If you ’ve ever see any of those classic seventies video documentary about underwater adventurer Jacques Cousteau , the father of modernscuba diving , you may have note that when he descend into the depths to exploreshipwrecks , he did n’t just wear upon some run - of - the - mill vigil from the jewelry store bargain bin .
or else , Cousteau sported a bulky , shining , complicated – and fabulously cool - looking – PloProf diver ’s watch that he ’d really helped horologe producer Z design . But he was n’t just trying to be stylish . Cousteau ’s watch had tiptop - luminous 60 minutes markers and manus set against a dark dial face , which assure that he could make out the prison term even in low light underwater . More importantly , the watch ’s stainless blade case and supererogatory - tough mineral crystal were contrive to resist weewee pressing and rest watertight 1,968 feet ( 600 meter ) below the aerofoil , far deep than even the most accomplished and dare scuba expert would dare venture . It also had a moveable bezel , a ring surrounding the watch font , which made it easier for the wearer to mark the amount of time that he or she mean to drop underwater . And its special , supernumerary - rugged watchband was touted as shark - proof – though it ’s hard to imagine one of those underwater vulture trying to nibble it off a loon ’s radiocarpal joint [ source : Omega , Coolhunting.com , Richardson ] .
Can a dive watch save your life?
Whether you ’re ascuba diveror a free diver who depend on lung capacity , " no diver should enter the water without a reliable timekeeping twist , " scuba - diving expert and physicians Michael B. Strauss and Igor V. Aksenov write in their 2004 manual " Diving Science : Essential Physiology and Medicine for Divers . " For breath - storage area diving , monitoring both your time subaquatic and the amount of time that you ’re resting on the aerofoil between nose dive is decisive because it enables you to keep within the precise parameter your trunk can address . Additionally , monitoring your clip at the bottom enables you to calculate precisely when to start out your gradual ascent , which reduces the peril that you ’ll blacken out before you get to the control surface [ source : Strauss and Aksenov ] .
With scuba , where you ’re potential to descend even deeper for recollective stretches and are drug-addicted upon a limited air supply , the indigence to keep careful track of the time is even more crucial . That ’s why dive watches are designed not only to hold up the extraordinary stress of the underwater environs , but also to dependably provide critical , potentially life story - saving information to divers and to be as well-fixed as possible to use underwater .
Those considerations go into the first spotter specifically created for serious diving event back in the 1930s , the Omega Marine . To protect the watch ’s metre - keeping mechanism from temperature variation and pressure , designers enclosed it in a then - innovative untarnished blade fount . To see to it the sentry ’s lastingness under extreme stress , investigator subjected it to rigors more intense than any diver in all likelihood would face – immersing it , for example , in urine heated to 185 degrees Fahrenheit ( 85 grade Celsius ) for several bit , and then abruptly plunging it into near - block urine . In another experiment , they lower the lookout man to the bottom of Switzerland ’s Lake Geneva , a depth of 240 feet ( 73 meters ) , and left it there for 30 moment . Ultimately , in 1937 , the Swiss Laboratory for Horology certified the watch as able to withstand imperativeness 13.5 times what it know on the surface . Last but not least , they persuaded underwater adventurer Charles William Beebe , who at the time held the world record for ocean profundity , to take the vigil for a trial dive [ source : Omegawatches.com ] .
Dive Watch Features
Over the retiring 70 age , inventor have come up with scores of innovations in an crusade to improve diving event watches . In the early 1970s , for example , a Japanese discoverer named Yoshiaki Fujimori came up with a new type of ultra - stiff seal ring that was less potential to wring under pressure than a galosh seal [ source : Fujimori ] . In 1988 , another squad of artificer from Japan unveiled an electronic dive watch that included a water pressure sensor [ author : Utemoto ] . More recently , in 2010 , Gallic artificer Jean - Francois Ruchonnet received a patent for a depth gauge that would fit inside a diving watch [ source : Ruchonnet ] . Swiss discoverer have even recrudesce a specialised dive watch that , when combined with a sensor attach to the chest , unceasingly monitors a plunger ’s substance rate [ source : Angelini ] .
To withstand great pressure and protect the watch mechanics , the cases of dive watches are made from passing hard , stiff material [ germ : Omega ] . One democratic choice is untarnished steel , an alloy whose coat make it resistant to being deformed by piss and succumbing to pressure as well as corrosion . ( It ’s so tough that it ’s also used by some automakers to make cars ' geomorphologic region more crash resistive [ root : European Stainless Steel Development Association ] . ) atomic number 22 and 18 - karatgoldare other common pick .
If you ’re actually going to wear thin a diving vigil for diving , rather than just because it look cool , be sure to get one that conforms to ISO 6425 , the internationally - recognized standard that certifies a spotter is capable of resisting pressure , wet and works underwater for extended periods of time . To bring in that distinction , a vigil has to operate while eat up in piss for 50 hours . Additionally , after being heated to up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit ( 45 degree Celsius ) for 20 minutes , examiner drop water onto the exterior of the watch face . If condensation build up on the inside , the spotter wo n’t evanesce . If the spotter is rated for 656 feet ( 200 meters ) of depth , it has to be capable to withstand 125 percent of the pressure found that bass , and keep working for a two - time of day period [ source : Avionica ] .
ISO 6425 also ask a watch to have certain significant operative lineament , such as a rotating bezel , a ring around the watch expression that allow a diver to commemorate five minute increments of time . The watch also must have a lucent baksheesh on the second hand , so that it can be seen even in the dark ocean depth , and continue to function when expose to salinity water and to the presence of a charismatic field . It ’s also required to withstand a bump from a 6.6 pound ( 3 kilogram ) hammer at an impingement speed of 14.4 metrical foot per second ( 4.4 measure per second ) . The watch band undergoes likewise rigorous mental test , to ensure that it wo n’t crack under tenseness when it ’s in deep water [ seed : Avionica ] .
Depending on how much money you have to pass , there are other feature article you’re able to get as well . Some diva watches include multiple gauges that measure elapsed metre on the bottom , and have alarm that wink or vibrate so you could sense them even when water muffle fathom . Others are made from high - technical school ceramic complex – the cutting edge of air pressure ohmic resistance – or else of brand or atomic number 22 . And some even have special anti - glare lechatelierite on their face [ source : Naas ] . It ’s your selection which feature agree your diving needs !
When I was a young boy in the sixties , I remember being fascinated with scuba divers and deep ocean geographic expedition . In part , it was because of the classic TV show " Sea Hunt , " starring Lloyd Bridges as intrepid frogman Mike Nelson . But I also remember that my first cousin , who was serving in the U.S. Navy at the time , took up Aqua-Lung for fun , and came home on leave and show me the oxygen tank , five , mask and other gear that he used for his hobby . Since then , I ’ve been snorkeling in the Florida Keys , but I ’ve never father around to taking a scuba track and commence a certification . It ’s still on my list of thing that I desire to do someday , mightily after I learn to play surf music on the electric guitar .
