Dive / Submariner watch recommendations - Seiko / Citizen / Invicta / ...

[Mr. X]

I'm looking for decent quality but inexpensive submariner-style dive watch. I wondered if forum members had any experiences or recommendations re. make & model?

 

[Mr. X]

Re: Dive watch recommendations - Seiko / Citizen / Invicta / ...

Bearing in mind that I am becoming long sighted, key features for me will be:

• * High contrast (e.g. black background/white hands)
  
• * Hi-viz (e.g. wide, highly luminous hands)
  
• * Strong enough to withstand logging & general rough use.
  
• * Look good enough to wear out (e.g. stainless steel rather than plastic)
  
• * Must be v. reliable
  
• * Water-tight for diving to at least a modest 10m.

Re. Preferences:

A decent stainless steel band, Oyster-style, which can be swapped out for a thick rubber dive band later if necessary.

Prefer a simple, very clear, uncluttered dial & hands. I do find a day number useful but they are usually too small for me to read now and I can't read then on any of my current watches w/o wearing reading glasses. A second-hand is not essential - in fact they sometimes get in the way.

Price, I don't want to spend a lot - just enough to get a reliable dive watch - which I reckon can be done for less than £120/$175.

I like Japanese products in general. I've owned Seiko 5 non-dive watches in the past and have a good opinion of the brand, although mine loose a few minutes a week, even the "water resistant" ones have been good to 10m (impressive). I've owned several Casio digital watches inc. a G-shock 200m dive watch and have a high opinion of their toughness and reliability. I once owned a Lorus and it broke almost immediately, I thought it rubbish but I bought a Lorus for a family member 20 years ago that is still going strong despite being worn pretty much every day! I owned a Citizen watch as child but don't recall much about other than it was cool 70's analogue with mechanical digital display, which I fitted with an extra wide leather band -- a real period piece! (They sell LCD interpretations of that now, described at "retro" & "70s-style" ).

Would consider second-hand or refurbished but I'm a little wary as there appear to be a lot of mix-and-match parts available these days & I am concerned that old Seikos, say, might be refurbed with inferior parts (hands, dial, lens, mechanism, straps, etc.). Although, I also came across a "pimp my watch" culture, with people upgrading decent but cheap submariners with better quality parts!

 

[Mr. X]

Re: Dive watch recommendations - Seiko / Citizen / Invicta / ...

Background to question: due the sudden deterioration of my previously very good short-range vision a couple of years ago - I started getting old - I can no longer read my trusty Seiko 5 non-dive watch in the water (it has a white background and slim, white lumi-hands); although it is not a dive watch & only rated "water resistant" it was in fact water tight at 10m.

I have an old Casio G-shock 200m dive watch, which I dug out last week for repair (new strap & battery required) but now I can't find it & not sure if I would be able to read the display now. Also, would prefer a stainless steel watch that looks good enough & is tough enough that I could wear it all the time (e.g. work, logging, diving). Hence considering getting a decent submariner-style watch.

So now I am looking for something more like this:

Seiko SKX033:

The v. cheap "water resistant"-only Persio Antonio submariner-style watch that I bought from eBay around Christmas looks great (at least two people asked if it is a Rolex) but it is less than water-tight. It hasn't been in the sea yet although it survived snorkel practice in the pool. However, even a good sweat is enough for it to take in and retain water! Yes, it gets wet inside when not even put in water! Similar to but not identical to this:

To be fair, even with considerable water inside it keeps working! The seller did fix/replace it once already. A local watchsmith dried it out too but the moisture came straight back. Also, the hands don't glow enough for me to read in the dark. Anyway, it was useful in that I learned that I like this style of watch and the black background gives enough contrast for me to be able to read it.

I like the look of this one too, Seiko SKX007:

Citizen:

Are there other brands/models that I should also consider (I seen Invicta & some Italian & Asian brands mentioned)? Despite my bad experiences with the Persio mentioned above, I am still impressed by how much watch they were able to provide for the money (for 8% of the cost of a Seiko and about 0.04% of the cost of a Rolex!) -- are their proper dive watches (the ones rated for 100m/200m) any good? For example, this very inexpensive one (the face is a bit cluttered for my needs):

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=370194257002#ht_4587wt_928

 

[podge]

Get yourself a Rolex Submariner, nice and easy to read and the glint of the gold brings the Bass in a treat.roflroflroflrofl

 

[foxfish]

I used to wear a submariner every day but I caught the raised date viewing glass several times & in the end swapped it for a Omega Seamaster that does not have the raised glass bit.
I really liked the Omega but I bought a new model 5 years ago that is battery powered rather than self winding, I wear this one every day & night, I work manually & the watch has had some serious abuse but shows no sighs of wear or even the slightest scratch on the glass.
Another benefit of the Omega Seamaster quartz - unlike its self winding brother - is the price, not sure how much they are at the moment but the Guernsey cost 5 years ago was £750.

 

[Trelawney]

I've got these two, in Orange and Black. Seiko scuba divers SKX781, 200m depth rated and easy to read. The hands and hour markers are incredibly bright at night time. The watch glass is domed so better to read under water. They have never let me down so far. I got them both on ebay for about £80 each. My dad got one of these too when his old seiko watch finally gave up the ghost.

 

[Mr. X]

Get yourself a Rolex Submariner, nice and easy to read and the glint of the gold brings the Bass in a treat.roflroflroflrofl

I'm looking for a watch, not a status symbol! They cost about as much as a car to service. Mind you, a gold one would go really nicely with my gold dive weight:hmm

Foxfish, that's a good recommendation, which I would take up but I don't spend a lot on watches. That raise date thing is kind of annoying -- it makes the date unreadable for me now. I bought 2 cheap Seiko 5's about 4 years ago, which caused somebody close to me to ask how many watches I need - to which my reply was "about 3 a year at the moment", as I had destroyed 3 watches that year! Things have quieten down since then, as the one Seiko has lasted me all this time (the other is just a spare). I've also had a watch with sentimental value repaired and am planning to get another repaired. However, my short range sight has now become poor, so I really need something different for general use. The Seiko's dive watches above are usually between £100-£120 - which seems a lot to me, as I've had some very good $30 watches that last decades of abuse and just need a new battery every 5 years or so, and maybe a strap now and then. I can't see any need to spend beyond £120, my needs are straightforward and undemanding - I don't SCUBA dive & I only freedive around 10m, usually less. I don't even need a watch in the water really -- it's just that I forget to take them off!

Thanks Trelawny, those look interesting. Dim light causes me particular problems reading small things. I quite like Seiko.