How To Correctly View The Waterproof Level Of Diving Watches, Swiss Watch Replica

What does a watch’s water resistance rating mean, or rather, what does a dive watch’s water resistance rating mean? This is a question that has been lingering in our minds for a long time, and this question includes the following aspects. First, whether a diving watch can or should be used with the official waterproof rating; second, whether the official waterproof rating is sufficient to protect the diving watch in various real-life environments; finally, the waterproof rating is only a “static” rating, and exercise can cause a “dramatic increase” in the actual water pressure. Will this make the watch waterproof?

Rolex Submariner watch, water-resistant up to 300 meters

Let’s look at these questions in turn. Can a diving watch with a water resistance of 200 meters, 300 meters, or other levels be placed in the corresponding water depth and maintain regular operation? It depends on what dive watch you’re talking about, but generally speaking, no problem. Let’s take two examples: Rolex and Seiko.

Rolex performs a static pressure test on all assembled watches before they are shipped out for distribution. The testing standards for all Oyster watches are 10% higher than the officially declared maximum waterproof depth; the testing standards for diving watches (such as Submariner) are 25% higher than the declared formal maximum waterproof depth. This situation may seem obvious from an engineering common sense perspective, as designers would naturally consider exceeding the prescribed standards and leaving additional leeway. For example, a modern submarine’s maximum “test depth” is usually half or even two-thirds different from the “disintegration depth.” It has been reported that submarines in combat conditions exceeded the disintegration depth without imploding. Swiss watch replica.

Seiko Professional Ocean Master 1000m High-Frequency Diving Watch

So, how far can a diving watch exceed its waterproof rating before mechanical failure occurs? Again, the answer may be that it depends.

In September 2014, Seiko placed two professional Ocean Master 1000-meter diving watches in a remote-controlled submersible and gradually sank them into the seabed of Japan. Since the water resistance rating is 1000 meters, it seems a reasonable prediction that they might fail near 1000 meters. Surprisingly, the hands of the quartz watch did not stop until the submersible dived to a depth of 3,248 meters.

Suppose static testing of waterproof performance is regarded as a specification for diving watches (diving watches must comply with the ISO 6425 standard). In that case, at least the official waterproof rating can be trusted, or Rolex and Seiko diving watches are worthy of trust. And its actual waterproof performance is likely to exceed this level. Swiss replica website.

Oris Divers Sixty-Five diving watch

The next question is whether a dive watch is sufficiently protected for real-life use without water damage. Let’s take a look at the requirements of ISO 6425.

Take the Oris Divers Sixty-Five diving watch as an example, which has a waterproof rating of 100 meters. Sometimes, some diving enthusiasts or watch enthusiasts will sneer at this and think that such a waterproof level is far from enough. Of course, professional diving watches will leave as much safety margin as possible. But in fact, most recreational scuba diving can only reach about 40 meters, which is also the recommendation of training institutions for recreational diving.

Forty meters is less than half of the waterproof rating of 100 meters. Even if the watch is not manufactured to reach the marked depth (of course, this is almost impossible), the wearer still has a very comfortable safety margin. This is especially true for watches with a waterproof rating of 200 meters. How many dive watch owners dive? How many dive people can perform technical diving at more than 40 meters? Therefore, those objections to 100-meter diving watches are almost entirely academic.

IWC Aquatimer 2000 automatic watch, water-resistant up to 2000 meters

Finally, when it comes to waterproofing levels, one often refers to static and dynamic pressure concepts. They say that in real life, diving watches should never be used in critical environments (officially given waterproof level) because the waterproof level is based on static pressure, and the swing of the arms during swimming, for example, will significantly increase the actual pressure.

Someone got curious and calculated the actual numbers. Exercise does increase actual stress, but only slightly. There is this post on the Watchuseek forum: “(without repeating the detailed calculation process) At a depth of 300 feet (100 meters), waving the arm at 3 feet/second, the dynamic pressure is of the order of 0.14 feet of water column (≈0.04% ). Even assuming the arm can be moved at 20 ft/s (14 mph), the dynamic pressure is only 6.2 ft of water (<2%).”

All in all, except for exceptional circumstances:

One hundred meters of waterproofing is more than enough.
The actual waterproof performance of the watch may be better than the marked number.
Ordinary people cannot swim so fast that it will significantly affect the waterproof performance of the watch.