Whether you’re planning to scuba dive either for recreation or as a professional, there is a dive watch for you.
Here, in our buyer’s guide, we’ll explain some features you should look for and what you can expect to get for what you spend. Many, if not all, models will serve you well as both a piece of dive gear and as a part of your daily look. Read on to find out everything you need to know before making a purchase.
How does a dive watch differ from a dive computer? Do you need both?
A dive watch should not be used to replace a dive computer. That’s because most watches do not feature depth gauges, nor do they allow you to easily time stops to make when resurfacing. That said, many divers will wear one underwater because they like the retro aesthetics and having a backup for their computer, as you can still accurately time a dive with a traditional dive watch. So in short, it would be a good idea to have both.
Why are people still wearing dive watches?
While not quite obsolete, these days they’re more of an accessory than a tool. Nevertheless, they continue to be the most popular and iconic style of watch on the market. We think their popularity has something to do with the fact that originally, dive watches were a purely functional life-saving tool that could withstand a beating from the elements.
Wearing one makes you feel ready for anything—you’re almost certainly never going to jump fully clothed into that river, but if you wanted to, you could. And with a dive watch, you wouldn’t have to remove it. They have a simplistic purity about them, even those in the tens of thousands of dollars look very similar to those in the hundreds, at least without a magnifying lens.
Why do dive watches have such a wide price range?
Divers are one of the key types of watch in any collection and therefore almost every watch brand will have at least one diver. With the luxury offerings from Swiss brands like Rolex and Omega, you’re paying a premium for precise automatic movements with tight tolerances and brand prestige.
More accessible watch brands like Casio are able to offer the essential specs for less than $100 USD by opting for cheaper quartz movements and more rudimentary finishing.
Whatever end of the price spectrum you are at, it’s important to make sure your watch is waterproof enough for your needs, highly legible, and can track the time accurately. Perhaps most importantly, it should make you feel good when on the wrist.
What’s a good budget for a dive watch?
$300 or less: budget
Expect to find a fully capable dive watch (meaning at least 200 m water resistance and a functional dive-time bezel) from reputable Japanese manufacturers like Casio, Citizen, and Orient.
You will also be able to find some great divers from smaller micro-brands. Don’t expect super high-end finishes or an automatic movement. Within this price bracket, however, you can find some great solar quartz offerings.
$300-$1000: mid-range
If you’re spending over $300 you can expect to find a true automatic diver. The Seiko Prospex range is a good example of what this budget can get you: quality finishing, a reliable automatic movement, and a great brand reputation.
Closer toward the $1,000 mark you might be able to find similar automatic offerings from some Swiss and other European brands—we’re thinking of Certina, Yema, and Christopher Ward, among others).
$1000 and above: high-end
Spending over $1,000 means that you should be getting the following as standard: full dive capability, an accurate automatic movement, precision case finishing, an immaculately printed dial, and a sapphire crystal.
In this budget expect to find offerings from luxury Swiss timekeeping brands, from the likes of Rado, Tissot, and Longines to iconic watches over $5,000 from Omega, Rolex, and Blancpain.
What are some must-have features?
Screw-down crown: This feature is important to make the watch water-tight. When the crown is properly screwed in, you know there’s almost no chance of the crown being knocked out of place and allowing water to flood the watch. The same cannot be said of push-pull crowns often used in diver-style watches.
Dive-timing bezel: This should be marked from zero to 60 minutes, allowing divers to discern how long they’ve been underwater. You rotate the bezel so the zero mark is at the minute hand when you descend, and then you can read the duration of your dive at any time, without having to calculate it.
The bezel typically only rotates one way, so if it is accidentally moved, it will only shorten your dive, not extend it, possibly beyond your no-decompression limit. Always err on the side of caution.
Luminescence: A dive watch should have lumed hour, minute, and second markers, plus a lume pip at the zero minute mark of the bezel to read how many minutes you’ve been underwater. The lume should be clearly visible in dark and murky waters. Poor lume might be a problem if you are considering taking your watch out for a dive.
Diver’s extension: most true dive watches will have a diver’s extension on the metal bracelet or rubber strap, which allows you to quickly adjust your strap so that it fits over your wetsuit without using any tools
Water resistance:200 m is the industry standard for a true diver. The resistance you go for is really going to depend on your needs. If you’re only planning on taking your watch in the pool, or snorkeling, 100 m is more than enough. But if you’re a deep sea diver, there are watches out there at 500 m or more than will give extra security.
Is helium buildup a problem?
You may hear stories about a feature called a helium valve. Don’t get hung up on this. A helium valve is useful for commercial divers doing very deep saturation diving, where they live in underwater habitats filled with a trimix breathing gas containing helium.
The helium molecules, being extremely small, can make their way into the watch case, and then, when the diver ascends, these molecules expand (due to dropping pressure) and can damage the watch.
But for recreational divers, even technical ones, this isn’t an issue, as we typically do not spend a lot of time in underwater habitats hundreds of meters below the surface.
What’s the history of dive watches?
The original dive watches were pioneered in the first half of the twentieth century as instruments used by aquanauts, saturation divers, and naval officers who relied on being able to track the time accurately underwater.
In the early 1950s we saw the release of two dive watch icons: the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and the Rolex Submariner. These watches are considered the apex predators of dive watches—they pushed the barriers of what watches were able to do and became two key reference points for the design of almost every single dive watch thereafter.
In 1996 we saw the arrival of the ISO 6425 standard, now considered the hallmark of a “true” dive watch. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a Swiss organization that determines standards and best practices for a whole host of things, including their series of water-resistance tests.
If your watch is ISO rated to 200 m, for example, that means that the watch was tested in water to a pressure equivalent to 125% of the rated depth.
In the twenty-first century, dive computers have replaced dive watches, at least on a functional level. So things like ISO certification are often considered less important unless you’re planning on taking your watch diving.
