Performance Meets Sophisticated Design: How To Choose the Ideal Dive Watch

Whether you are a pro diver or simply a diving enthusiast who ignites their passion for diving by going on a fun dive to explore the underwater wonders, shoot underwater images, or visit an exotic destination, you must be equipped with adequate knowledge, physical skills, and equipment before jumping into the depths of the blue ocean.

Source: scubadiving.com

When it comes to the diving equipment, a dive watch is a must-have in order for you to be able to monitor the depth and time of the dive, and hence enjoy safe and fun diving. Though many divers wear dive computers, diving watches are still the most reliable tools for tracking elapsed time on a dive. Even if you have a dive computer, you can still dive in with a diving watch. With a quality dive watch, you will know when it’s safe to make decompression stop if anything goes wrong whilst you are underwater.

Today modern dive watches are more about form than function, meaning that a dive watch can be worn casually for daily use apart from wearing it during a dive session. In fact, your dive watch is the only piece you can wear everyday 24/7 out of all the dive gear in your kit.

Diving watches are often quite good-looking, and their bulky, edgy shapes and bold contrasting designs make them eye-catching timepieces. Whether you prefer a simple and inexpensive dive watch with a few standard features or a designer-made diving watch, there are plenty of options that you can choose from. Read on to learn how to pick a dive watch that can accompany you to the depths of the ocean and elevate your subaquatic adventure to the next level.

What to Look for in a Dive Watch?

If you are diving a lot, either casual diving or professional diving, you probably want a dive watch that meets your needs. The dive watches with robust design do their job while managing to be elegant, rugged, and stylish at the same time. They stand out from the crowd of luxury watches with their brawny shapes, unidirectional bezels, and enhanced water resistance capability.

With so many options out there, choosing the right dive watch for you may seem like a daunting task. But in the end, it comes down to your personal preferences and how you operate best when diving. If you want a digital dive watch, then you can find plenty of options for both women and men at your local dive store. If you prefer the classic mechanical style of watch that you can wear for daily use, then you can find plenty of choices across a range of sporty-oriented watch brands in jewellery shops.

Source: blog.crownandcaliber.com

Besides the standard dive depth and time, dive watches can come with a number of different features, depending on your needs and your budget. Some of the features you can come to expect from a dive watch include illuminated screens for seeing in the dark depths of the ocean, thermometer, timer, digital compass, wireless integration, air supply data, alerts, dive data recording, and more. Before choosing a dive watch either for casual diving or professional diving, take into consideration the following.

Depth Rating

Functionality, technology, and water resistance are all strong considerations when buying dive watches. High water resistance is evidence of higher overall robustness too, meaning that the watch is robust and durable, even if you don’t use it for the purpose of diving. Keep in mind that a watch labelled as “waterproof” is not the same as a dive watch. Waterproof watches might not be able to hold up under the pressures involved in diving. A professional diving watch has to adhere to ISO standards, meeting the standards set by ISO 6425 in particular. According to these standards, a diving watch must be water-resistant to at least 200 m (20 bar, 656 ft) – this is the minimum requirement. A dive watch is not designed to withstand high pressures or other stresses that might occur like jumping off a dive boat.

Unidirectional Bezel

A good dive watch typically features a unidirectional bezel with minute and five-minute markers that rotate in a counter-clockwise direction only. The bezel measures the elapsed dive time using the minute hand of the watch by rotating the bezel to the starting time of your dive. The unidirectional aspect ensures that an accidental bump of the bezel while underwater will cause the diver to surface sooner than planned, never beyond the capacity of their tank.

Watch Readability

No matter where or when you will want to know what time it is. Diving watches have to be readable underwater and in the dark. Therefore, they feature luminous hands and indices that can be read underwater you can safely calculate the time it would take to resurface. A luminous second hand would make sure your watch is functioning in low light and poor conditions. Luminescent markings come up with a big difference, therefore contrasting colours, primarily black and white, would be best. This enhances the readability both underwater and overwater.

Source: medium.com

Watch Straps

Straps are an essential part of any complete, modern diving watch. They allow for an easier adjustment for different types of exposure suits and the associated compression at depth. There are plenty of different options for watch straps, most commonly a corrosion-resistant stainless-steel bracelet, or a rubber strap and buckle. Rubber straps are comfortable and strong, but they will eventually get old and brittle over time, however, the rubber can be cut. Though titanium is lighter and stronger than stainless steel bands, both types of wrist bands are great choices and won’t rust. Leather straps are not recommended for diving.