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Home › A to Z of Diving › Scuba Gear › Computers › Dive Watches

What Watches are Good for Diving?

Sometimes, deciding whether to buy a new watertight dive watch or one of the traditional dive computers can be a tough decision to make.

This guide will help beginners find a good dive watch for scuba diving and understand how divers use dive watches for tracking bottom time underwater.

What is a Dive Watch and How Does it Work

There were various attempts to mass produce a water resistant watch in the 19th century - known as 'Explorer's Watches'.

Then, Rolex bought the patent for the 'Oyster' watch case featuring a hermetic (airtight) seal in 1926.

In 1996, the ISO 6425 Divers' watches international standard started regulating the integrity and features of diving watches.

Following that, many divers started wearing a sporty dive watch as a way to track their bottom time when scuba diving.

Nowadays, diving computers are the norm. Even though most divers use an electronic computer, usually worn on the wrist, some actually wear a watch as a symbol of being a 'scuba diver'.

Pro Tip: The very first mechanical analogue dive computer ever invented was the SOS Automatic Decompression Meter in 1959. It could actually provide a decompression profile to a scuba diver during the submersion.

Sport Diver Watches 

There is no noticeable difference in the style and appearance of most dive watches to a normal wristwatch. Except, it needs to be water resistant and have a depth rating of one hundred (100) metres (330 feet) as a minimum.

The depth rating means it can withstand the pressure that water will exert on the device at depth. Hence, using an underwater computer will sometimes be a better option.

For the most part, wearing a diver's watch is a stylish thing. It's something that a diver will wear because they like wearing it on their wrist - instead of stowing it away inside a scuba kit bag.

Pro Tip: There is no law that says you can't dive with both - a smart sporty watch and a modern scuba computer. In fact, you can actually buy a single unit that offers the functionality of a computer with the stylishness of a nice watch.

Scuba Dive Watch Features and Function

Some of the characteristics and features that change a normal watch into a fashionable, water resistant scuba diving watch, include:

• A stylish, legible appearance that you can also use as an accurate timepiece to show elapsed time and serve as a backup dive timer.
• Unidirectional bezels (in some analog watches) that rotate to align with the minute hand. Doing so means you can read elapsed time directly from the bezel.
• Solar powered or self-winding with illumination and a stopwatch feature found in most modern digital diver's watches.
• Depth rated to at least 100 metres (329 feet). This is much deeper than the maximum depth limits for recreational scuba diving. As a result, a sport watch that is waterproof to a shallow depth won't be rated for scuba diving.
• An advanced dive watch will have a water resistance rating of two hundred (200) metres as a minimum.
• An expanding bracelet (or long strap) to fit over neoprene sleeves of a wetsuit or drysuit.
• No stop dive limit information, some with depth gauges, thermometers, electronic compasses, tide predictors, and dive log capabilities.
• A rubber (or stainless steel) strap that is adaptable to seawater. They can also withstand pressure, humidity, and direct sunlight.
• The helium escape valve feature releases trapped helium during resurfacing (e.g. for professional divers who operate at greater depths for prolonged times). It also helps to protect the watch.

Tips for Choosing the Best Dive Watch

In most cases, scuba diving watch selection comes down to personal preference. But, you should choose one that suits your needs and your budget.

For example, the classic look of quartz or mechanical analog models will rate among the most expensive designer fashion watches on the market.

Whereas, the wide selection of affordable digital watches means they will be suitable as freediving gear accessories and for almost all scuba divers.

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