Let’s get one thing straight: extreme depth ratings of 1,000m and more on hardcore dive watches are far beyond what you’ll ever need for diving or anything else. What’s cool, however, is that regular people like you and I can actually buy and wear them — without any hardcore credentials. Standard dive watches are rated 200m to 300m, and 500m to 600m is considered above-and-beyond. At 1,000m water-resistant and more, the class of ultra-deep diving watches like those below are vaguely ridiculous — and kind of awesome.
“What’s the point, though,” you might ask, “if a human can’t even survive at the depths the watch on his wrist can?” This is a reasonable question.
Watch companies pursue these extreme depth ratings not because they need their watches to actually function in the Mariana Trench, but because they showcase what the brand is capable of — and because they represent general durability to consumers. These ratings indicate that a watch can take more abuse than you can ever subject it to, and this means peace of mind.
That said, watches’ depth ratings don’t always clearly indicate just how wet they can get. The watch industry typically rates dress watches at 30m and defines this as “splash-resistant” — in other words, “do not submerge.” The ratings the industry uses refer to pressure equivalent to the stated depths, but some brands do subject their watches to extreme and real-world tests.
Most people normally don’t even get near water as deep as the depths to which these watches are rated, and even most certified divers won’t go more than 40m beneath the waves. (The current record for the deepest a human has ever dived was set in 2014 at 332.35m by Ahmed Gabr, and on his wrist was a bulbous Charmex CX Swiss Military watch rated to 6,000m.)
When thinking about just how much to abuse your poor watch, or simply how to take care of it in daily life, water-resistance is important. However, you also want to consider materials, shock resistance, and other factors. All that said, the watches below are ridiculously water-resistant, and they’re tough as nails as well.
