Watch face colors

[DandH]

My wife and I are new to diving and are getting ready to purchase watches. Nothing fancy, just a basic watch that she'll probably wear only when diving and I'll probably wear occasionally outside of the water.

Are there watch face colors that are easier to see than others?

Thanks

 

[fnfalman]

My wife and I are new to diving and are getting ready to purchase watches. Nothing fancy, just a basic watch that she'll probably wear only when diving and I'll probably wear occasionally outside of the water.

Are there watch face colors that are easier to see than others?

Thanks

Orange and yellow faces stand out really well, but the more important issue is the bezel marking and how legible is it. You're looking at the bezel more than the watch face itself unless you want to know what time of the day it is.

Some bezels are colored or so brightly polished that they glare and you can't see them worth a damn. Or the tick marks are so fine that it's hard to see underwater. For example, the Omega Planet Ocean has a very cool looking orange bezel that glares badly underwater and the tick marks are so fine that it's hard to tell how long you've been underwater at a glance.

I'd suggest Seiko automatic dive watches. You can find them online for less than half their MSRPs and they great track record of durability. Get an orange for her and a yellow for you, or vice versa.

Seiko SKXA35 Men's Automatic 200m Diving Watch Yellow Dial Rubber Strap, Free Shipping
Seiko SKX781K3 Men's Diving Automatic Orange Dial Strap Watch, Free Shipping

 

[Sam308]

The most important thing I look for in a watch is contrast. For me, black or blue watch faces with white or silver hands offers sufficient contrast so it is easy to read the time. I guess the extremes are orange and yellow faces. One other thing, make sure it is rated for at least 200 meters. This is the minimum to be considered a true dive watch even though you will probably never get that deep.

 

[bhalah]

I agree with Sam in that I prefer a black watch face with white lettering for readability. This boils down to a matter of personal taste. Orange or red watch faces will turn a deeper black as you descend below 20 ft., so red on white should be readable. I think fnfalman makes a very good point about paying attention to the bezel asthetics.