The 10 Best Dive Watches of 2024

Diving watches have become a bit of a fashion statement, just like aviation sunglasses or surfing shorts. Which means plenty of people walk around with items that look like they are meant for those activities, but are actually just a facade.

The last thing you want to do is take a poser watch on a real dive, so read on for important information for your next diving timepiece.

Diving Watch Buyer’s Guide

Divers of every type need information. One of the most important pieces of information is time.

Whether you’re free diving or hooked up to an advanced scuba system, time is your most precious resource.

While you’re undoubtedly going to take plenty of equipment with you to help manage time and other resources, a good dive watch will always be the backup you can fall back on when your gauges or dive computer fail. It’s also the one piece of equipment you’ll always have with you, given that it also works as a normal wristwatch.

So what should you look for in a dive watch?

Dive watches all have a depth rating which tells you how deep you can go before water starts penetrating the inner workings of the watch, breaking it. A “dive watch” that only says “waterproof” and doesn’t mention a specific number is at best good for getting wet in an average swimming pool.

The best dive watches generally have a depth rating between 200 and 300 meters. Which is probably what most scuba divers would want (despite actual scuba diving depths being nowhere near that depth, it’s better to overcompensate).

That being said, if a watch says that it’s rated for 100m and that’s a tested figure, you could probably get away with it for scuba diving.

One of the best features of a diving watch is its rotating bezel. This is essentially a rudimentary way to time your dive.  As you enter the water you turn the bezel so that the zero lines up with the minute hand. As long as less than an hour has passed, you can then check at a glance how long your dive has been.

Look for a bezel that’s easy to rotate even through gloves and will show up well at the depths you plan to use the watch.

Which brings us to another important feature on dive watches. The deeper you dive, the less light there is.

Of course, with some deep dives you’d bring your own lighting, but water conditions that don’t warrant artificial light can still be such that you can’t read an unlit watch face.

Some dive watches have electric light, which can help you read the dial. Others offer luminescence, using materials like phosphorus to absorb solar energy and then glow in the dark.

It’s always best to look for a watch that offers some sort of feature that lights up the watch face so you can read it in low-light conditions.

Material choices in a dive watch are pretty important. They are also one of the key factors in the final cost of the watch. Cheaper watches may be made from material that scuffs and abrades more easily. Materials that don’t stand up to corrosion for very long.

The main problem is that some watches only look like dive watches. They are fashion pieces that aren’t actually meant to be used for diving. In these products you are less likely to see strong metal alloys or ones that are resistant to saltwater corrosion.

As a general rule, the back of the watch should consist of a thick metal casing made from a metal that does not rust easily. The watch back should be screwed down tightly and the overall design should be built to resist high-pressure environments. The crystal is the clear covering of the watch dial. In dive watches this should be made of a strong scratch- and pressure- resistant material. The best dive watches use synthetic crystal such as sapphire.

Watch internals come in a variety of designs and use different technologies to count the passing seconds.

For dive watches there are basically two options.

First, there’s the most affordable choice, which is a quartz crystal system. Just like any digital watch, these watches use the predictable vibration of the crystal to measure time. These watches are powered by a small internal battery.

 Automatic watches, on the other hand, use stored kinetic energy and clockwork to do the same job. Which option you think is superior is largely a matter of opinion. I think quartz crystal watches are actually better, but if you like the sound (and price) of mechanical watch internals, then it’s a fine choice as well.

 There’s no such thing as a superior clasp and strap design.However, there is such a thing as the right clasp and strap for you. Some people do better with metal straps, others with synthetics.

If you have really hairy arms, metal link straps can be hell. Some clasps are easier to operate with gloves on. There are many considerations to make and only you can decide what matters here. The important thing is not to overlook the strap and clasp design at all!

Some dive watches offer a bunch of extra information and you may think that this is a point in their favor. However, simplicity is often the better option.

Decide whether what a given dive watch shows on its watch face is really critical information. Will it make it hard to read at a glance through a mask under meters of water? Do you need to know what time it is in Tokyo or what day of the week it is while diving? The answer is probably no, so keep readability in mind.