Divers watch

zazzz

Does anybody know where you can get a decent divers watch for around E60-E110

Benny-c

Try Argos;

Casio G-Shock watches about €90-€100 not diving specifically but will tell the time underwater.

Also try here;

http://www.deepbluedive.com/department/watches/50099

Benny

Fratton Fred

I've got a swatch watch I use as a back up to my dive computer. it is waterproof to 100m and cost about $60 i think.

OK, it's not a TAG, but it has a nice easy readable face and is all rubber so doesn't rust.

scubakid

zazzz wrote: »

Does anybody know where you can get a decent divers watch for around E60-E110

Is it a depth gauge or a computer or just a basic wrist watch your looking for?

locum-motion

I would never dive without a timepiece that doesn't meet these two absolute minimum specifications:
1. Rated 200m water resistant. (Water resistance ratings are for static water, that's why it has to be 200m even if you're only diving to 30m)
2. Unidirectional rotating bezel.

Swatches and G-Shocks are not dive watches.

That's what I'd consider absolute minimum. What I actually dive with is a Suunto Vyper 2 computer and a Citizen Promaster as backup.

scubakid

locum-motion wrote: »

I would never dive without a timepiece that doesn't meet these two absolute minimum specifications:
1. Rated 200m water resistant. (Water resistance ratings are for static water, that's why it has to be 200m even if you're only diving to 30m)
2. Unidirectional rotating bezel.

Swatches and G-Shocks are not dive watches.

That's what I'd consider absolute minimum. What I actually dive with is a Suunto Vyper 2 computer and a Citizen Promaster as backup.

Well said

drunkmonkey

overstock are now shipping to ireland, look like they've a good selection and good prices http://www.overstock.com/search?keywords=diving+watch&SearchType=Header

Fratton Fred

actually, i lied about my swatch, it is water resistant to 200m.

Why is that not a dive watch? i use it with a suunto dive computer as well and it has survived in the region of 50 dives.

locum-motion

Fratton Fred wrote: »

actually, i lied about my swatch, it is water resistant to 200m.

Why is that not a dive watch? i use it with a suunto dive computer as well and it has survived in the region of 50 dives.

Well, I suppose it's better than nothing if the computer goes on the blink, but does it have a unidirectional rotating bezel?

A rotating bezel is important so that you can set your zero marker to the minute hand as you start the dive.

It's important for it to be unidirectional, so that if it somehow gets shifted or accidentally rotated during the dive, then it's showing you a longer dive time than you actually did, not a shorter one.

If your computer goes on the blink during the dive, then you're effectively diving on tables using your backup timepiece for any repeat dives. Let's just say your bezel gets accidentally moved 7 clicks during the dive. If your actual dive time was say 39 minutes, but your timepiece is telling you that you did 32 minutes, then your error is 7 minutes on the unsafe side, but if it says 46 minutes then your error is 7 minutes on the safe side.

Hope I've explained that well enough.

ps: Fred, what did you go for in the end on the regs/BCD?

sunshinediver

Over the years I've bought many dive watches, some now reside on the seabed of both the atlantic and pacific oceans. Many others have leaked thru' the winder, My fault for not checking it was tight before getting in the water but how often do you check this before a dive?

If you do a lot of diving in the year as i would 70+ dives go and buy a G-shock. If it gets lost you're only down 70 quid, if its leaks same story. Not specifically a dive watch but I can't fault mine. It's really only a backup for a computer.

If on the other hand you want to show off and let everyone know you're a diver spend a bit of money on the watch and but something big, brash and fancy, but don't bring it diving

locum-motion

sunshinediver wrote: »

Over the years I've bought many dive watches, some now reside on the seabed of both the atlantic and pacific oceans. Many others have leaked thru' the winder, My fault for not checking it was tight before getting in the water but how often do you check this before a dive?

If you do a lot of diving in the year as i would 70+ dives go and buy a G-shock. If it gets lost you're only down 70 quid, if its leaks same story. Not specifically a dive watch but I can't fault mine. It's really only a backup for a computer.

If on the other hand you want to show off and let everyone know you're a diver spend a bit of money on the watch and but something big, brash and fancy, but don't bring it diving

Over the years I've bought one. It resides on my wrist. Before I go diving, I attach a lanyard to it. Even if the strap breaks (which it never has) or if I fail to close the strap properly (which I never have), it'll still be there on my wrist (or more specifically dangling from my wrist) at the end of the dive.

Commiserations on the loss of your watches. Might I suggest spending the money, buying a good one, and then looking after it!

Your G-shock isn't really a backup to your computer, as I outlined in my previous post. Nevertheless, it is better than nothing, as I said to Fred.

sunshinediver

locum-motion wrote: »

Over the years I've bought one. It resides on my wrist. Before I go diving, I attach a lanyard to it. Even if the strap breaks (which it never has) or if I fail to close the strap properly (which I never have), it'll still be there on my wrist (or more specifically dangling from my wrist) at the end of the dive.

Commiserations on the loss of your watches. Might I suggest spending the money, buying a good one, and then looking after it!

Your G-shock isn't really a backup to your computer, as I outlined in my previous post. Nevertheless, it is better than nothing, as I said to Fred.

The expensive watches have been bought and refunds have been obtained after they've stopped working thru' no fault of my own. My point was that from personal expericence a 70 euro G shock watch has lasted longer than many of the more expensive models iv'e had over the years. Perhaps i was unlucky however.

As mentioned above if you're computer goes blip :mad: you'll be on dive tables and need to know your dive time. I would consider the digital timer on a G shock safer and more accurate than a roatating bezel that could potentially move in either direction. Just my 2 cents..

locum-motion

sunshinediver wrote: »

I would consider the digital timer on a G shock safer and more accurate than a roatating bezel that could potentially move in either direction. Just my 2 cents..

Which is precisely why I explained above why a proper dive watch has a unidirectional rotating bezel.

Having said all the above, it is actually pretty unlikely that your bezel would be accidentally get rotated, and even less likely that it would happen in the same dive as your computer goes on the fritz.

Overall, I'd say it's about as likely as accidentally banging the stop button on your G-shock digital timer during the dive, and then banging it again to restart it. In which case, of course, when you surface your timer is "still" running and showing you a much shorter time than your actual dive time.

For God's sake, nothing can completely protect you from a dose of DCI and a trip to the pot, but a proper dive watch has a unidirectional bezel as a safety feature to help protect you. It is a 'fail-safe' feature that has been available on dive watches for decades, and it was invented for a reason. That reason is that a stopwatch is not fail-safe.

(By the way, when I say 'fail-safe' I mean that if a piece of equipment is going to fail, it fails erring on the side of caution, not on the side of danger. For example, regulators are considered 'fail-safe' in that when they fail, they free flow, rather than stopping any flow)

sunshinediver

locum-motion wrote: »

Which is precisely why I explained above why a proper dive watch has a unidirectional rotating bezel.

Having said all the above, it is actually pretty unlikely that your bezel would be accidentally get rotated, and even less likely that it would happen in the same dive as your computer goes on the fritz.

Overall, I'd say it's about as likely as accidentally banging the stop button on your G-shock digital timer during the dive, and then banging it again to restart it. In which case, of course, when you surface your timer is "still" running and showing you a much shorter time than your actual dive time.

For God's sake, nothing can completely protect you from a dose of DCI and a trip to the pot, but a proper dive watch has a unidirectional bezel as a safety feature to help protect you. It is a 'fail-safe' feature that has been available on dive watches for decades, and it was invented for a reason. That reason is that a stopwatch is not fail-safe.

(By the way, when I say 'fail-safe' I mean that if a piece of equipment is going to fail, it fails erring on the side of caution, not on the side of danger. For example, regulators are considered 'fail-safe' in that when they fail, they free flow, rather than stopping any flow)

As you said highly unlikely in any event, However as the OP stated for a watch in the 60 -110 euro range i'd advise someone to buy a Gshock everytime. It may not have the same fail-safe features as a more expensive dive watch but the likely-hood of you ever needing these features is somewhere between slim and none. It's not often the bezel/timer on your watch moves, your computer packs in and you lose your buddy the same dive.

locum-motion

sunshinediver wrote: »

As you said highly unlikely in any event, However as the OP stated for a watch in the 60 -110 euro range i'd advise someone to buy a Gshock everytime. It may not have the same fail-safe features as a more expensive dive watch but the likely-hood of you ever needing these features is somewhere between slim and none. It's not often the bezel/timer on your watch moves, your computer packs in and you lose your buddy the same dive.

My point is that if the OP wants to use a watch for diving, he should make sure that it actually is suitable for use as a dive watch - that it has the 2 minimum specifications as outlined above. If OP has to go above his original price range to get those features, then so be it. The minimum specs are more important than the price. I don't believe than you're doing the OP any favours by recommending to him that he buys an inadequate watch just because the price is right.

sunshinediver

locum-motion wrote: »

I don't believe than you're doing the OP any favours by recommending to him that he buys an inadequate watch just because the price is right.

At this point I'm probably beginning to sound like I have shares in Casio... However I will continue.

I am not recommending an inadequate watch. Any watch that one intends to use for diving should be water resistant to 200m at the very minimum. (The majority of Gshock watches are) I do not however believe that a unidirectional bezel is a necessary requirement nowadays. With the advent of dive computers the requirement for a dive watch bezel has diminished significantly, to such an extent that extra safety it offers over a regular timer is miniscule.

I for one would not advise someone to only purchase a watch with a unidirectional bezel, especially someone that is only starting out in the sport as they often tend to be more expensive. If they are willing to spend the money then by all means purchase whatever watch one likes. I am not criticising your choice of watch by any means, I just do not believe a unidirectional rotating bezel to be a minimum requirement for a dive watch nowdays, certainly back before dive computers yes, but nowadays, certainly not.

This is evident by the digital dive watches (not computers) being offered by manufactures such as Citizen and Seiko which do not have bezels. PADI (not that i always agree with them) also lists digital watches (WP to 200m) as being suitable for diving.

locum-motion

sunshinediver wrote: »

At this point I'm probably beginning to sound like I have shares in Casio... However I will continue.

LOL

sunshinediver wrote: »

I am not recommending an inadequate watch. Any watch that one intends to use for diving should be water resistant to 200m at the very minimum. (The majority of Gshock watches are) I do not however believe that a unidirectional bezel is a necessary requirement nowadays. With the advent of dive computers the requirement for a dive watch bezel has diminished significantly, to such an extent that extra safety it offers over a regular timer is miniscule.

As backup to a computer, as I said, it's better than nothing, but I stand over my assertion that it's not as good as a watch with a unidirectional rotating bezel. (Let's call it a URB in future; it's so tedious to type!)

sunshinediver wrote: »

I for one would not advise someone to only purchase a watch with a unidirectional bezel, especially someone that is only starting out in the sport as they often tend to be more expensive. If they are willing to spend the money then by all means purchase whatever watch one likes. I am not criticising your choice of watch by any means, I just do not believe a unidirectional rotating bezel to be a minimum requirement for a dive watch nowdays, certainly back before dive computers yes, but nowadays, certainly not.

This is evident by the digital dive watches (not computers) being offered by manufactures such as Citizen and Seiko which do not have bezels. PADI (not that i always agree with them) also lists digital watches (WP to 200m) as being suitable for diving.

At the risk at sounding as if I have shares in Citizen...
The watch that I use is a Citizen Promaster, and it does indeed have a URB but I don't actually use it. This is because it has an automatic timer that starts when you descend below 1m (as does my computer). Therefore I don't need to use my URB to record my dive time. (I do use it when I'm cooking, though!) The URB isn't essential if you have one or more automatic timers. However, my watch and the Seiko ones you mentioned are considerably more expensive than the OP's budget, as are dive computers. I got the impression (and I think you did too) that the OP is starting out in the sport, perhaps looking for their first dive timer. If this is the case, then in the absence of an automatic timer or computer a URB is essential, and only pushes the price up a little.

On the page that another poster linked to above, there are 43 watches under €110, however not all of them are 200m WR and have a URB.

This one: http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Watches/Invicta-Mens-Pro-Diver-Watch/3140882/product.html is only €45, and fulfills both of my criteria.

Ratsathome

I have the same watch as Locum-motion,duel time,temp,time-in/out,depth,warning beep(user set)if you go deeper than the set depth.
Everyday watch.
http://www.skywatches.com.sg/citizenpromaster/aqualand_3/Citizen_Aqualand_32.htm
You can get the stainless steel dive strap as extra.

Fratton Fred

locum-motion wrote: »

Well, I suppose it's better than nothing if the computer goes on the blink, but does it have a unidirectional rotating bezel?

A rotating bezel is important so that you can set your zero marker to the minute hand as you start the dive.

It's important for it to be unidirectional, so that if it somehow gets shifted or accidentally rotated during the dive, then it's showing you a longer dive time than you actually did, not a shorter one.

it does have the bezel. I bought the watch before I got the computer so it was bought to a basic spec given during my padi course.

locum-motion wrote: »

ps: Fred, what did you go for in the end on the regs/BCD?

I haven't bought them yet, but probably the Micron regs and the QDi3 BCD.

The latter gets very good right ups and, as pointed out, has pretty good lift as well.

http://www.simplyscuba.com/packages/SimplyScuba/Mensi3MikronPackage.aspx

....

locum-motion wrote: »

A rotating bezel is important so that you can set your zero marker to the minute hand as you start the dive.

why not just have a look at your watch at the start of the dive and remember the time ?

locum-motion

.... wrote: »

why not just have a look at your watch at the start of the dive and remember the time ?

Ah, jeez, why didn't I think of that?

Try it. Next time you're baking a potato or something that takes 45-60 minutes to do, note the time in your head. Then go off and do other things. Do several other jobs, that require a fair degree of concentration. Check your watch frequently. Each time you check do an instantaneous and 100% accurate calculation of how long the potato has been in the oven. It's easy enough if you put the spud in the oven in the first 1/4 or so of the hour, but if you put the spud in in the second half of the hour your calculation involves subtracting the time the spud went in from 60 and then adding the result of that to the current minutes past the hour etc. Now, yes, I know it's not rocket science and can be done, but what with all the other jobs you're doing that require your concentration, maybe you might forget. "OK so I put the spud in at :43, oh, wait a minute, maybe that was the carrots! Right, I definitely looked at my watch at :43, but maybe that was after I'd sent that e-mail, or after I'd booked that flight. Oh, God, I'm getting confused!"

Now imagine that an overcooked potato is poisonous and could kill you!

OK, I know it's a silly example, but it's just to show that you might forget, or miscalculate.

Isn't it much easier just to turn the bezel on your watch, so at a simple glance you can see precisely how many minutes have elapsed? And leaving you free to concentrate a little more on enjoying your dive.

....

no, not easier

locum-motion

.... wrote: »

no, not easier

You're not a diver, are you?