Water resistance ratings for watches

[hudson]

My Casio Sea Pathfinder, which I love to death despite regular "dude, what's with the watch, what are you, 12?" comments, is only resistant to 100m and is meant for freediving only (I guess time exposure at depth has something to do with it) and you aren't supposed to fiddle with the buttons. I did fiddle with the buttons a couple of times at around 50ft, and took the watch down to 100+ft several times. Works fine.

IMHO, fiddling with the buttons in general is not a good idea and I got lucky there. But I wouldn't be concerned about dynamic pressure. Even in a current and waving your arms around, if I'm not mistaken, you are looking at a pressure increase of far less than a bar.

 

[friscuba]

I read somewhere years ago (I'm thinking Rodale's Scuba Diving magazine) that you should consider buying a watch rated at least 3X the depth you plan on diving to because of the static pressure vs. actual pressure while moving thing. I've always done fine with 100 meter watches 'til my last watch.... went to 40' and it took in moisture. I'm debating on mailing it in with my $8.50 Fossil wants for the repair (I really like the watch otherwise) or just bag it.

 

[garyfotodiver]

30 seconds a day??? Damn. That's pretty poor time keeping man. Although, to be fair, I haven't determined what mine is doing - I suppose it could be even worse

I have a (non-diver) Seiko Kinetic I bought in 1997. I'm in the situation of needing a new strap for it. Factory replacement strap is $100. I bought a cheap one for $15, but this thing sucks. Even so, I'm having problems justifying spending $100 on a strap....but I really love this watch...and I really hate this cheap strap. It's a problem.

It also says it is "water resistant to 10 bar" - rather than feet or meters. I find it interesting they used bar - esp. since it is not a diving watch.

No, for a jeweled movement this is reasonable. For what purpose do you require significantly more accurate daily timekeeping? Do you time your safety stop to the fraction of a second? My high-grade Longines dress watch is about the same. I have to reset the time every several days. Big deal!

My Seiko is a heavy, substantial timepiece. Remember, James Bond used his Rolex mechanical watch as a "knuckleduster" to knock out a bad guy in the novel "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". Try THAT with your plastic cased, battery-powered POS.

When the Seiko dies, as it will eventually, I will purchase another one, even though I have a timer built into my dive computer. I still mark my entry time on the Seiko, just in case the computer craps out. I also refer to my dive tables for the NDL at the maximum depth. Dive planning...

Now, I would like to own a Rolex Submariner or an equivalent Omega or Breitling, but this is not realistic. So I remain, very truly yours, a Seiko man.

 

[oreocookie]

I'm tempted to think that part of amazon's recommendations of 100m WR being good for the sink, sports and the swimming pool but not for diving might be more of a legal thing than a depth/pressure thing. i've got a roughly 10 year old timex ironman that used to proclaim 100m water resistance on the front, (now it only says that on the back, hidden by the strap as it's WELL worn, but i digress) thought about diving with it, found the "manual" online instead of digging out my own, only to see it says "this is not a scuba diving watch. do not use while diving" or something to that effect. my guess is it's legal, since the ironman is not marketed as a dive watch, (and therefore comes with no warnings about getting proper training before diving) though i have no idea what a triathlon athlete might be doing training at 330ft.

I might take it down to 60', but i'd be prepared to buy another watch as it's on it's 3rd or 4th battery and i have no idea how well the water resistance holds up after it's been opened

 

[kogu]

I use a Seiko Orange Monster. Dived 4 dives with it. No problems at all. The best part is that it has a bracelet extension, so that you can wear it over your wet suit.

 

[NudeDiver]

My Seiko is a heavy, substantial timepiece. Remember, James Bond used his Rolex mechanical watch as a "knuckleduster" to knock out a bad guy in the novel "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". Try THAT with your plastic cased, battery-powered POS.

My Seiko is neither plastic cased, battery powered, or a POS. On the other hand, I don't have the testosterone-powered need to knock anyone out with it either. Jezz...

 

[NudeDiver]

I'm tempted to think that part of amazon's recommendations of 100m WR being good for the sink, sports and the swimming pool but not for diving might be more of a legal thing than a depth/pressure thing....

Well, I guess my beef is, "who do they think they're fooling?" If I read something that says "WR 200M" and then later it says, "good for kitchen sinks, don't get it wet" - then, in my mind, they have lost all credibility. They may as well say, "keeps time - to within a week".

 

[ChimChim75]

I use a Seiko Orange Monster. Dived 4 dives with it. No problems at all. The best part is that it has a bracelet extension, so that you can wear it over your wet suit.

I got the same one in black. Love it! It's rated to 200M.

 

[Tortuga68]

The pressure ratings are based on 'bench testing' not dynamic pressure (as someone else alluded to), and are mostly covering warranty as opposed to actual use

So you have 'divers 200m' (dynamic) as well as 200m and less (static) ratings

I love my older Aqualand http://www.pmwf.com/Watches/Citizen/CitizenAqualandDiverFront.jpg US$140 from eBay which I use as a backup/deco timer for my Suunto Vyper; great watch with depth gauge

Would reccommend to anyone, especially at that price, if you can find one

To quote Sheck Exley from 'Caverns measureless to man':

"The nearly 400 PSI that I would experience on that dive (800') would literally crush the fancy, expensive divers' watches that the jet set like to show off at plush dive resorts. My three $29.95 Casio watches would be OK"

 

[D_B]

that's about what I payed on ebay for my JEEP / citizen aqualand duplex knock off ... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/DonBeary/DBsPostPics/Citizen-JeepWatch.jpg

I got it as a backup for my dive computer, works great, I've even changed the battery (with a watch back remover tool purchased on ebay) and have dived it to 107ft since then .. all OK

The depth rating on watches is there for a reason .. I would not spend any good money on a watch for diving that was not suitably rated .. or be surprised if it floods