Watches that work under water
People are always contacting us regarding their watch which they have worn under water and water ingress has occurred or wanting to know which of our Watches that work under water. It seems to happen a lot this time of year when everyone jets off to the sun and sea taking their watches a long with them. The question we always get asked is “my watch said that it was water resistant so why does it have water inside?” and we always then have to explain how the watches water resistance rating works.
Watches that work under water is a common search term and definitely one that our customers tend to search a lot due to the confusion around the ratings and reality.
The table below explains in more details how each rating works not accounting for brand specific ratings such as Rotary “dolphin standard” which allows wearers to swim and dive all day. To know your watches water resistance rating either look on the case back of the watch or on the listing from the website your brought it from. We list our water resistance rating for all of our watches on the product description table below the product.
| Water resistance rating | Suitability | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Water Resistant 3 atm or 30 m | Suitable for everyday use. Splash/rain resistant. | Not suitable for showering, bathing, swimming, snorkeling, water related work, fishing, and diving. |
| Water Resistant 5 atm or 50 m | Suitable for swimming, white water rafting, and fishing. | Not suitable for diving and snorkeling. |
| Water Resistant 10 atm or 100 m | Suitable for recreational surfing, swimming, snorkeling, sailing and water sports. | Not suitable for diving. |
| Water Resistant 20 atm or 200 m | Suitable for professional marine activity, serious surface water sports and skin diving. | Suitable for skin diving. |
| Diver’s 100 m | Minimum ISO standard (ISO 6425) for scuba diving at depths not suitable for saturation diving. | Diver’s 100 m and 150 m watches are generally old(er) watches. |
| Diver’s 200 m or 300 m | Suitable for scuba diving at depths not suitable for saturation diving. | Typical ratings for contemporary diver’s watches. |
| Diver’s 300+ m for mixed-gas diving | Suitable for saturation diving (helium enriched environment). | Watches designed for mixed-gas diving will have the DIVER’S WATCH xxx M FOR MIXED-GAS DIVING additional marking to point this out. |
Make sure you take a note of which suitability comments and remarks are listed for your watches water resistance rating as a watch that is 3atm or 30M water resistant will still get water ingress if used for showering, bathing, swimming, snorkelling, water related work, fishing, and diving despite it seeming like it would be okay. We understand that this can be rather misleading hence why we are writing the post. Unfortunately mistakes like this are easy to make and we are always upset to hear that someones precious timepiece has broken or stopped due to water ingress.
Rotary Dolphin Standard
Some Rotary watches are marked as ‘Dolphin Standard’ on the back of the case this means that they have been upgraded to offer this exclusive to Rotary waterproof specification meaning that you and your watch can swim and dive all day knowing that your watch will be safe and its one of the features about Rotary that make them so popular today. Dolphin Standard watches are suitable for the following: Swimming, shallow diving, yachting, all water sports (excluding scuba diving) and showering.
We have a whole number of watches that are waterproof do different depths which we have broken down below:
We have also recently taken on Swiss Watch Brand Oris who are an exclusively mechanical watch brand aimed towards the higher end of the market. The brand has a whole range of water proof watches including one which is 1000 metres water resistant. For more than 100 years world renowned watch brand Oris has been designing and manufacturing timepieces in Switzerland. You always know which is an Oris watch as they are unique, this is due to the watches being purely mechanical and being marked out by their distinctive design combined with their red rotor, the symbol of Oris mechanicals. Oris is very popular amongst the rich and famous and has been featured in a host of cameo appearances in different sectors including Formula One, diving, jazz and aviation.
So remember when you’re by the pool and thinking about taking a dip or about to have a cold shower after a day in the sun remember to remove your watch if it isn’t water resistant as and damage caused is not covered under your guarantee.
If you have any questions regarding the water resistance of the watch you own or a watch you are looking at you can always call us on 01926 298 499 or alternatively email us info@firstclasswatches.co.uk
