Is It Safe to Wear a Dive Watch in a Sauna or Steam Room? Read This Before You Try It

Is it safe to wear a mechanical dive watch in a steam room, sauna, hot tub, or hot spring?

It’s a topic that regularly makes the rounds across watch forums, discussion boards and Reddit. And yet, none of the countless threads on the issue ends in a definitive answer.

You’d think such a simple question a would have an equally simple answer. Well, watch manufacturers … yes or no?

Here is what we know for sure.

Extremely hot conditions aren’t good for watches

From one point of view, the answer is simple, at least at first glance.

Consider this response from Seiko, maker of some of the most beloved dive watches on the market. The brand’s official care and maintenance page clearly states, “Do not wear the watch while taking a bath or a sauna. Steam, soap or some components of a hot spring may accelerate the deterioration of water resistance performance.”

That all sounds pretty conclusive. Then again, “may accelerate the deterioration of water resistance performance” is lacking in specifics.

How, exactly, could steamy hot conditions deteriorate a watch’s water resistance performance? And what does “accelerate” actually mean? Are we talking about cutting a watch’s water resistance lifetime down by a few days? Or weeks, months, years?

The devil is in the details, as they say, and unfortunately, concrete information on this topic is annoyingly hard to come by.

Not everyone agrees

Many watch owners point out that any claims about a mechanical watch being tough or rugged would be bogus if they couldn’t survive exposure to high-temperature conditions like a sauna, steam room, hot tub or hot spring. They aren’t wrong, either.

As early as 1973, Rolex published an advertisement touting the fact that the Oyster Perpetual would still function after boiling in hot water. Mind you, this isn’t even a watch model known for its ruggedness.

Then, there are the endless personal anecdotes provided by watch owners online who have worn their watches in saunas, hot tubs, hot springs and steam rooms without noticeable issues afterward. If things went okay for them, why should you worry about doing the same?

There are two ways your watch could be damaged

The general consensus is that exposure to extremely high hot temperatures, or even rapid swings in temperature — like going from a sauna to a cold plunge — can potentially damage a watch in one of two ways.

One school of thought is that temperature extremes can cause premature wear to the gaskets that prevent water from entering the watch. 

Another school of thought points to concerns about shortening the lifespan of the oils and lubricants inside watches, which must be restored or replaced as part of routine mechanical watch maintenance.

Bottom Line: Avoid saunas if you can. Service regularly

Given that at least one watchmaker officially states that wearing a watches in extremely hot environments should be avoided, it’d be foolish of us to suggest you ignore their advice.

There’s also the comfort factor to consider: heating up a big piece of metal on your wrist doesn’t feel especially wise.

That said, it’s also clear that for watches rated for durability and water exposure — i.e. dive watches — the immediate risk of breaking your watch simply by wearing it in a sauna, steam room hot spring or hot tub is low.

If you find yourself in these environments regularly, plan on servicing your watch in shorter intervals.

Every watch manufacturer has different recommendations on how long to wait between servicing, so reference any official documentation you have on your particular model. However, the general rule is between three and five years.

For more recommendations from our team on how to maintain your dive watch, read our guide.

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