depth gauge verses watch
I had the same questions a few weeks earlier and ended up buy a Dacor, fluid filled, analog, depth gauge from E-bay. I thought it was going to be just the thing, because the dial went only to a 150’ making the graduations larger and easier to read than the usual 250’ ones. I was surprised to find out the thing has a height, above the wrist, of about 2”.
I had a used Casio watch with a depth gauge earlier, but the gasket was bad and I only got one trip out of it. It is waiting for a new gasket now. The stand-alone Dacor gauge is easier to read quickly than the digital readout on the Casio, but I would pick the Casio for two reasons. First it’s a nice watch as well and I can wear it all time, which makes one less thing to have to put on when I am preparing for diving. Second it’s much more streamline than Dacor and the easier to read factor wasn’t that important after all. I found that putting my left hand in front of my face to read the gauge took a distinct physical act anyway which kind of defeated the ability to read it quicker.
When you scuba dive you descent feet first, looking down, so all you have to do to read a gauge is pick your arm up a little. In that situation you could read the large analog gauge at a further distance (not have to pick your arm up as much) than the digital depth display on the watch. In free diving you have to bring your arm all the way up in front of your head to keep a watch on where you are going, which is down and read what is on your wrist at the same time. In this position your wrist is only a few inches in front of your mask, taking away the advantage of being able to read the stand-alone depth gauge at a further distance.
Casio and Timex both make watches with depth gauges which you can purchase for under a $100, new over the internet. You can pay a lot more for citizen or some other Swiss brand, if you’re into the prestige thing, but at those prices you might as well buy Suunto.
My Casio is currently at jewelry shop owned by a guy from my church. I watched him take it apart and asked him a lot of questions. What I would recommend, if you’re going to buy a diver watch with a depth gauge, is buy a new one. This is because too many people think they can change the batteries themselves, which they can, but they don’t get the gasket back right, which ruins the gasket. The watch works fine out of the water for selling it on e-bay. You don’t save enough on a used watch to offset the chance it will leak.
The new Casio’s and Timex’s I saw on e-bay were more expensive than some of the large volume, discount watch stores on the internet.
Don
