I’m placing this in General Discussion because it arises from a number of discussions focusing on: The new C60 Lumière; dive watch certification; CW in the context of your collection. This is the next step.

I did a Q&D count of dive watches vs non-dive watches in both “of the day threads”, for the week beginning Friday 6th September and ending Thursday 12th. My maths isn’t great but it will be reasonably accurate. Where an individual watch has been posted more than once, I’ve treated each instance as a separate entry, otherwise it would have got very complicated!

I used the simple criteria of having a nominal (not necessarily certified) WR of at least 100m, and a moveable external or internal bezel calibrated in minutes. 24-h bezels and fixed bezels I counted as non-dive, albeit they may be on watches with enough WR (Explorer 2, Sealander GMT). YMMV.

CWL of the Day: dive=35; non-dive=22

Non CW of the Day: dive=35; non-dive=32

That alone is interesting: the NCW thread has always attracted more entries than the CW thread. It would appear that divers dominate the CW thread as opposed to roughly equal numbers on the other thread. There might, of course, have been a CW spike caused by people showing off the new Lumière. I’m not certain.

Final step: please enter your most suitable (best fit) answer in the poll. I know divers are pretty popular: it will be interesting to see how popular.

I’ve started it off with 0%. I have one watch with a moveable bezel, and two with fixed external calibrated bezels, but none of them is a dive watch. I haven’t counted vintage or pocket watches.

Using my own interpretation of your criteria I counted 6 out of my main 12 as divers. I excluded one that meets your criteria but is not (imo) a divers watch:



I have never dived deeper than a swimming/diving pool, and I don't intend to start now. However, I do like a watch that shows the watch clearly and simply - and a moveable bezel never hurt anyone.

@downer There will always be watches where those criteria are blurred. The C60 Trident GMT with 24h bezel being another example. The thinking is a bit rough and ready, for sure. I don’t dive either, and legibility is also important to me. And as you say, those bezels can come in handy.

It’s known that divers are not my thing, but I want this thread to be driven by statistics, not value judgements.

My dive watches are four CWs and an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra (that oddly I don’t think of as a dive watch and forgot to count when I voted!) out of 14 watches.

Next stat is how many of those dive watches are owned by divers… I’ll admit I’m not a diver and don’t even shower with a watch on!

@PGR101
Wouldn’t that count put you in the 26-50% bracket? That’s empty at the moment.

I currently only own 1 dive watch in a collection of 7. However this is because my tastes have changed and I’m preferring other watches at the moment.

If you had asked about the percentage of dive watches I’ve owned then I suspect I’d have a higher ratio but I’ve no way of working it out as I can’t remember them all.

@iain
Thanks. Best to stick with current collections, I think. I’ve had at least four dive watches in the past, so historically my count wouldn’t be zero.

I have only to think about the shelf groaning under the strain of CW C6, C60 and C600 variants and no further computation is required.

Part of me thinks of the dive watch as the epitomal Early Learning Centre watch: large format, easy to read, bold colours, accessible, rugged. (I wonder how the brands principals would think about that idea.)

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2024 11:04 am @PGR101
Wouldn’t that count put you in the 26-50% bracket? That’s empty at the moment.

Voted again, and correctly this time… In my mind the two C60s and C65 Super Compressor are the dive watches in my collection. As noted, Omega didn’t initially occur and I think of that and the C65 Trident Diver Bronze LE as fancier watches (despite the dive clues in the names…). The rules were clear and I stand corrected!

PGR101 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2024 12:15 pm

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2024 11:04 am @PGR101
Wouldn’t that count put you in the 26-50% bracket? That’s empty at the moment.

Voted again, and correctly this time… In my mind the two C60s and C65 Super Compressor are the dive watches in my collection. As noted, Omega didn’t initially occur and I think of that and the C65 Trident Diver Bronze LE as fancier watches (despite the dive clues in the names…). The rules were clear and I stand corrected!

I don't think the Aqua Terra would count. It has the water resistance but it doesn't have a movable timing bezel. The internal minute markings are fixed. However, the Trident Bronze would count no matter the material and looks.

@PGR101

Thanks, and no worries. As I said above it’s pretty rough and ready, and views on the criteria may vary.

As an example, I once owned a C60 GMT, and you could use the moveable bezel as a timer, but I’m in two minds as to whether it’s a dive watch. Most would say it probably is. Me da igual, as they say in Spain.

Ha! Thanks both. I’ll go for a decisive four or five in that case! C60 Anthropocene GMT is one of them, but I’m keen to avoid that rabbit hole!!

^^^I think your criteria is fine. I would say no to the GMT. You can use the bezel for timing but that isn't what it was designed for. You can similarly use the timing bezel as a GMT of sorts too but it isn't a GMT for the same reason. Only opinion of course.

I am 9 of 21. So nearly half. I do like a good dive watch. Although, I am pretty well covered these days so it would have to be something really good to get me to reach for my wallet.

16 out of 43 for me, i.e. c37%

And only one of them has ever been submerged in water. And that's on semi-permanent loan to my son, anyway.