Diving watches

[DAJ]

Rolex Submariner - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This watch has been around since 1954 so there must be a lot of "admirers/users".
Cost/worth is never a consideration.

I have had two guys I dove with over the years lose their Rolex on a dive. One is sitting off of Imperial Beach CA. and the other is somewhere in Lake Poway, also in San Diego. My nice watches stay in the safe. I have not used a watch for diving in decades but I have several dive watches that I usually wear.

Today, it's this one....

 

[Dody]

I have had two guys I dove with over the years lose their Rolex on a dive. One is sitting off of Imperial Beach CA. and the other is somewhere in Lake Poway, also in San Diego. My nice watches stay in the safe. I have not used a watch for diving in decades but I have several dive watches that I usually wear.

Today, it's this one....
View attachment 716004

How can you lose a watch if it stays on your wrist? I only remove my watch when I take a shower, sometimes before sleeping or when I switch to another one. I would figure that a Rolex wristband would not break under pressure. Or maybe they put their watches over the suit. My wife lost her compass this way.

 

[rx7diver]

How can you lose a watch if it stays on your wrist? I only remove my watch when I take a shower, sometimes before sleeping or when I switch to another one. I would figure that a Rolex wristband would not break under pressure. Or maybe they put their watches over the suit. My wife lost her compass this way.

Those case pins (with the springs, that attach the wristbands/bracelets) can break. A NATO strap provides some protection against this. The Rolex Mil-Sub has/had these pins permanently soldered in.

My dive watch (Steinhart, posted earlier in this thread) fell off of my wrist (in a parking lot) once. One of its bracelet screws (that attach the links) had worked itself lose. Luckily, nothing broke. I removed and cleaned all of these screws, and then used Loctite when I screwed them back in. It's been solid since. As mentioned, I wear this watch all the time: swimming, diving, etc. (except when sleeping or showering).

ETA: See post #44 in this thread.

rx7diver

 

[bakodiver391]

I like my Apeks 500m. Tough as nails, big hands, big, bright numbers and keeps perfect time. The back is double o-ring sealed, and with locking crown it has never leaked.

 

[agilis]

Those case pins (with the springs, that attach the wristbands/bracelets) can break. A NATO strap provides some protection against this. The Rolex Mil-Sub has/had these pins permanently soldered in.

My dive watch (Steinhart, posted earlier in this thread) fell off of my wrist (in a parking lot) once. One of its bracelet screws (that attach the links) had worked itself lose. Luckily, nothing broke. I removed and cleaned all of these screws, and then used Loctite when I screwed them back in. It's been solid since. As mentioned, I wear this watch all the time: swimming, diving, etc. (except when sleeping or showering).

ETA: See post #44 in this thread.

rx7diver

When I change batteries and o rings in my watch every two years I also change the case pins which I reinforce internally and at the case with a tiny amount of epoxy. They are still easily removed and discarded with the flat end of a screw driver. The link pins I'm familiar with are not screws, they are simple push pins. They can also be made more secure with loc-tight, a good idea if they have been removed and replaced to adjust the band size. I'm very careful with my $12 Ocean Edge Seiko. It's worth at least three times what I paid for it, and the epoxy and loc-tight used over the years probably amounts to an expenditure well in excess of a dollar.

 

[Centrals]

I keep everything super simple.
Watch is on land only. The one I am using now cost me a King's ransom of about US$8.00.
Underwater I use dedicated computer(not watch style).
I am happy and that is the most important.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I like my Apeks 500m. Tough as nails, big hands, big, bright numbers and keeps perfect time. The back is double o-ring sealed, and with locking crown it has never leaked.

Total copy of the Seiko. That must be the least expensive thing Apeks sells.

 

[tep]

I have had two guys I dove with over the years lose their Rolex on a dive. One is sitting off of Imperial Beach CA. and the other is somewhere in Lake Poway, also in San Diego. My nice watches stay in the safe. I have not used a watch for diving in decades but I have several dive watches that I usually wear.

Today, it's this one....
View attachment 716004

I'm wondering how your friend lost a watch in Lake Poway - must have been fishing, not diving?

(Hello fellow Powegian!)

My rule is never own a watch that costs more than a vacation, or specifically - a week of boat dives in Hawaii!

If I can't wear it, why do I own it? If I can't dive it, why is it a diver?

I usually just roll my wetsuit sleeve over the watch -and- use a NATO or velcro "NATO" for diving. I like bracelets for daily wear, but swap bands for diving, which gives me a good opportunity to check/replace the pins, and the crown, too. My Perdix is on the right side, the watch is for the boat time.

 

[ecp]

I have had two guys I dove with over the years lose their Rolex on a dive. One is sitting off of Imperial Beach CA. and the other is somewhere in Lake Poway, also in San Diego. My nice watches stay in the safe. I have not used a watch for diving in decades but I have several dive watches that I usually wear.

Today, it's this one....
View attachment 716004

I have one of those - where did you get the metal band?

 

[Fonzi4]

I took my Blancpain Fifty Fathoms out on her maiden dives last week at various cenotes in Tulum.

I also dive with a Seiko Blumo, Squale 50 ATMOS, Seiko SKX 009, or a Mido Decompression timer.