In the past, the watch industry used a standard that basically said you shouldn't go swimming with a watch unless it has 100M water resistance or more.
Now, the watch industry says a watch with 30 M water resistance should survive swimming at 30M. Now... Scuba divers have multiple ratings, but the PADI system, most divers are "Open Water Diver Certification" which allow them 18M and a higher rating is "Advanced Open Water Diver Certification" which allows 30M.
Now... I a Patek Philippe Calatrava or even a Nautilus sold today - are both rated at 30M water resistance - meaning they both should be sufficient for a short dive by an Advanced Open Water certified diver.
Sure, shallow water, in a swimming pool is one thing. Swimming pools don't get much deeper than 3-4 meters.
Here is the text from the Patek Philippe press release (09-APR-2024):
Unified criteria for water-resistance
To ensure the homogeneity and clarity of the information provided to clients, Patek Philippe has decided
to introduce a new unified standard of water-resistance set at 30 meters for all watches certified as water-
resistant –having been tested in air and underwater by immersion at an overpressure of 3 bars
(corresponding to a depth of 30 m). This measure makes it possible to guarantee the same performance
level across all the models concerned and to provide perfectly comprehensible information as to the day-
to-day activities in which clients can engage while wearing their watch: washing their hands, showering,
bathing, swimming and other aquatic activities, including diving to a depth of 30 m – which corresponds
in large measure to actual utilization.
ISO new standard: