noticed in an operating furnace due to the pressure loss alarms on the panels, at this time there exists no immediate way of detecting a very small volume spray cooling leak. These typically hide behind slag coverage and can hydrate the refractory in the hearth leading to a break out of molten metal or in the worst case a steam explosion.

Plasma arc furnace.

A plasma arc furnace (PAF) uses plasma torches instead of graphite electrodes. Each of these torches has a casing with a nozzle and axial tubing for feeding a plasma-forming gas (either nitrogen or argon) and a burnable cylindrical graphite electrode within the tubing. Such furnaces can be called "PAM" (Plasma Arc Melt) furnaces; they are used extensively in the titanium-melting industry and similar specialty metal industries.

Vacuum arc remelting.

Vacuum arc remelting (VAR) is a secondary remelting process for vacuum refining and manufacturing of ingots with improved chemical and mechanical homogeneity.  In critical military and commercial aerospace applications, material engineers commonly specify VIM-VAR steels. VIM means Vacuum Induction Melted and VAR means Vacuum Arc Remelted. VIM-VAR steels become bearings for jet engines, rotor shafts for military helicopters, flap actuators for fighter jets, gears in jet or helicopter transmissions, mounts or fasteners for jet engines, jet tail hooks and other demanding applications.  Most grades of steel are melted once and are then cast or teemed into a solid form prior to extensive forging or rolling to a metallurgically-sound form. In contrast, VIM-VAR steels go through two more highly purifying melts under vacuum. After melting in an electric arc furnace and alloying in an argon oxygen decarburization vessel, steels destined for vacuum remelting are cast into ingot molds. The solidified ingots then head for a vacuum induction melting furnace. This vacuum remelting process rids the steel of inclusions and unwanted gases while optimizing the chemical composition. The VIM operation returns these solid ingots to the molten state in the contaminant-free void of a vacuum. This tightly controlled melt often requires up to 24 hours. Still enveloped by the vacuum, the hot metal flows from the VIM furnace crucible into giant electrode molds. A typical electrode is about 15 feet (5 m) tall and will be in various diameters. The electrodes solidify under vacuum.  For VIM-VAR steels, the surface of the cooled electrodes must be ground to remove surface irregularities and impurities before the next vacuum remelt. Then the ground electrode is placed in a VAR furnace. In a VAR furnace, the steel gradually melts drop-by-drop in the vacuum-sealed chamber. Vacuum arc remelting further removes lingering inclusions to provide superior steel cleanliness and remove gases like oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. Controlling the rate at which these droplets form and solidify ensures a consistency of chemistry and microstructure throughout the entire VIM-VAR ingot, making the steel more resistant to fracture or fatigue. This refinement process is essential to meet the performance characteristics of parts like a helicopter rotor shaft, a flap actuator on a military jet, or a bearing in a jet engine.  For some commercial or military applications, steel alloys may go through only one vacuum remelt, namely the VAR. For example, steels for solid rocket cases, landing gears, or torsion bars for fighting vehicles typically involve one vacuum remelt.  Vacuum arc remelting is also used in production of titanium and other metals which are reactive or in which high purity is required.

An electric arc furnace (EAF) is a furnace that heats charged material by means of an electric arc. Industrial arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one ton capacity (used in foundries for producing cast iron products) up to about 400 ton units used for secondary steelmaking. Arc furnaces used in research laboratories and by dentists may have a capacity of only a few dozen grams. Industrial electric arc furnace temperatures can reach, while laboratory units can exceed.

Der Lichtbogenofen (Elektrolichtbogenofen) ist ein Industrieofen, der unter anderem zum Einschmelzen von Stahlschrott zur erneuten Verwendung als Stahl-Neuprodukt eingesetzt wird. In Fachkreisen wird häufig vom EAF () gesprochen.


Early life.

New Orleans and Texas.

Born in New Orleans, Rice is the second of four daughters of parents of Irish Catholic descent, Howard O'Brien and Katherine "Kay" Allen O'Brien. Her father, a Naval veteran of World War II and lifelong resident of New Orleans, worked as a Personnel Executive for the U.S. Postal Service, and authored one novel, "The Impulsive Imp", which was published posthumously. Her older sister, Alice Borchardt, later became a noted author of fantasy and horror fiction.  Rice spent most of her youth in New Orleans, which forms the backdrop against which many of her works are set. She and her family lived in the rented home of her maternal grandmother, Alice Allen, known as "Mamma Allen," at 2301 St. Charles Avenue in the Irish Channel, which Rice says was widely considered a "Catholic Ghetto". Allen, who began working as a domestic shortly after separating from her alcoholic husband, was an important early influence in Rice's life, keeping the family and household together as Rice's mother sank deeper into alcoholism. Allen died in 1949, but the O'Briens remained in her home until 1956, when they moved to 2524 St. Charles Avenue, a former rectory, convent, and school owned by the parish, to be closer to both the church and support for Katherine's addiction. As a young child, Rice studied at St. Alphonsus School, a Catholic institution previously attended by her father.  About her unusual given name, Rice said:  However, according to the authorized biography "Prism of the Night", by Katherine Ramsland, Rice's father was the source of his daughter's birth name: "Thinking back to the days when his own name had been associated with girls, and perhaps in an effort to give it away, Howard named the little girl Howard Allen Frances O'Brien." Rice became "Anne" on her first day of school, when a nun asked her what her name was. She told the nun "Anne," which she considered a pretty name. Her mother, who was with her, let it go without correcting her, knowing how self-conscious her daughter was of her real name. From that day on, everyone she knew addressed her as "Anne", and her name was legally changed in 1947. Rice was confirmed in the Catholic Church when she was twelve years old and took the full name Howard Allen Frances Alphonsus Liguori O'Brien, adding the names of a saint and of an aunt, who was a nun. "I was honored to have my aunt's name," she said, "but it was my burden and joy as a child to have strange names."  When Rice was fifteen years old, her mother died as a result of alcoholism. Soon afterward, she and her sisters were placed by their father in St. Joseph's Academy. Rice described St. Joseph's as "something out of Jane Eyre... a dilapidated, awful, medieval type of place. I really hated it and wanted to leave. I felt betrayed by my father."  In November 1957, Rice's father married Dorothy Van Bever. On the subject of the couple's first meeting, Rice recalled, "My father wrote her a formal letter inviting her to lunch which I hand-delivered to her house... I was so nervous. In the note he enclosed a pin which she was to wear if she accepted the invitation. The next day she had the pin on." In 1958, when Rice was sixteen, her father moved the family to north Texas, purchasing their first home in Richardson. Rice first met her future husband, Stan Rice, in a journalism class while they were both students at Richardson High School.

San Francisco and Berkeley.

Graduating from Richardson High in 1959, Rice completed her freshman year at Texas Woman's University in Denton and transferred to North Texas State College for her sophomore year, but dropped out when she ran out of money and was unable to find employment. Soon after, she moved to San Francisco and stayed with the family of a friend until she found work as an insurance claims processor. She persuaded her former roommate from Texas Woman's University, Ginny Mathis, to join her, and they found an apartment in the Haight-Ashbury district. Mathis acquired a job at the same insurance company as Rice. Soon after, they began taking night courses at University of San Francisco, an all-male Jesuit school that allowed women to take night courses. For Easter vacation Anne returned home to Texas, rekindling her relationship with Stan Rice. After her return to San Francisco, Stan Rice came for a week-long visit during summer break. He returned to Texas, Rice moved back in with the Percys, and Mathis left San Francisco in August to enroll in a nursing program in Oklahoma. Some time later, Anne received a special delivery letter from Stan Rice asking her to marry him. They married on October 14, 1961, in Denton, Texas, soon after she turned twenty years old, and when he was just weeks from his nineteenth birthday.  The Rices moved back to San Francisco in 1962, experiencing the birth of the Hippie movement firsthand as they lived in the soon-to-be fabled Haight-Ashbury district, Berkeley, and later the Castro District. "I'm a totally conservative person," she later told "The New York Times", "In the middle of Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s, I was typing away while everybody was dropping acid and smoking grass. I was known as my own square." Rice attended San Francisco State University and obtained a B.A. in Political Science in 1964. Their daughter Michele, later nicknamed "Mouse", was born to the couple on September 21, 1966, and Rice later interrupted her graduate studies at SFSU to become a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Berkeley. However, she soon became disenchanted with the emphasis on literary criticism and the language requirements. In Rice's words, "I wanted to be a writer, not a literature student."  Rice returned to San Francisco State in 1970 to finish her studies in Creative Writing, and in 1972 graduated with an M.A. Stan Rice became an instructor at San Francisco State shortly after receiving his own M.A. in Creative Writing from the institution, and later chaired the Creative Writing department before retiring in 1988. In 1970, while Rice was still in the graduate program, her daughter was diagnosed with acute granulocytic leukemia. Rice later described having a prophetic dream—months before Michele became ill—that her daughter was dying from "something wrong with her blood." On August 5, 1972, Michele died at Stanford Children's Hospital in Palo Alto.  Rice's son Christopher was born in Berkeley, California, in 1978; he would become a best-selling author in his own right, publishing his first novel at the age of 22. In mid-1979, Rice, an admitted alcoholic, and her husband, Stan Rice, quit drinking so their son would not have the life that she had as a child.

Writing career.

Influences.

Rice has stated that Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, John Milton, Ernest Hemingway, William Shakespeare, the Brontë sisters, Jean-Paul Sartre, Henry James, Arthur Conan Doyle, H. Rider Haggard, and Stephen King are writers who have influenced her work. She has repeatedly returned to King's "Firestarter" for inspiration, saying "I study the novel, "Firestarter" whenever I'm blocked. Reading the first few pages of "Firestarter" helps to get me going."

"Interview with the Vampire".

In 1973, while still grieving the loss of her daughter, Rice took a previously written short story and turned it into her first novel, the bestselling "Interview with the Vampire". She based her vampires on Gloria Holden's character in "Dracula's Daughter": "It established to me what vampires were—these elegant, tragic, sensitive people. I was really just going with that feeling when writing "Interview With the Vampire". I didn't do a lot of research." After completing the novel and following many rejections from publishers, Rice developed obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). She became obsessed with germs, thinking that she contaminated everything she touched, engaged in frequent and obsessive hand washing and obsessively checked locks on windows and doors. Of this period, Rice says, "What you see when you're in that state is every single flaw in our hygiene and you can't control it and you go crazy."  In August 1974, after a year of therapy for her OCD, Rice attended the Squaw Valley Writer's Conference at Squaw Valley, conducted by writer Ray Nelson. While at the conference, Rice met her future literary agent, Phyllis Seidel. In October 1974, Seidel sold the publishing rights to "Interview with the Vampire" to Alfred A. Knopf for a $12,000 advance of the hardcover rights, at a time when most new authors were receiving $2,000 advances. "Interview with the Vampire" was published in May 1976. In 1977, the Rices traveled to both Europe and Egypt for the first time.

Other works.

Following the publication of "Interview with the Vampire", while living in California, Rice wrote two historical novels, "The Feast of All Saints" and "Cry to Heaven", along with three erotic novels ("The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty", "Beauty's Punishment", and "Beauty's Release") under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure, and two more under the pseudonym Anne Rampling ("Exit to Eden" and "Belinda"). Rice then returned to the vampire genre with "The Vampire Lestat" and "The Queen of the Damned", her bestselling sequels to "Interview with the Vampire".  Shortly after her June 1988 return to New Orleans, Rice penned "The Witching Hour" as an expression of her joy at coming home. Rice also continued her popular "Vampire Chronicles" series, which later grew to encompass ten novels, and followed up on "The Witching Hour" with "Lasher" and "Taltos", completing the "Lives of the Mayfair Witches" trilogy. She also published "Violin", a tale of a ghostly haunting, in 1997.  Rice calls "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt", published in 2005, the beginning of a series chronicling the life of Jesus. The second volume, "", was published in March 2008. The third book in the series, "Christ the Lord: Kingdom of Heaven", has been postponed.  After moving to Rancho Mirage, California, in December 2005, Rice wrote "Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana", "Angel Time", and "Of Love and Evil" (the latter two being the first two books in her "Songs of the Seraphim" series), in addition to her memoir, "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession".  On March 9, 2014, Rice announced on her son Christopher's radio show, "The Dinner Party with Christopher Rice and Eric Shaw Quinn", that she had completed another book in the "Vampire Chronicles", titled, "Prince Lestat", a "true sequel" to "Queen of the Damned". The book was released on October 28, 2014. In 2015, a sequel to the Beauty trilogy, "Beauty's Kingdom," was released.

Reception and analysis.

Following its debut in 1976, "Interview with the Vampire" received many negative reviews from critics, causing Rice to retreat temporarily from the supernatural genre. When "The Vampire Lestat" debuted in 1985, reaction—both from critics and from readers—was more positive, and the first hardcover edition of the book sold 75,000 copies. Upon its publication in 1988, "The Queen of the Damned" was given an initial hardcover printing of 405,000 copies. The novel was a main selection of the Literary Guild of America for 1988, and reached the #1 spot on "The New York Times" Best Seller list, staying on the list for more than four months.  Rice's novels are popular among many members of the LGBT community, some of whom have perceived her vampire characters as allegorical symbols of isolation and social alienation. Similarly, a reviewer writing for "The Boston Globe" observed that the vampires of her novels represent "the walking alienated, those of us who, by choice or not, dwell on the fringe." On the subject, Rice herself commented, "From the beginning, I've had gay fans, and gay readers who felt that my works involved a sustained gay allegory... I didn't set out to do that, but that was what they perceived. So even when Christopher was a little baby, I had gay readers and gay friends and knew gay people, and lived in the Castro district of San Francisco, which was a gay neighborhood."  Rice's writings have also been identified as having had a major impact on later developments within the genre of vampire fiction. "Rice turns vampire conventions inside out," writes Susan Ferraro of "The New York Times". "Because Rice identifies with the vampire instead of the victim (reversing the usual focus), the horror for the reader springs from the realization of the monster within the self. Moreover, Rice's vampires are loquacious philosophers who spend much of eternity debating the nature of good and evil."  In addition, Rice's writing style has been heavily analyzed. Ferraro, in a statement typical of many reviewers, describes her prose as "florid, both lurid and lyrical, and full of sensuous detail". However, others have criticized Rice's writing style as both verbose and overly philosophical. Author William Patrick Day comments that her writing is often "long, convoluted, and imprecise".  "The New York Times" critic Michiko Kakutani wrote that "Anne Rice has what might best be described as a Gothic imagination crossed with a campy taste for the decadent and the bizarre."

Personal life.

Back to New Orleans and Catholicism.

In June 1988, following the success of "The Vampire Lestat" and with "The Queen of the Damned" about to be published, the Rices purchased a second home in New Orleans, the Brevard-Rice House, built in 1857 for Albert Hamilton Brevard. Stan took a leave of absence from his teaching, and together they moved to New Orleans. Within months, they decided to make it their permanent home.  Rice returned to the Catholic Church in 1998 after decades of atheism. On December 14, 1998, she fell into a coma, later determined to be caused by diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and nearly died. She was later diagnosed with Diabetes mellitus type 1, and is now insulin-dependent. In 2003, following the recommendation of her husband and shortly after his death, Rice underwent gastric bypass surgery and shed 103 pounds.  In 2004, Rice nearly died again from an intestinal blockage or bowel obstruction, a common complication of gastric bypass surgery. In 2005, "Newsweek" reported, "[Rice] came close to death last year, when she had surgery for an intestinal blockage, and also back in 1998, when she went into a sudden diabetic coma; that same year she returned to the Roman Catholic Church, which she'd left at 18." Her return did not come with a full embrace of the Church's stances on social issues; Rice remained a vocal supporter of equality for gay men and lesbians (including marriage rights), as well as abortion rights and birth control, writing extensively on such issues. In October 2005, while promoting her book, "", she announced in "Newsweek" that she would now use her life and talent of writing to glorify her belief in God, but did not renounce her earlier works.  In the Author's Note from "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt", Rice states:  I had experienced an old-fashioned, strict Roman Catholic childhood in the 1940s and 1950s... we attended daily Mass and Communion in an enormous and magnificently decorated church... Stained-glass windows, the Latin Mass, the detailed answers to complex questions on good and evil—these things were imprinted on my soul forever...  I left this church at age 18... I wanted to know what was happening, why so many seemingly good people didn't believe in any organized religion yet cared passionately about their behavior and value of their lives... I broke with the church... I wrote many novels that without my being aware that they reflected my quest for meaning in a world without God.  In her memoir "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession", Rice also states:  In the moment of surrender, I let go of all the theological or social questions which had kept me from [God] for countless years. I simply let them go. There was the sense, profound and wordless, that if He knew everything I did not have to know everything, and that, in seeking to know everything, I'd been, all of my life, missing the entire point. No social paradox, no historic disaster, no hideous record of injustice or misery should keep me from Him. No question of Scriptural integrity, no torment over the fate of this or that atheist or gay friend, no worry for those condemned and ostracized by my church or any other church should stand between me and Him. The reason? It was magnificently simple: He knew how or why everything happened; He knew the disposition of every single soul. He wasn't going to let anything happen by accident! Nobody was going to go to Hell by mistake.

Leaving New Orleans.

On January 18, 2004, Rice announced on her website that she had made plans to leave New Orleans. She cited living alone since the death of her husband and her son moving to California as the reasons for her move. On January 30, 2004, Rice put the largest of her three homes up for sale and moved to a gated community in Kenner, Louisiana. "Simplifying my life, not owning so much, that's the chief goal", said Rice. "I'll no longer be a citizen of New Orleans in the true sense." She sold her New York City condominium on January 20, 2005. In 2005, after completing "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt", Rice left New Orleans, shortly before the events of Hurricane Katrina in August. None of her former New Orleans properties were flooded, and Rice remains a vocal advocate for the city and related relief projects.

California.

After leaving New Orleans, Rice settled first in La Jolla, California. In November 2005, she described the weather in La Jolla as "like heaven." However, she left La Jolla less than a year after moving there, stating in January 2006 that the weather was too cold. She purchased a six-bedroom home in Rancho Mirage, California, in December 2005, allowing her to be closer to her son in Los Angeles.  On July 18, 2010, Rice auctioned off her large collection of antique dolls at Thierault's in Chicago. Beginning in mid-2010 and continuing through early 2011, Rice also began auctioning off her household possessions, collectibles featured in her many books, jewelry, and wardrobe on eBay. She also sold a large portion of her library collection to Powell's Books.

Distancing from Christianity.

On July 28, 2010, Rice publicly announced her disdain for the current state of Christianity on her Facebook page, stating, "Today I quit being a Christian... I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else." Shortly thereafter, she clarified her statement: "My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become."  Following her announcement, Rice's critique of Christianity was commented upon by numerous journalists and pundits. In an interview with the "Los Angeles Times", Rice elaborated on her view regarding being a member of a Christian church: "I feel much more morally comfortable walking away from organized religion. I respect that there are all kinds of denominations and all kinds of churches, but it's the entire controversy, the entire conversation that I need to walk away from right now." In response to the question, "how do you follow Christ without a church?" Rice replied: "I think the basic ritual is simply prayer. It's talking to God, putting things in the hands of God, trusting that you're living in God's world and praying for God's guidance. And being absolutely faithful to the core principles of Jesus' teachings." In 2011, Rice participated in the "I Am Second" project, with a short documentary about her spiritual journey. On April 14, 2013, Rice stated in a Facebook post that she was a secular humanist. On July 28, 2014, Rice stated in a Facebook post that Christ is still central to her life, but not in the way he is presented by organized religion.

Adaptations.

Film.

In 1994, Neil Jordan directed a motion picture adaptation of "Interview with the Vampire", based on Rice's own screenplay. The movie starred Tom Cruise as Lestat, Brad Pitt as the guilt-ridden Louis, and a young Kirsten Dunst in her breakout role as the deceitful child vampire Claudia.  A second film adaptation, "Queen of the Damned," was released in February 2002, starring Stuart Townsend as the vampire Lestat and singer Aaliyah as Akasha. The movie combined plot points from both the novel "The Queen of the Damned", as well as from "The Vampire Lestat". Produced on a budget of $35 million, the film recouped only $30 million at the U.S. box office. On her Facebook page, Rice distanced herself from the film, and has stated that she feels the filmmakers "mutilated" her work in adapting the novel.  The 1994 film "Exit to Eden," based loosely on the book Rice published as Anne Rampling, starred Rosie O'Donnell and Dan Aykroyd. The work was transformed from a BDSM-themed love story into a police comedy, and was widely considered a box-office failure, receiving near-universal negative reviews.  A film adaptation of "Christ the Lord" was reported to be in the early stages of development in February 2012. It was reported that Chris Columbus had signed on to produce, and that Cyrus Nowrasteh had already completed the script. On November 8, 2014, during an interview with her long-time editor, Victoria Wilson, at the Chicago Humanities Festival, Rice revealed that filming had finished on the movie and was going into post-production. The film, titled "The Young Messiah", was released in 2016.  In August 2014, Universal Pictures had acquired the rights to Rice's "Vampire Chronicles". However, in November 2016, when Universal Pictures did not renew the contract, the film and television rights reverted to Rice, who began developing "The Vampire Chronicles" into a television series with her son, Christopher.

Television.

In 1997, Rice wrote the story for a television pilot entitled "Rag and Bone", featuring elements of both horror and crime fiction. Screenwriter James D. Parriott penned the screenplay, and the pilot ultimately aired on CBS, starring Dean Cain and Robert Patrick.  "The Feast of All Saints" was made into a Showtime original miniseries in 2001, directed by Peter Medak and starring James Earl Jones and Gloria Reuben. As of 2002, NBC had plans to adapt Rice's "Lives of the Mayfair Witches" trilogy into a miniseries, but the project never entered production.  "Earth Angels" was an NBC presentation pilot that wasn't picked up as a series. The pilot was filmed in Toronto in 2001. It's a good-versus-evil story about warring angels on Earth and the concept is by Anne Rice. Four parts of Anne Rice's story treatment for the series have been published in 1999 as a bonus in the comic book series called "Anne Rice's Tale of the Body Thief".  In November 2016, Rice announced on Facebook that the rights to her novels were reverted back to her despite earlier plans for other adaptations. Rice said that she and her son Christopher would be developing and executive producing a potential television series based on the novels. In April 2017, they teamed up with Paramount Television and Anonymous Content to develop a series. As of early 2018, Bryan Fuller was involved with the creation of a potential TV series based on the novels. On July 17, 2018, it was announced that the series was in development at streaming service Hulu and that Fuller had departed the production. As of December 2019, Hulu's rights had expired and Rice was shopping a package including all film and TV rights to the series. In May 2020, its was announced that AMC had acquired the rights to "The Vampire Chronicles" and "Lives of the Mayfair Witches" for developing film and television projects. Anne and Christopher Rice will serve as executive producers on any projects developed.

Theatre.

On April 25, 2006, the musical "Lestat", based on Rice's "Vampire Chronicles" books, opened at the Palace Theatre on Broadway after having its world premiere and preview run at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, California, in December 2005. With music by Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin, it was the inaugural production of the newly established Warner Brothers Theatre Ventures. Despite Rice's own overwhelming approval and praise, the show received disappointing attendance and largely negative reviews from critics. "Lestat" closed a month later on May 28, 2006, after just 33 previews and 39 regular performances. The release of the cast recording of the show is reportedly on hold indefinitely.

Comics and manga.

Several of Anne Rice's novels have been adapted into comic books and manga. Below is a list of adaptations to date, along with their publishers and years of publication.

Fan fiction.

Rice initially expressed an adamant stance against fan fiction based on her works, and particularly in opposition to such fiction based on "The Vampire Chronicles", releasing a statement on April 7, 2000, that disallowed all such efforts, citing copyright issues. She subsequently requested that FanFiction.Net remove stories featuring her characters. In 2012, "Metro" reported that Rice developed a milder stance on the issue. "I got upset about 20 years ago because I thought it would block me," she said. "However, it's been very easy to avoid reading any, so live and let live. If I were a young writer, I'd want to own my own ideas. But maybe fan fiction is a transitional phase: whatever gets you there, gets you there."

Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien, October 4, 1941) is an American author of gothic fiction, Christian literature, and erotic literature. She is perhaps best known for her series of novels "The Vampire Chronicles", which revolve around the central character Lestat. Books from "The Vampire Chronicles" were the subject of two film adaptations, "Interview with the Vampire" (1994), and "Queen of the Damned" (2002).

Anne O'Brien Rice (* 4. Oktober 1941 als "Howard Allen O’Brien" in New Orleans) ist eine US-amerikanische Schriftstellerin. Berühmt wurde sie vor allem mit ihrem zwölfbändigen Zyklus von Vampirromanen, der "Chronik der Vampire" (OT: "The Vampire Chronicles").


Uses.

PCP has been used as a herbicide, insecticide, fungicide, algaecide, and disinfectant and as an ingredient in antifouling paint. Some applications were in agricultural seeds (for nonfood uses), leather, masonry, wood preservation, cooling-tower water, rope, and paper. Its use has declined due to its high toxicity and slow biodegradation.  Two general methods are used for preserving wood. The pressure process method involves placing wood in a pressure-treating vessel, where it is immersed in PCP and then subjected to applied pressure. In the nonpressure process method, PCP is applied by spraying, brushing, dipping, or soaking.

Exposure.

People may be exposed to PCP in occupational settings through the inhalation of contaminated workplace air and dermal contact with wood products treated with PCP. Also, general population exposure may occur through contact with contaminated environment media, particularly in the vicinity of wood-treatment facilities and hazardous-waste sites. In addition, some other important routes of exposure seem to be the inhalation of contaminated air, ingestion of contaminated ground water used as a source of drinking water, ingestion of contaminated food, and dermal contact with soils or products treated with the chemical.

Toxicity.

Short-term exposure to large amounts of PCP can cause harmful effects on the liver, kidneys, blood, lungs, nervous system, immune system, and gastrointestinal tract. Elevated temperature, profuse sweating, uncoordinated movement, muscle twitching, and coma are additional side effects.  Contact with PCP (particularly in the form of vapor) can irritate the skin, eyes, and mouth. Long-term exposure to low levels, such as those that occur in the workplace, can cause damage to the liver, kidneys, blood, and nervous system. Finally, exposure to PCP is also associated with carcinogenic, renal, and neurological effects. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency toxicity class classifies PCP in group B2 (probable human carcinogen).

Monitoring of human exposure.

Pentachlorophenol may be measured in plasma or urine as an index of excessive exposure. This is usually performed by gas chromatography with electron-capture or mass-spectrometric detection. Since urine contains predominantly conjugated PCP in chronic exposure situations, prior hydrolysis of specimens is recommended. The current ACGIH biological exposure limits for occupational exposure to PCP are 5 mg/l in an end-of-shift plasma specimen and 2 mg/g creatinine in an end-of-shift urine specimen.

Absorption in humans and animals.

PCP is quickly absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract following ingestion. Accumulation is not common, but if it does occur, the major sites are the liver, kidneys, plasma protein, spleen, and fat. Unless kidney and liver functions are impaired, PCP is quickly eliminated from tissues and blood, and is excreted, mainly unchanged or in conjugated form, via the urine. Single doses of PCP have half-lives in blood of 30 to 50 hours in humans. Biomagnification of PCP in the food chain is not thought to be significant due to the fairly rapid metabolism of the compound by exposed organisms.

Releases to the environment.

PCP has been detected in surface waters and sediments, rainwater, drinking water, aquatic organisms, soil, and food, as well as in human milk, adipose tissue, and urine. As PCP is generally used for its properties as a biocidal agent, considerable concern exists about adverse ecosystem effects in areas of PCP contamination.  Releases to the environment are decreasing as a result of declining consumption and changing use methods. However, PCP is still released to surface waters from the atmosphere by wet deposition, from soil by run off and leaching, and from manufacturing and processing facilities. PCP is released directly into the atmosphere via volatilization from treated wood products and during production. Finally, releases to the soil can be by leaching from treated wood products, atmospheric deposition in precipitation (such as rain and snow), spills at industrial facilities, and at hazardous waste sites.  After PCP is released into the atmosphere, it decomposes through photolysis. The main biodegradative pathway for PCP is reductive dehalogenation. In this process, the compound PCP is broken down to tetrachlorophenols, trichlorophenols, and dichlorophenols. Another pathway is methylation to pentachloroanisole (a more lipid-soluble compound). These two methods eventually lead to ring cleavage and complete degradation.  In shallow waters, PCP is also quickly removed by photolysis. In deep or turbid water processes, sorption and biodegradation take place. In reductive soil and sediments, PCP can be degraded within 14 days to 5 years, depending on the anaerobic soil bacteria that are present. However, adsorption of PCP in soils is pH dependent because it increases under acidic conditions and decreases in neutral and basic conditions.

Synthesis.

PCP can be produced by the chlorination of phenol in the presence of catalyst (anhydrous aluminium or ferric chloride) and a temperature up to about 191°C. This process does not result in complete chlorination and commercial PCP is only 84-90% pure. The main contaminants include other polychlorinated phenols, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, and polychlorinated dibenzofurans. Some of these species are even more toxic than the PCP itself.

Pentachlorophenol by country.

In May 2015, countries which have signed the Stockholm Convention voted 90-2 to ban pentachlorophenol use. The United States is not a signatory and has not banned the chemical.

New Zealand.

PCP was used in New Zealand as a timber preservative and antisapstain treatment and it was no longer used after 1988.  It was also sold as a moss killer to the general public (by Shell, at least) in the form of a 115g/l aqueous solution and labelled as a poison.

United States.

Since the early 1980s, the purchase and use of PCP in the U.S has not been available to the general public. Nowadays, most of the PCP used in the U.S is restricted to the treatment of utility poles and railroad ties. In the United States, any drinking-water supply with a PCP concentration exceeding the MCL, 1 ppb, must be notified by the water supplier to the public. Disposal of PCP and PCP-contaminated substances are regulated under RCRA as F-listed (F021) or D-listed (D037) hazardous wastes. Bridges and similar structures such as piers can still be treated with pentachlorophenol.

Chile.

PCP was widely used in Chile until the early 1990s as a fungicide to combat the so-called "blue stain" in pine timber under the name of Basilit.

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is an organochlorine compound used as a pesticide and a disinfectant. First produced in the 1930s, it is marketed under many trade names. It can be found as pure PCP, or as the sodium salt of PCP, the latter of which dissolves easily in water. It can be biodegraded by some bacteria, including "Sphingobium chlorophenolicum".

Pentachlorphenol (kurz PCP) ist ein chlorierter, aromatischer Kohlenwasserstoff und stellt ein Phenol-Derivat dar, bei dem alle aromatischen Wasserstoffatome durch Chlor ersetzt sind. Im Jahr 2015 wurde es in den Anhang A des Stockholmer Übereinkommens aufgenommen.


Etymology.

The word "odalisque" is French in form and originates from the Turkish "odalık", meaning "chambermaid", from "oda", "chamber" or "room". It can also be transliterated "odahlic", "odalisk", and "odaliq".  Joan DelPlato has described the term's shift in meaning from Turkish to English and French:  The English and French term odalisque (rarely odalique) derives from the Turkish 'oda', meaning "chamber"; thus an odalisque originally meant a chamber girl or attendant. In western usage, the term has come to refer specifically to the harem concubine. By the eighteenth century the term odalisque referred to the eroticized artistic genre in which a nominally eastern woman lies on her side on display for the spectator.

Origin as the Turkish "odalık".

An "odalik" was a maid that tended to the harem, but she could eventually become a concubine. She was ranked at the bottom of the social stratification of a harem, serving not the man of the household, but rather, his concubines and wives as personal chambermaids. "Odalık" were usually slaves given as gifts to the sultan by wealthy Turkish men. Generally, an "odalık" was never seen by the sultan but instead remained under the direct supervision of his mother, the Valide Sultan.  If an "odalık" was of extraordinary beauty or had exceptional talents in dancing or singing, she would be trained as a possible concubine. If selected, an "odalık" trained as a court lady would serve the sultan sexually and only after such sexual contact would she change in status, becoming thenceforth one of the consorts of the sultan.

Later Western usage of the term.

W. S. Gilbert refers to the "Grace of an odalisque on a divan" in Colonel Calverley's song "If You Want A Receipt For That Popular Mystery" from the Gilbert and Sullivan opera "Patience."  In popular use, the word "odalisque" also may refer to a mistress, concubine or paramour of a wealthy man.  During the 19th century, "odalisques" became common fantasy figures in the artistic movement known as Orientalism, being featured in many erotic paintings from that era.  By the later 19th century, Turkish writers such as Melek Hanum used the word odalisque to refer to slave-concubines when writing in English: If any lady possesses a pretty-looking slave, the fact soon gets known. The gentlemen who wish to buy an odalisque or a wife, make their offers. Many Turks, indeed, prefer to take a slave as a wife, as, in such case, there is no need to dread fathers, mothers, or brothers-in-law, and other undesirable relations. In 2011, the Law Society of British Columbia brought a discipline hearing against an unnamed lawyer for referring to another lawyer's client as living with an odalisque. The Law Society found the use of the word, though an extremely poor choice, did not rise to the level of professional misconduct.

An odalisque ( / ) was a chambermaid or a female attendant in a Turkish seraglio, particularly the court ladies in the household of the Ottoman sultan.

Odaliske (; von, im eigentlichen Wortsinn also „Mitbewohnerin“) ist eine historische Bezeichnung für die hellhäutigen Konkubinen bzw. Kammermädchen, die zum persönlichen Dienst im Harem des Sultans oder anderer hochgestellter Personen des Osmanischen Reiches bestimmt waren. Sie waren Bedienstete der Sultansfrauen und unterstanden der Aufsicht der Sultansmutter, der Valide Sultan. Zumeist waren die Odalisken georgische oder tscherkessische Sklavinnen (siehe Sklaverei im Islam).