"Water Resistant" Watches

[utahfish]

So I've been looking at some nice Casio, Timex, and Swiss Army watches that have the rotating bezel and say "water resistant" to 100+ meters. Can these be used for diving, or does it have to be a "dive watch" and say "water proof"? I'm a newbie and I have a dive computer, but I want a watch anyway and so why not get a backup time piece for diving! Thanks for your help!

[navyhmc]

As a rec diver a 100 meter watch is adequate. I have used a Casio solar g-shock for years and not had a problem. My casio is my day to day watch as well. Go for it and have great dives!

[CompuDude]

I strong disagree. A watch rated as water resistant to 100m does not have the kind of sealing needed for even recreational scuba diving. (very few g-shocks are rated to 100m, the vast majority are 200m)

That said, sometimes they still do fine... if you get lucky. Be especially careful pressing any buttons at depth, as that is where you're most likely to have issues.

Watches rated to 200m or deeper are considered fully adequate for scuba diving. If you're planning to dive to extreme technical depths, I'd go for a 300m watch instead.

There's no such thing as a water "proof" watch. They're all varying degrees of water "resistant".

[IndyDiver]

Originally Posted by navyhmc

As a rec diver a 100 meter watch is adequate. I have used a Casio solar g-shock for years and not had a problem. My casio is my day to day watch as well. Go for it and have great dives!

Is your model 100m or 200m? All three g-shocks I have had say 200m water resistant on them. Most reviews recommend 200m as the minimum for scuba diving.

I agree about g-shocks being fine for diving. I have had 2 of my g-shocks on several dives in the 70-100 foot range, and they have gone great.

I got one of them for $69 on sale at Walmart - can't get a dive watch much cheaper than that. I also have a solar, atomic clock signal g-shock that I paid $99 for.

[navyhmc]

Originally Posted by IndyDiver

Is your model 100m or 200m? All three g-shocks I have had say 200m water resistant on them. Most reviews recommend 200m as the minimum for scuba diving.

I agree about g-shocks being fine for diving. I have had 2 of my g-shocks on several dives in the 70-100 foot range, and they have gone great.

I got one of them for $69 on sale at Walmart - can't get a dive watch much cheaper than that. I also have a solar, atomic clock signal g-shock that I paid $99 for.

Oops, my bad...my casio solar g-shock says water resistant to 20 bar. (200m/600'+)

I used a 50m casio for about 10 years before I destroyed the case-never leaked on any dive.

[rawalker]

200 meters is the minimum rating to consider as a dive watch.
100 meters is fine for snorkeling and swimming.
I have a Casio G Shock that is over 10 years old. I've changed the battery cleaned and lubricated the oring and it still is water tight.

[Flatliner]

hate to confess this but I have a 165' (yes that is feet) armitron that I paid $20 for that I have wore for 50 or 60 dives and have had to 100+ feet. I figured that it's only $20 and I'm not relying on it for a timer. Just like to have it on. Maybe I just got lucky with it.

[Bob-B]

My last watch was rated for 10 atmospheres (330ft), leaked during a dive in a 15 ft. deep pool. My new Casio is rated for 100M and in the instruction booklet it said that swiming was ok but not rated for diving.

I like my new watch, so it stays on shore.

[Tassie Diver]

Originally Posted by rawalker

200 meters is the minimum rating to consider as a dive watch.
100 meters is fine for snorkeling and swimming.
...

+1

and I think 50m is considered fine for showering/washing...

[Okc_diver]

I have a timex ironman less than a year old it is rated to 200m and back in May I was diving in Cozumel my max depth was 90 feet and the watch flooded. I sent the watch back to timex and they fixed it at no charge. So even though it said 200m I think the next time I will leave it off.