Question on dive watches

[Dr. Lecter]

This is a real dive watch:

Sure, assuming you like a watch with a total thickness of roughly an inch and a half...until you see the DeepSea in person, it's difficult to appreciate just how insanely overbuilt they had to make it to achieve that depth rating.

I'll stick with my Omega 42mm, which actually fits under shirt cuffs without looking like and goes equally well with a wetsuit, an Italian suit, or a dinner jacket. Though to tell the truth, it's about due for a spa treatment back in Biel.


Call me crazy, but I'm not too worried about the mere 600m depth rating.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Sure, assuming you like a watch with a total thickness of roughly an inch and a half...until you see the DeepSea in person, it's difficult to appreciate just how insanely overbuilt they had to make it to achieve that depth rating.

I'll stick with my Omega 42mm, which actually fits under shirt cuffs without looking like and goes equally well with a wetsuit, an Italian suit, or a dinner jacket. Though to tell the truth, it's about due for a spa treatment back in Biel.
View attachment 213230

Call me crazy, but I'm not too worried about the mere 600m depth rating.

Yeah, it's not like anybody will be attempting those depths anytime soon using a watch, depth gauge, and tables.
Thinking about it, I don't even know how they could build a vessel strong enough to pressure test a watch like the DeepSea, unless it's all just theoretical.

 

[AfterDark]

The trouble is you either have to be rich or a Navy SEAL to own one!

 

[descent]

I love my G-Shock. ...

I watched a G-Shock fail once at 55 or 60 meters. It was brand new. Back then, G-Shocks were fairly new.

I heard a sharp snap that sounded like it came from somewhere inside my forehead. I looked up. This guy's left hand was holding the line about eight inches from my mask. His G-Shock was right in front of my face. It made a burbly beeping sound while the face was flashing every element really fast, then a kind of squeak, and finally a stream of tiny bubbles came out and it went dark.

The first time he tried to return it on warranty, they gave him a hard time at the jewelry store. The second time, he went back with some wingmen. His big crusty gunnery sergeant said, "I was on the same dive, and this young man did not pass 65m. Now, I know you were not there, and you do not have to believe his story, or mine. But I can tell you that if you do not honor the warranty on his new watch, I will go back to the base and tell the other dive supervisors that the real crush depth on your electronics is only a third of what you advertise."

And wouldn't you know, they gave him a new watch, just like that.

Since then, there have been many changes and improvements in the line. It seems to be the watch of choice in hundreds of dangerous occupations. I have been on dives since where every other diver was wearing a G-Shock watch. Maybe vintage watch collectors might want to be careful, but I am sure your modern G-Shock will be fine.

 

[Phil_C]

The trouble is you either have to be rich or a Navy SEAL to own one!

I'm neither rich, nor a navy seal, but I have a Sea-dweller Deepsea that it got when I retired, I dive with it regularly. It might be over engineered, and it is a bit large, but not overly so, and it is a lovely sports watch

P

---------- Post added July 22nd, 2015 at 10:44 PM ----------

Yeah, it's not like anybody will be attempting those depths anytime soon using a watch, depth gauge, and tables.
Thinking about it, I don't even know how they could build a vessel strong enough to pressure test a watch like the DeepSea, unless it's all just theoretical.

From Rolex -

To guarantee water resistance to the extreme depth of 3,900 metres (12,800 feet), Rolex tests every single Rolex Deepsea that is made in a specially designed 1.3 tonne tank. The stainless steel hyperbaric tank, which is cast in a single piece, simulates the pressure at 4,875 metres (16,000 feet) below sea level, some 25 per cent greater than the depth indicated on the watch dial.

That must be some hyperbaric tank ! - P

Also from Rolex's marketing blurb -

In 1960, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard forever raised the bar for marine exploration by piloting the bathyscaphe Trieste to the deepest point in the world’s oceans, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. When they surfaced from
the historic dive to a depth of 10,916 metres (37,800 feet) in the Pacific Ocean, the submersible was carrying an experimental Rolex watch,
the Deep Sea Special, attached to the exterior.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'm neither rich, nor a navy seal, but I have a Sea-dweller Deepsea that it got when I retired, I dive with it regularly. It might be over engineered, and it is a bit large, but not overly so, and it is a lovely sports watch

P

---------- Post added July 22nd, 2015 at 10:44 PM ----------



From Rolex -

To guarantee water resistance to the extreme depth of 3,900 metres (12,800 feet), Rolex tests every single Rolex Deepsea that is made in a specially designed 1.3 tonne tank. The stainless steel hyperbaric tank, which is cast in a single piece, simulates the pressure at 4,875 metres (16,000 feet) below sea level, some 25 per cent greater than the depth indicated on the watch dial.

That must be some hyperbaric tank ! - P

Also from Rolex's marketing blurb -

In 1960, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard forever raised the bar for marine exploration by piloting the bathyscaphe Trieste to the deepest point in the world’s oceans, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. When they surfaced from
the historic dive to a depth of 10,916 metres (37,800 feet) in the Pacific Ocean, the submersible was carrying an experimental Rolex watch,
the Deep Sea Special, attached to the exterior.

With that kind of equipment to test them no wonder they cost what they cost!

Add: I just looked up what the DeepSea costs, twelve grand!
wow!

 

[Dr. Lecter]

With that kind of equipment to test them no wonder they cost what they cost!

Add: I just looked up what the DeepSea costs, twelve grand!
wow!

Rolex for show, Omega for go

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Rolex for show, Omega for go

The question is, which one would be better for a four hundred foot dive?

Kind of a moot point. Overkill with both I think.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

The question is, which one would be better for a four hundred foot dive?

Kind of a moot point. Overkill with both I think.

My PO had no problems with that depth, I'm sure a Rolex wouldn't either. Overkill is right, I just don't see non-sat diving depths even approaching watch ratings any time soon.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

My PO had no problems with that depth, I'm sure a Rolex wouldn't either. Overkill is right, I just don't see non-sat diving depths even approaching watch ratings any time soon.

I was expecting an answer like "Both, but I'd look better diving it with my Omega". Ha ha ha