Three Critical Features to Check When Buying Diving Watches

Three Critical Features to Check When Buying Diving Watches

Diving is an enjoyable sport enjoyed by people of different ages and cultures. Before jumping into the water, you’ll need to have the right equipment. One of the most important tools you’ll need is a good diving watch. A watch that fails to perform can end in disaster. If you’re in the market for a diving watch, here are three critical features to consider.

Readability

Readability is a critical factor in choosing diving watches. In other words, you’ll need to be sure a watch has a significantly high contrast between the dials, numbers, markers and the face of the watch so that it’s clear and easy to read.

Light absorbs much quicker in water than it does on land. Thus, a diving watch needs to have dials that are clearly visible in which you can easily read the numbers and see the display.

Consider that water is clear only in turquoise water. Once water becomes dark and murky, it’s hard to read a watch. That’s why luminescent markers, dials and numbers are exceptionally ideal for conditions in which there is low light.

Depth Rating

Any diving watch you’re considering needs to be able to survive the extreme pressure that’s incurred when diving into deep water so that water doesn’t seep into the watch.

First, decide how deep you’ll be diving. Next, check the depth rating number of a diving watch. For example, a watch marked with a depth rating of WR 100 means that it can resist a water depth up to 100 meters deep.

Although a watch with a rating of WR 100 works for minimal depths, such as snorkeling, it’s unsuitable for diving. Therefore, you’ll need a watch marked with a depth rating of 200-300. It’s best to choose a watch with a depth rating that’s more than what you actually need.

Safety Features

A diving watch’s safety features should be your main concern when making a buying decision. The main feature you'll need to check is the loudness of a watch's alarm or timer. An alarm should be loud enough, besides reliable, so you won’t remain in the water for too long.

Another safety feature is being able to unfasten your watch easily and quickly. This is because your watchband may become stuck on underwater trees, shipwrecks or other obstacles. That's why your wristband should be considerably larger than that of a regular wristband. While it should be easy to remove, it needs to be secure enough not to fall off.

Warning

• Watches advertised as “water proof” may be able to handle shallow depths, but they are usually ineffective in deeper water.

Choosing the best diving watch can seem overwhelming, so don’t hesitate to let Everything Nautical help you. We have a large selection of nautical watches, as well as other unique nautical gifts and décor. Please contact us.