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#20266
Does Anyone Actually Go Diving With a Dive Watch?
Smithsgold - 10/20/2017 1:01 PM
Category: General
Replies: 26

Does Anyone Actually Go Diving With a Dive Watch?

nytimes.com/2017/10/04/fashion/mens-style/does-a...th-a-dive-watch.html

Ask yourself, how many buddies do you have with dive watches? Now ask yourself, how many of them dive with one?

Didn’t think so.

One man who has made a living doing so is Jason Heaton, a Minnesota-based journalist, who is known to watch geeks as a test pilot for the world’s most illustrious undersea timepieces. As a contributor to magazines like Men’s Journal and Outside, and sites like Hodinkee and Gear Patrol, Mr. Heaton, 47, has scuba-tested many dive watches, ranging in price from a few hundred dollars for a Scurfa to a $145,000 Richard Mille over the course of more than 400 dives around the world.

Fresh off a dive off Sri Lanka, where, wearing a Rolex Submariner, he explored the wreck of the H.M.S. Hermes, an aircraft carrier sunk during World War II, Mr. Heaton discussed the continuing allure of dive watches in an era when many scuba enthusiasts consider them obsolete.
#20357
LatitudeAdjustment - 10/20/2017 1:28 PM
I haven’t used a dive watch in at least 15 years, both of my dive computers tell time so when the dive watch died I never replaced it.
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ELLOCODIABLO - 10/20/2017 1:50 PM
Dont use a dive watch anymore but I do still run a dive timer with backup tables to backup my computers
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Duke106 - 10/20/2017 3:14 PM
I dive with a watch only. I’m not very experienced, haven’t been on a lot of dives and nothing very deep. I love watches and especially dive watches. I wear a Deep Blue Tritium every day, a Steinhart Titanium 500 for special occasions, and a Deep Blue Depthmeter Professional when diving. I had a Citizen Depthmeter but it was harder to read depth. I’ll probably get a computer eventually, but watches are cool
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Scott_R - 10/20/2017 7:36 PM
Yes.

I have a "dive watch." It is a Timex Ironman and it meets 100% of my diving needs.

I don’t really use it when diving because my dive computer also tells time and is very reliable. In the event my computer would fail I would switch to my dive watch and dive tables. Some people carry a backup computer but computers are so reliable and unlikely to fail it is much more reasonable to carry a watch and dive table.

Some people will say my Timex is not a real dive watch but it has been diving more than most so called dive watches and if anyone would like to send me a different type I would be happy to review it for you.
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Caloosa - 10/21/2017 6:43 AM
I haven’t used a dive watch for over ten years, my computer gives me all the info I need, as long as I am attentive to keeping the batteries replaced I feel confident that it will provide me with reliable time, dive time and surface interval.
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Eric_R - 10/21/2017 7:17 AM
When I was first certified I used one along with a digital dive timer. Now I’ll only use it as a redundant timer for any dives where there’s a possibility to go into deco.
#20266
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Smithsgold - 10/21/2017 12:59 PM
I have one but the batterie always seem to be dead when I want to use it !!!!
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ram04769 - 10/21/2017 2:56 PM
I don’t usually travel with all my dive gear, to include my dive computer. So I do have my Citizen Promaster Eco-Drive watch that I always wear. Plus, it gives me a backup on depth and time just in case of battery failure with a dive computer.
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cbm369 - 10/22/2017 11:31 AM
I still use a Timex Ironman when diving. More of a habit wearing a watch, but since I shore dive a lot, I use the timer to time how long my surface swim is.

Gives me a ballpark time on when I’ve swam out far enough to reach a location and submerge instead of using up my air supply.
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Diver_Diva - 10/24/2017 11:35 AM
I do. I always wear my watch and depth gauge, in case my computer quits.
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ScubaSteve63 - 10/25/2017 12:45 AM
As a lobster diver I’ve broken too many watches shoving my hands into rocky openings. I do have an old digital dive watch strapped to my gauge cluster though, does that count?
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captn_rob - 10/25/2017 1:29 PM
I love my dive watch. Time, depth, temp easily accessible.
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CAAdventureGurl - 10/25/2017 11:44 PM
I bought a good solid Timex at home for my dive watch, but when the battery died, I took it off my rig (it was hard to put on my wrist with a drysuit). My dive computer does a good job of keeping track of time. In a pinch I can estimate off my air consumption and depth or just have my buddy track time 😉
#227
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covediver - 10/30/2017 12:36 PM
I usually dive with a watch. The first dive watch I purchased in 1983 has been with me on all my trips, generally on my wrist but sometimes left in the gear bag. I have come to rely on my computer for subsurface timing, especially in a dry suit where mounting a dive watch is a bit problematic.
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starfish11 - 11/15/2017 11:22 AM
I always wear my dive watch. My Master Diver friends from Hawaii recommended the Sunto dive watch. It does everything you need it to do. It keeps all logs and records everything. It also calculates my no fly time after doing consecutive dives. I wouldn’t feel safe without it. You can also set a maximum depth and it beeps to alert me when i am going beyond my limits.
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Littlefish530f - 11/19/2017 5:50 PM
When I read "dive watch" I immediately thought you were asking me about my dive computer which I call a "dive watch" and I thought what a weird question everyone I dive with does... I would use this and some of the previous replies as an example of how obsolete they are.
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Peter-EH-NJ - 12/15/2017 11:18 PM
I have a dive watch, which I wear everyday. It is a fancy looking watch, bulky and requires self-winding. As for scuba diving, I change over to my Non-Dive watch, which is slim, easy to read, and battery operated. This slim watch was originally my everyday watch, and after testing the waters over 100 ft deep, it became my go to dive watch because it was slim. Since I also have a dive computer, integrated and wrist, the idea of having a bulky, hard to remove, and expensive, dive watch just was not happening. I am sticking with my slim SEIKO watch, which can hide under my wetsuit. This baby is now worth, maybe $30. So, how about the fancy ESQ dive watch, worth about $200? Well, it has problems because it needs to be activated by movement, and is bulky. I’m not the guy to show off this fancy watch under 100 ft. Nobody cares, and certainly not the fish.
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Mr_Peter - 12/18/2017 10:12 AM
I usually have a dive watch with me. It’s backup if the computer fails. (and of course I have a decompression table in my jacket). Batterie is empty - never use an automatic!
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Snoweman - 2/14/2018 7:54 PM
I always wear my Luminox. It’s also my travel watch, and I try to dive while traveling.
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Diving_Granpa - 2/26/2018 2:16 AM


I dived my ’issue’ CWC from 1973 - 1996 before moving to my Citizen Aqualand that I still use today. Over the years I have certainly spent way more than the cost of the watch having it fully serviced by Citizen (about every 2 years). I cannot imagine making a dive without my watch and always screw down prior to a dive. I am very comfortable to dive using the watch as my timer.

I know things move on and computers are ever and ever better but do think reverting to some good old maths is not such a bad thing to have in your backup plan.
#111
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Mr_Peter - 2/28/2018 6:00 AM
Of course I ment : Use an automatic...