What does water resistance mean in wristwatches?
We recommend paying particular attention to water resistance before buying a wristwatch. The suitable uses usually differ significantly between the respective water-resistance classifications. To find out the water-resistance rating of your wristwatch, look for a bar or ATM rating. One bar corresponds to one ATM, and water-resistant wristwatches are now generally marked with bar ratings.
Models for everyday use
Let’s start with the 3-bar classification: this type of wristwatch can withstand water splashes without damage, so you can safely wear your watch while washing your hands. However, if you want to avoid having to take off your watch in rain and snow or while showering, we recommend wearing a water-resistant wristwatch with 5bar.
Models for water activities
If you need a water-resistant wristwatch for skiing or swimming, according to the manufacturer’s specifications you can easily choose a 10bar model. However, because you can unexpectedly be exposed to strong water pressure while swimming or skiing, we recommend the following:
As a precaution, wear a water-resistant wristwatch with 20bar while swimming, and above all have the seals of a 10bar or 20bar model checked regularly by your local watch dealer. Contact with salt water and temperature fluctuations can significantly reduce a watch’s water resistance over time.
A small tip: Rinse your wristwatch with fresh water after contact with salt water to help prevent corrosion damage.
Essential features of a diving watch
If you want to wear a water-resistant wristwatch while diving (see, for example, Citizen Promaster models), it must have at least 20bar. Here too, it would be advisable to wear a water-resistant wristwatch with 30bar so that it can withstand unexpectedly higher water pressure. According to the required criteria for a diving watch, however, a diving watch must, according to the manufacturer’s specifications, be equipped with at least 20bar.
Either it must have a special bezel…
In addition, high-quality diving watches should be fitted with a bezel that can only be turned to the left. By the way, the bezel is the frame around the dial. Just before you start diving, you can turn this bezel to the left to the minute hand, allowing you to quickly read the elapsed time between the 0 mark on the bezel and the minute hand moving to the right during the dive. This is especially important when diving, as you usually only have a limited amount of time available for it.
or a timer can warn the diver!
To measure the time while diving, some diving watches have a timer. However, this timer only counts as a substitute for the left-turning bezel if the measured time can be clearly read. In addition, according to the required DIN 8306 standard, a diving watch must allow both the time and the measured elapsed time to be clearly readable from a distance of 25cm in daylight and at night
Tip: If comfort is very important to you when swimming or skiing, we recommend water-resistant wristwatches with a rubber strap, such as those from Citizen. Fabric straps can soak up water quite quickly and feel uncomfortable to wear. Stainless steel straps are suitable for water activities, but keep in mind that due to the friction between wet skin and stainless steel, the wearing comfort may not exactly be ideal after prolonged use.
