Five basic features to look for in any Scuba Diving WatchNow that you’ve got a couple dives under your belt, you’re ready to chuck your old land-loving watch for a sleek and cool scuba diving watch.There’re a lot of watches out there from a lot of different manufactures that range in quality from barely waterproof to pseudo-dive computers. But which features should you really look for? What features are the most useful when you’re diving? Here are few suggestions to help you find the right dive watch for you. 
1 - The BezelIf you buy an analog dive watch, it has to have a bezel.That’s the little circle thing around the face of the watch that spins around making a clicking sound as it moves. The bezel’s primary function is to time your dive. You move the bezel around until the zero is above the minute hand, then you see where the minute hand is after your dive. Pretty simple stuff, but necessary unless you go digital. 2 - Water ResistantThis should fall in the “obvious” category.If you’re diving, your scuba diving watch needs to be water resistant. Personally I would not buy a watch unless it was water resistant to at least 100 meters (about 330 feet). Not that I’d ever dive to 100 meters, but if the watch can handle that kind of pressure, a 120 foot (40 m) wall dive should be no problem. 3 - TitaniumOkay, so this feature isn’t really “necessary” per se but it is really nice to have.Saltwater is incredibly corrosive and most scuba diving watches will need a lot of care to make sure they don’t rust or dry out. Titanium, on the other hand, doesn’t rust and it barely corrodes at all. A quick rinse under the sink is all you need and your watch is good to go. In addition, titanium is so light that you can hardly feel it on your wrist and it’s stronger than steel so it doesn’t scratch easily. It’s perfect for the underwater environment. 4 - Backlight or Glowing HandsMost scuba diving watches will have one of the two. I prefer the backlight personally because it’s easier to read.Having a backlight will help you out a lot in low visibility and low light conditions. I mean, what good is a dive watch if you can’t read it, right? 5 - Scratch Resistant FaceIf the face of your watch is made of glass forget about it! You’re going to get that thing so scratched up that after 20 dives or so, you’ll be lucky if you can read it!Find a watch that has some sort of mineral crystal face. Don’t misunderstand me; these faces will scratch too, but not as easily. When you’re diving under the waves, durability is the name of the game. There are a lot of other features you can have in a dive watch, but these five should give you a good starting point for finding a good one. Look around and see what you like. There are some really cool features out there so explore and have fun! One of the best dive watches out there is the Citizen Dive Watch. Read my review on it here. Return to Underwater Diving Equipment Home Page. |
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