A diving watch is a specially designed watch for divers to wear under water. Standard diver’s watch has a water resistance of 200-300 meters which is equivalent to 660-990 meters. With new technology, modernized watches are designed to resist water for much more depth.
According to international standards, a watch which can go to a depth of 100 meters in water is a diver’s watch. Watches which fulfill the international standards are marked DIVER’S watch to separate them from the ones which might not be suitable for diving.
International standard set for diver’s watches is the ISO 6425. Besides the minimum requirement for being called as water resistant, the watch should be magnetic resistant, shock resistant, chemical resistant, should have an unbreakable and long lasting strap and battery power indicator on battery powered watches.
Crown of the water resistant watches must be made of material which is water resistant. Pushers of the watches are designed in a way that if operated under water, water is not allowed to enter the case.
Straps of the watches are made of materials with cannot and do not react with water chemically, such as alloys, stainless steel, rubber, silicon rubber or fabric. Fabric straps are long lasting and the chance of losing the watch under water is minimized because the attachment point is stronger.
Legibility criteria are another important one for such diving watches. Dials and in digital watches the display has to be legible under water and in the conditions where light is poor. Power indicators must be present in battery powered watches which are used to indicate the power of the battery if low, and in some watches the status of power indicators are also present. These are some characteristics of diver’s watches.
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