Maintenance

Always rinse your watch in fresh water after diving. Keep the bezel free of sand and debris, and lubricate it with a bit of grease every now and again. It’s a good idea to take a fresh battery with you if you are going away. Read the manufacturer’s recommendations carefully, as your activities and care of the watch may affect the guarantee or your insurance.

If you are not using a nitrogen managing scuba dive computer, then you need to manage your downtime using dive tables. To use tables effectively you will require a dive watch.

Two things distinguish a scuba dive watch: water resistance and a rotating bezel.

Water Resistance. Real dive watches are rated to either a depth in meters or feet (e.g. 300 feet) or a pressure rating in atmospheres (e.g. 4ATM). Though you probably won't venture any deeper than 130 feet you should look for a depth rating of 200 feet. Note: a "Waterproof" watch is not going to cut it. You can wash your dishes while wearing a "waterproof" watch, but it would probably leak and implode at 15 feet.

An adjustable bezel. A bezel is a rotating dial on the face of your dive watch with a pointer indicator. When you are ready to descend, you align the bezel with the minute hand, where it stays for the duration of the dive. By comparing the bezel and the minute hand you can easily see how long you have been submerged.

A bezel on a dive watch will only turn counterclockwise. Since it is possible to knock your watch against your body or have it turn by accident, watchmakers make sure that any accidental misalignment will turn the time in a conservative direction - telling you that the dive has been longer rather than shorter.
Besides being a very useful tool, dive watches are also a piece of jewelry that reflects personal style and an individual's interest in a particular activity.

Whether or not it ever gets wet, a genuine dive watch should still be able to perform under the conditions for which it was designed and there are a few criteria to consider when choosing a dive watch. One thing that tends to confuse watch buyers is the terms "waterproof" and "water resistant". There is no such thing as waterproof, the correct term is water resistant even if a watch is tested to 1000 meters. And a good dive watch should have a depth rating of at least 50 meters. Technical divers will want a watch with a higher depth rating. The watchcase should be made of a tough non-corrosive material and the crystal should be flush or recessed to avoid nicks and scratches. The face must be easy to read and have luminescent or illuminated hands and numbers. Some dive watches present a great deal of information but if it is laid out well, this should not pose a problem and any buttons that are mounted on the case for the purpose of changing the display or lighting the face should be easily accessible even with gloves on. If the watch has a bezel around the face, it should be a ratcheting one-way bezel that turns only in a counter-clockwise direction. The bezel allows you to time dives and the counter-clockwise direction ensures that any accidental movement of the bezel during a dive will result in an overstatement rather than an understatement of your bottom time, thereby erring on the side of caution. The wrist strap is also an important part of the watch, it should be expandable so as to fit over a wetsuit or dry suit. Last but not least is after market service. A reputable company will stand behind its product.

Some dive watches, besides telling the time, also provide some present status dive information. While this information can be quite useful, these watches are intended to serve as auxiliary or backup instruments and should always be accompanied by dedicated depth gauge.


RESOURCES:
WWW.NAUTICFRIEND.COM
WWW.OUTDOOR-RESOURCES.COM
WWW.DIVERSDIRECT.COM
WWW.WORLDTEMPUS.COM