The Bezel Markings And General Maintenance Of An Automatic Dive Watch

The design of a contemporary automatic dive watch with a highlighted 15 or 20 minute marking on its bezel is the result of copying a Rolex bezel design of the 1950s. Back then divers typically planned a dive to a certain maximum depth based on now obsolete US Navy dive tables, and dived according to the planned dive profile. If the dive profile allowed a bottom time of 35 minutes the diver, upon entering the water, would set the marker on the bezel, 35 minutes ahead of the minute hand. The diver calculated this with the 60 - bottom time formulae  which looks like 60 - 35 = 25, for 35 minutes bottom time the diver would align the 25 minute bezel-mark with the minute hand. Once the minute hand reached the main marker on the bezel the diver would begin his ascent to the surface. The 15 or 20 minute scale helped with timing the ascent and whatever safety stop the diver deemed necessary. For contemporary diving methods the 15 or 20 minute count-down bezel is now quite antiquated.

Most manufacturers recommend to divers that they have the pressure on their automatic dive watch tested by an authorized service and repair facility annually or every two to three years and have the seals replaced. Besides that, simple maintenance by the owner is also important. Most manufacturers recommend rinsing the watch in fresh water after use in seawater, but leaving a diver's watch in fresh water overnight is a good method to protect the watch from corrosion and to keep the crown, buttons and pressure sensors on digital ones working.

Scuba Diving

Scuba Diving

 

Scuba diving may be performed for a number of reasons, both personal and professional. Most people begin through recreational diving which is performed purely for enjoyment and has a number of distinct technical disciplines to increase interest underwater, such as cave diving, wreck diving, ice diving and deep diving.

Divers may be employed professionally to perform tasks underwater. Most of these commercial divers are employed to perform tasks related to the running of a business involving deep water, including civil engineering tasks such as in oil exploration, underwater welding or offshore construction. Commercial divers may also be employed to perform tasks specifically related to marine activities, such as naval diving, including the repair and inspection of boats and ships, salvage of wrecks or underwater fishing, like spear fishing.

Other specialist areas of diving include military diving, with a long history of military frogmen in various roles. They can perform roles including direct combat, infiltration behind enemy lines, placing mines or using a manned torpedo, bomb disposal or engineering operations. In civilian operations, many police forces operate police diving teams to perform search and recovery or search and rescue operations and to assist with the detection of crime which may involve bodies of water. In some cases diver rescue teams may also be part of a fire department or lifeguard unit.

Lastly, there are professional divers involved with the water itself, such as underwater photography or underwater filming divers, who set out to document the underwater world, or scientific diving, including marine biology and underwater archaeology.

 

Whichever reason or discipline you are diving for it is important to make sure you have all the correct safety equipment to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience when diving . The items of equipment include breathing apparatus , a diving mask , flippers , an automatic dive watch and a wetsuit.

About The Casing Of An Automatic Dive Watch

The watch case of an automatic dive watch must be adequately water pressure resistant and be able to endure the corrosiveness of seawater, so the cases are generally made out of materials like stainless steel, titanium, ceramics and synthetic resins or plastics. The case must also provide an adequate degree of protection against external magnetic influences and shocks, though diver's watches do not have to be able to endure strong magnetic fields and shocks. To make mechanical watch movements themselves shock resistant various shock protection systems can be used.

The casing of an automatic dive watch has to be constructed more stoutly than typical dress watches, because of the requirements necessary to withstand a seawater environment at depth. As a consequence diving watches are relatively heavy and large compared to dress watches made out of similar materials. Under water sheer weight is of less consequence than buoyancy, which a diver can address by a buoyancy compensator vest. Before the introduction of other case materials diving watch cases were made out of stainless steel. Stainless steel is however still often used as case material in contemporary diving watches.

The Automatic Dive Watch

The Automatic Dive Watch is unique for its tremendous water resistance and durability. Although commonplace now, when they were first introduced, with the bezel encircling the face they were also considered quite unique in appearance, and many of today's moderns sports watches are indebted to them for their design and styling.

An Automatic Dive Watch is made for underwater divers, usually scuba divers and also sometimes saturation dives. These days they typically have a water resistance of 200-300 meters, a unidirectional bezel ,except those with electronic displays for measuring elapsed time, and a case made from material resistant to the corrosive nature of seawater, such as Titanium, Stainless Steel, and Ceramic.

A genuine Dive watch will need to conform to the ISO 6425 standard. A watch that conforms to this will be clearly marked "Dive" .

The main ISO 6425 standard requirements are:

1.Be water resistant to a minimum of 100m 

2. Have a unidirectional Bezel with 5 minute markings 

3. Be readable in total darkness at 25cm 

4.Show that its running -usually through an illuminous second hand.

5.Be Shock, Magnet and chemical resistant. 

6.Have a strap capable of withstanding 200N of force.