Orange face watch - why?

[wk2000]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question...
I am looking at a couple of Seiko dive watches- the orange faced watch "orange monster" seems to be very popular, and I am wondering why people seem to like it so much- is there some functional advantage to the face being orange vs black?

 

[fdog]

I've used an orange watch face before. Good contrast, stands out easily in low light.

Last year switched to a yellow watch face. The above even more so, although for general wearing around it is a bit too much of an eye catcher.

All the best, James

 

[PurduEE]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question...
I am looking at a couple of Seiko dive watches- the orange faced watch "orange monster" seems to be very popular, and I am wondering why people seem to like it so much- is there some functional advantage to the face being orange vs black?

Could be just a historical thing. I have an Doxa somewhere that has an orange face, and the older Doxas had orange faces. Seems like some of the older dive watches had orange faces. Although, the Submariners and Seadwellers seem to have always been black.

 

[mikelegurra]

i love the watch. it's big, chunky, it keeps excelent time and it's very easy to read underwater. i took my OW with it and this added a little "history" to the watch.

as someone mentioned earlier the doxas are the "famous" orange watches. check out http://www.doxawatches.com/ for the full story.

clive cussler has a very strong connection to this brand and this may have helped it getting better known in the diving world.

 

[VTernovski]

sorry,. not related to the subject per say, but I was also wondering why most Aluminum tanks are painted Yellow...

stoopid question like that.

 

[wk2000]

i love the watch. it's big, chunky, it keeps excelent time and it's very easy to read underwater. i took my OW with it and this added a little "history" to the watch.

as someone mentioned earlier the doxas are the "famous" orange watches. check out http://www.doxawatches.com/ for the full story.

clive cussler has a very strong connection to this brand and this may have helped it getting better known in the diving world.

From the Doxa website -

"The second and very uncommon characteristic in the 1960s was the use of a bright orange dial instead of common classic black and white to achieve high legibility under extreme dark diving conditions. This was also copied by other manufacturers over the years but we are proud to say that the original and first orange dialed diver watch was and is still the legendary "orange face DOXA SUB" as reffered to in all Clive Cussler novels."


So they claim it increases visability while diving. Cool! Thanks for the link!

 

[fdog]

...but I was also wondering why most Aluminum tanks are painted Yellow...

For the longest time a yellow cylinder signified AIR. This was a US standard, along with brown for Helium, green of Oxygen, etc.

Unfortunately there are several other standards for cylinder coloring, some which include yellow for Acetylene.

Europe has had their own colors, and just to make it more interesting, has decided to change them all again under EN 1089-3. Some good links are here and here.

All the best, James

 

[Scubaroo]

Thread resurrection...

Of the Seiko dive watches, some have black bezels with white numerals, other have steel bezels with black numerals. Thoughts on the most readable UW? I'm leaning towards the yellow face/black bezel, but the orange monster with its steel bezel is a pretty nice watch too. I already have a nice Seiko Kinetic Auto Relay for day wear, just looking for something diving specific.

 

[rcohn]

Thread resurrection...

Of the Seiko dive watches, some have black bezels with white numerals, other have steel bezels with black numerals. Thoughts on the most readable UW? I'm leaning towards the yellow face/black bezel, but the orange monster with its steel bezel is a pretty nice watch too. I already have a nice Seiko Kinetic Auto Relay for day wear, just looking for something diving specific.

I think Black with light marking is the most visible, you have the best contrast. After all it is the glow in the dark hands and marking you need to see.

Having said that I just got an orange face YEMA (Seiko movement) because the price was right and found I really like it. Contrast is decent and the orange face looks kind of different. Though I don't plan to use it on dives vry often. There may still be some left on Amazon.com

Ralph

 

[diver_paula]

This is from a few years back but I recall an introductory Human Factors Engineering lab study where we tested different colored lettering on different backgrounds. It was in reference to designing a car instrument panel, road signs, classroom and such.

The result from our study was that black letters on a yellow background was the easiest for people to distinguish. The contrast was best and people could read what was on paper, a board or on a sign from the farthest distance.

Although, I must say we didn't test black lettering on an orange background. It may be even easier to read than yellow.

Paula