High oxygen pressures have been developed in different media : gas (500 MPa) , in liquid phase using oxidizing solutions (500 MPa) and in the solid phase through the "in situ" thermal decomposition of KC103. The main objective of the development of high oxygen pressures was the stabilization of the highest oxidation states of transition elements. For the same Mn+ cation, the increase of the n value induces a decrease of the M-O distance . Such a variation being larger than the compression effect on oxides , the stabilization of the highest oxidation states of transition metals appears a fruitful route for investigating the correlations between the covalency of the chemical M-O bonds and the resulting physico-chemical properties of the corresponding oxides.[oxygen pressures, iridium (V) oxides, perovskite-type structure, X-ray analysis , magnetic characterization, EXAFS, XANES]