Water resistance ratings for watches

[themagni]

I have a Timex that cost $15 at a store going out of business. It's rated 100 m with the caveat, "don't press any buttons underwater." It has survived more than 150 dives and one battery change.

I take my Timex Ironman on dives as my backup timer. My dad bought it for me when I was in grade 10.

On its Checkout Dive, I forgot to start the timer at the surface. I pressed the button, got some random LCD displays (I think it briefly flashed "WHY") and then it was dead forever.

I took it home, let it dry out, cleaned it with Contact Cleaner*, replaced the battery, and now it's almost as good as new.

*Not contact lens solution. Contact Cleaner is a special electronics fluid.

 

[hudson]

(I think it briefly flashed "WHY")

 

[garyfotodiver]

Two. Thirty seconds per day accuracy out of a mechanical watch is indeed pretty poor. Even a pretty low quality mechanical movement should perform that well and can be regulated to perform better. High quality movements can perform within COSC standards of -4/+6 seconds per day. (This is typical of Omega, Rolex, etc.) I have a Longine (vintage Ultra-Chron) that was originally guaranteed (40 years ago) to be within 1 minute per month (2 seconds per day). If it was a quartz (or kinetic, or eco-drive) it should be thrown out with that kind of accuracy.

I choose to not get my two mechanical watches regulated. 1) I won't trust my Longines to anyone other than a certified Longines watchmaker, and I have not found one here in Chicago that I would trust for the last 20 years or so; and 2) After 46 years of owning mechanical divers watches (yes, I received my first one for my 10th birthday in 1962) I have never had good results with a divers watch once the case has been opened. And I have stood and observed the watchmaker as he installed new gaskets and heated the case - not having a dry room - before closing up the watch.

This is my choice and I reset my watch every several days or so. It might be off less thasn 30 sec/day but I do not care. The electronic HR monitor/watch I use when bike riding keeps excellent time, but it is rated to 30M. The margin is insufficient.

 

[Tortuga68]

Thought someone might find this of interest: Diving watch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[NudeDiver]

Thought someone might find this of interest: Diving watch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Very informational. Thank you.

 

[Tortuga68]

Somewhat off topic - I've often thought that you could use a conventional (appropriately depth-rated) watch as a dive timer by setting the time to midday at the start of the dive, negating the need for the rotating bezel

Any cons, aside from delayed submersion after entering the water?

 

[Puffer Fish]

I still dunno why this turned into a conversation about cost issues.

Suppose it is a nice $1000 watch and he says on the case, "Waterproof to 500m - read manual for details". Then, when you read the manual, it says, "for use around kitchen sinks and swimming pools. Do not use when SCUBA diving." Then what?

The intent of raising the OP was about ratings, what they say, and what they mean - not an issue of cost. No matter HOW much you pay, if the rating alone cannot be trusted to mean what it actually says (within reason), then that's a problem in my view. I'd think its misleading labeling, or false advertising - and while I'm a hater of government, it should be prevented by one or more government agencies.

Personally, I think the concepts of "water resistant" and "to 50 feet" (let alone, meters) are incompatible. To most people, at least anyone I know, "water resistant" is referring to getting splashed, or at most, submersed in a few feet of water. To use that term for something with anything even close to a 50m rating (let alone beyond that) is simply misleading - hell, it's even false!

I don't like it. So, I'll bitch about it. So there. Nah ne nah nah nee nee.

I have a couple of the 500 meter water resistant watches, and the manuals all say "for use while scuba diving"... I think the phone conversation about not really being for diving was a comment by someone that did not know anything about the watch.

But if they leak.. are they covered by the warranty is a completely different issue.. some are, some are not...

I know Invicta's are... as I have sent one back and had it replaced for free.

Reading over some of the comments about why one would need a rating of 200 meters or greater, there also seems to be a bit of confusion over what is meant by static versus dynamic....The dynamic refers to being in the real world.. the sun may heat the watch before you jump into cold water.. you may hit the watch on something while under water.. the seal may wear a bit over time..etc.

While not all 200 meter watches have screw down stems... most do...and that is rare on lower rated watches.

The only dive watch I have ever returned stated in the manual that you should not wear it in a shower, if the water was warm (?), and that might cause seal failure. Seems the watch would not take any temperature variation.. I returned it...

 

[Tortuga68]

I've got one of those Casio Wave Ceptor from wally world that resets itself everynight for about $40 and never had a problem. Curiously, the watch is rated at 50M, but the back of the casing says it's rated for 5 bar, which isn't the same. Somebody didn't think that thru

It is the same if you take atmospheric pressure as 0 (gauge pressure)

In your watch world, what's the buzz on watches with the WR rated in bars, rather than meters (or feet I guess)? Is this just an older way of doing it, a different way of doing it, or does it signify anything else (such as yeah, sure, go diving with this thing)?

For example, my Seiko Kinetic, which is not a diver's model, indicates, "water resistant to 10 bar". Any significance to using bar rather than meters there?

My guess would be that it's the same as the speedometer on your car being in miles or kilometres ie no difference

 

[CycloneFever]

Somewhat off topic - I've often thought that you could use a conventional (appropriately depth-rated) watch as a dive timer by setting the time to midday at the start of the dive, negating the need for the rotating bezel

Any cons, aside from delayed submersion after entering the water?

You might have some difficulty finding an appropriately rated watch that doesn't have a rotating bezel. Having a rotating bezel is a pretty popular style even if the watch isn't necessarily appropriate for diving.

In my mind, not having to change the time on the watch is precisely the reason for a rotating bezel. Many people still wear watches to actually tell the time.

The physical operation of setting the time (unscrewing the crown, twisting to set the time, resealing crown) is likely more difficult (especially when wet or wearing gloves) that rotating the bezel.

No technical reason why you couldn't though that I know of.

 

[Tortuga68]

It occured to me because when I was looking at so-called dive watches, a lot of them only had minute markings on the bezel up to 15 minutes, which is pretty useless if you're doing deco diving

Obviously these watches don't meet the ISO standard for dive watches, but there still seem to be a lot of them on the market, and they are rated to appropriate depths for diving - rolex submariner for example

I only wear my dive watch when I'm diving, so the actual time is irrelevant to me

In the end I just found the right watch, and use the bezel - it's much easier as you say - but it still made me wonder about doing it the other way