There are plenty of men’s diving watches offered by renowned wrist watch manufacturers. However, how can you tell which ones are worth spending money on? And what precisely is a diving watch anyway?
What is a Diving Watch?
A diving watch is an alternate sports watch manufactured for under-sea diving. Its fundamental goals are to:
- Log your time underneath the water and
- To help you in a protected re-visitation of ocean level with the assistance of decompression tables (if a simple watch).
At that point there’s the way that many diving watches look terrific. These watches can undoubtedly be worn as a style embellishment when not utilized as a basic jumping instrument.
Diving Watch – Must Be Capable of Uphold Water Pressure
A watch made for diving must be able to withstand water pressure equivalent to a minimum of 100 meters deep. It should also be capable to be rugged enough to resist the abrasive sea water and shrug off an unexpected blow or two.
All genuine divers watch must meet different sets of standards as per ISO 6425, a global standard that allows wrist watch suppliers to imprint the word “DIVER’S” on the timepiece.
Features of a Diving Watch
Diving watches offer a nominal functionality level that must be matched to comply with ISO standards. Many diving Wrist Watch Manufacturers deliver additional characteristics too. Conventional diving watches used to be analog; however, the availability of diving watch computers has produced a digital diving watch variety and have taken the market by storm.
So how a dive watch is different from any other ordinary wristwatch? There are different properties by which diving watches can be rated:
Water & Corrosion Resistive Watch Case
Since diving watches must have sufficient water resistance, the watch cases are made from material like ceramics, titanium, stainless steel, and plastics or synthetic resins.
A diving wrist watch can also tolerate mid-levels of magnetic disruption (external) and shock. Even built-in movement of reputable diving watches offers smart impact protection.
Rotating Bezel
Keeping log of cumulative diving time is considered as a critical function of any diving watch. Analog watches contain a rotating bezel that cater to this. A function of a bezel is to give easier recording of elapsed dive time.
The bezel is turned to line up the zero on the bezel with the watch’s second or minute hand, saving the diver the need to remember the original hand position and to perform the mental arithmetic needed to compute the total dive time. The bezel is one-way and can only be moved anti-clockwise to increase the perceived elapsed time (not reduce it). Some diving wrist watches have a bezel (locked) that minimizes the threat of unintentional alteration under-water. Digital diving wrist watches only exhibit the time lapsed during diving in numerical form.
Crystal Case
Because of the elevated force sustained underwater, diving watches tend to sport an ultra-thick crystal dial window. Some normal materials use in dial-up windows including acrylic glass, synthetic sapphire, and hardened glass; each with their specific merits and demerits.
- Acrylic glass can tolerant shattering; however, they are susceptible to scratches
- Hardened glass can withstand scratch more than acrylic glass but less fragile than sapphire
- Sapphire is very tolerant to scratching, but will break much more easily than the other materials.
Many watch designers use combinations of these basic materials.
Crown
Virtually all analog diving watches feature a water-proof crown. The crown should be unscrewed to correct or set the date or time and screwed in again to reinstate water resistance.
Helium Release Valve
A majority of dive watches are manufactured for “shallow” dives, depth of less than 200 meters below sea level. Others are capable to go over 1000 meters deep. This level Diving is called as “technical diving” or “saturation diving”.
A problem encountered in ultra-deep saturation dives which are performed in Helium rich environments is pressure build-up caused by helium getting into the watch. Without any careful venting mechanism, the crystal dial watches would shoot off often due to the pressure of helium within the watch’s interior. Saturation dive watches manufacturers are compensated for this through release valves to dispense the excessive internal gas.
Strap/Bracelet
Most diving watches have a rubber, silicone or polyurethane strap or a metal watch bracelet with excess length to permit wearing the watch over the sleeve of a diving suit. Watchstraps often have a concealed extension deployment buckle by which it can be appropriately extended.
Readability
Dive watches should be legible enough in the low light ambiance experienced deep below the sea level. ISO 6425 makes it mandatory that a dive watch must have an indicator of function in the dark. A majority of dive watches feature non-cluttered and high contrasting dials with clearly marked minute marks, numerals, and hands, usually laced with the surface of radiant pigmentation.
Power Reserve Indicator
If a dive watch is powered by a battery, ISO 6425 requires that it exhibit an End Of Life (EOL) indicator to warn of an low energy reserve. This is handled usually with a 2-4 second skipping of a second hand or a cautionary message on a digital dive watch.
Final Words
While a good diving watch may appear expensive, keep in mind that with these types of watches, you are obtaining an ultra-durable timepiece that has been put through a set of more arduous checks compared to a traditional sports wrist watch. Men’s diving watches can take a hit or two and a good one will last near a lifetime. Without a doubt, if you consider yourself a serious diver, you can’t live without it.
