Rolex Submariner

[Fastmarc]

I'm not sure what you mean by "better".

As in a better made 'mechanical' dive watch. It was a properly made watch back then (beating Omega an older, more established brand to the punch) and continues to be now (both in construction finish and movement). Sure, if you go quartz you can get a more accurate watch for cheaper, but that's why these are considered luxury watches. The watch industry was decimated when quartz came out, but mechanical watches didn't die and are doing better than before then. Way better. I'm a watch person. I'm just fascinated with mechanical watches and it's history. There are a couple I want to get if fortune smiles my way. One is a diver and the other one is even hand wound .

I do have friends that wear theirs on every dive. The only practical use for them is to track their SI. As others have said above dive watches being actually used for diving went the way of tables. I've assumed the OP knows this and just possibly wants a nice watch that he could leave on when he dives.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I can burn $600 of track fees, race gas and rear tire in a morning on a track. Some of us have more than one expensive hobby (or perhaps simply less paycheck than others).

Get your hobby priorities straight.

 

[doctormike]

I'm a watch person. I'm just fascinated with mechanical watches and it's history. There are a couple I want to get if fortune smiles my way. One is a diver and the other one is even hand wound .

Right, exactly. And that's a totally great reason to own these. They really are works of art.

Have you read that Watch Snob blog? It's really well written and interesting. My best fried from high school is a horophile. He helped me pick out a graduation present for my son...!

But for diving, gonna put my money into fine Danish engineering...

 

[kelemvor]

Even Halcyon wouldn't charge ten grand for a backplate

Don't give them any ideas...

 

[doctormike]

Don't give them any ideas...

 

[Ojai Diver]

Let's be clear, a Submariner, at least last I checked, is not $10,000, more like $7.5k to $8k. Yes, still a lot.

Rolex is--well, was-- a pioneer in its field. The Submariner is a very good watch, and I would love to own one. Rolex is probably the most successfully marketed brand in the world.

On my fiftieth birthday, my wife bought me an Omega Seamaster in titanium. With its coaxial movement, grade five titanium case, as well as its depth rating, it is a superior watch to the Submariner and in my opinion roughly the peer overall of the Sea Dweller. These are not just idle claims. I have taken this watch on maybe 50 dives, mostly off the beach, and the watch looks like it's nearly new. I do not baby it. And yes, with regulation, it keeps excellent time.

Would I have gone out and bought one on my own to dive? Probably not. But it does have its uses. It is very simple to set the bezel to remind you to surface, or make a navigation turn, or anything you wish. As Dumpster Diver once noted, if task loaded, or narced, a watch is easier to read and understand. And yes, I also carry a computer.

As to fear of loss, it is covered against loss by an inexpensive policy that also covers my wife's jewelry. If it falls off, I can replace it with no out of pocket. It is a pleasure to look at it during the work day and know that it has seen the same places I have seen, the deep ocean, the difficult exits, the night dives, etc. The more I use it the more special it is.

After I fall off the perch, it will become my son's.

I doubt he will want my dive computer.

 

[Lorenzoid]

This got me thinking about the time many years ago, before I even owned a computer and before I discovered on SB all the things that were going to kill me, I was diving alone with a divemaster, and as we were gearing up she realized she had forgotten her computer and asked to borrow my watch. I handed her my $50 Timex Ironman, and away we went. I continued to use it for a few dives before I got a computer.

 

[rhwestfall]

Why don't you just take your computer to time the dive? That way, you also have a profile for your log, right? I mean, I guess a watch is fine if you don't own a computer for that specific dive...

I'd likely harm myself if I was to lose my Pedrix for some stupid reason on a crap drift dive that I really didn't need it on... Yeah, I have a cheap PDC, and I also have a data logger (download profiles later).... Some times, we are really goofing around, monkey diving stretches just to check it out. There are even times along some of these dives, I can stand up and be partially out of the water. Don't need a PDC, even a cheap one...

 

[tomcatbubba]

I owned a Submariner. I flew with it on my FAC(A) qualification course , and I was consistently losing about 5-8 seconds every day, even when I synched it in the morning. I sold it when I got back and bought a Casio. It holds time almost perfectly. In hindsight I wish I would have kept it. I paid $2500 new (bought it when the dollar was really strong), sold it for $4500, now they are going for around $8000. I also didn't realize that if you send them back they can calibrate them. Seems a lot of work though for an expensive timepiece......

 

[Fastmarc]

Have you read that Watch Snob blog?

I'll have to give that blog a check. Can't get enough.

But for diving, gonna put my money into fine Danish engineering...

That's the problem. Last year I was about to buy a watch and ended up buying a bunch of dive equipment instead. Diving has the edge and there is more on my diving list. LOL