Preferred Brand of Dive Watches

[2Tours N Iraq`]

What is your favorite brand and type of dive watch? Do the more expensive watches with a more precise time keeping function make a difference or does a TIMEX™ get the job done? Digital or analog? Rubber watch band, stainless steel, or nylon and velcro? Put in your 2 cents worth and let the discussion begin!

 

[The Kraken]

2Tours,
A watch is pretty much a personal preference, as is most things related to scuba diving.
Is one watch any better than another? I doubt that anyone on the board has any empirical studies done showing the abilities of one watch over another.
That said . . .
I have two dive watches, the Luminox "Seal" watch and the Citizen Hyper Aqualand.
The Luminox is a very good, bright servicable watch.
I like the Citizen because it can serve as a back up timer and depth gauge for my dive computer. I also like it because it will store dive data and allow the user to download to a computer.

As far as a band goes, I ALWAYS REMOVE THE STANDARD BAND AND REPLACE WITH A VELCRO BAND. The reason I do this is that if one of the band pins breaks and falls away I won't lose the whole watch. I learned this the hard way many, many, many years ago.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

As far as a band goes, I ALWAYS REMOVE THE STANDARD BAND AND REPLACE WITH A VELCRO BAND. The reason I do this is that if one of the band pins breaks and falls away I won't lose the whole watch. I learned this the hard way many, many, many years ago.

Yeah, I haven't lost one, but got warned early. I did find one, a real nice Casio 200m aviators watch that had one broken pin.

My watch (casio GShock) I have strapped to my wrist slate (got tired of so many straps around my wrist).

A trick I was told for the standard band is to tie a large rubber band to the buckle loop (you know, pass part of the rubber band through the buckle loop, then pass the rubber band through itself, tying it on with a 'lark's head' knot.) Then after you put the watch on pass the rubber band over your wrist. This way if one pin breaks the rubber band is still holding the watch band to your wrist.

Personally, I would rather replace the band.

 

[steve2281]

I use a Casio also. Six years on the same battery, this thing has been used and abused but still works great. Stopwatch function is good for a bottom timer or timing your safety stop. Works for me...steve

 

[RonFrank]

What is your favorite brand and type of dive watch? Do the more expensive watches with a more precise time keeping function make a difference or does a TIMEX™ get the job done? Digital or analog? Rubber watch band, stainless steel, or nylon and velcro? Put in your 2 cents worth and let the discussion begin!

I have a Atmos II, and it's the best dive *watch* one can get, or I should say that I use the dive computer much more than my watch.

I also have a Timex Helix el-cheapo dive watch. I dove with it a couple weeks back to 75', and for a bottom timer, and a depth guage it works well for the $30 I paid for it. My one complaint is that the band... barely.. goes over my 7mm suit. If I wear gloves and a 7mm suit, the band is too small.

I have a Citizen Chrono titanium watch as well. This is analog. This is my everyday watch, and it's great, but will NOT go over a wetsuit. I mainly like this watch because I don't like to have to remember to take off my watch before jumping into a shower, or the pool.

If you want status, you NEED a Rolex. Sure they don't keep time worth a damn, and they cost as much as a used car, but hey, it's a Rolex!!

 

[Stirling]

For ages I had a Seiko dive watch that worked beautifully and cost about $120 or so back in the early 70s. Last year it stopped keeping time accurately, and when I sent it in for cleaning and repair I was told that it could be repaired but not made waterproof again (change in design, the right parts no longer available).

After looking around for a while, I replaced it with a Tissot Seastar 1000. It says it can go down to 1000 feet, but the only way it's going that deep is by itself. In fact, the first one I got clouded up with condensation after being submerged in a swimming pool last summer, and it had to be replaced. I don't know if I screwed up, but I don't think I did; in any case, they replaced it without a fuss.

I got a Timex Ironman Triathlon or whatever they call it to have an inexpensive watch to wear traveling and diving, but I've discovered that I really can't read the digital display comfortably. So I'm wearing the Tissot, after all. It's a pretty nice watch, but I would have been happy to keep the Seiko for another 30 years if it hadn't given up on me.

 

[cudachaser]

My favorite,

Freestyle...plus if anything goes wrong with them even after warrenty...put it in a box and ship back to Freestyle with $15 and the send you a new watch

Joe

 

[jdf]

Luminox is a great dive watch. Very easy to turn the bezel underwater and the yellow face is very bright. Plus they don't cost a fortune, so if you lose it your not out hundreds of $$. I think mine was $125 online. Also, you don't have to take them off for airport security since they are all plastic and a breeze to go through the detectors. I flooded mine accidentally (my own fault) and they replaced it without any hassles. I had a freestyle before this one and it was very hard to see underwater, now I just keep it for everyday use.

Janet

 

[boxcar]

2Tours,
As far as a band goes, I ALWAYS REMOVE THE STANDARD BAND AND REPLACE WITH A VELCRO BAND. The reason I do this is that if one of the band pins breaks and falls away I won't lose the whole watch. I learned this the hard way many, many, many years ago.

FWIW you can also replace the 2 piece band with a branched strap that threads through itself so that it will hold the watch if one pin fails... The ones I've seen have a buckle and provided an alternative to Kraken's suggestion if you don't like velcro.

In response to the original topic, I have a Seiko automatic/selfwinding with a locking bracelet band which I wear everyday... that has served well for 4 years now...and looks as good as ever. No upkeep, no worries (touch wood). $150 well spent.

 

[Xman]

Astina 1000m with helium escape valve. Never know when I might need to do some extended saturation diving. Hang on, yes I do... Never.
Nice watch anyway, and you know that it isn't going to have any problems within the 70m that it might potentially get exposed to.