Horological Meandering

does 100m mean you can take it anywhere as i have read differing views can anyone clarify this for us all please.

100 meters is a minimum to allow you do dive or swim with your watch.

1 ATM=10 meters, as often only the ATM are written on the case back or the dials...

For example, a Panerai Pam 249 is 3 ATM=30 meters water resistant...Do go on the beach with it, or you will have a bad surprise.

Hope this helps.

Nicolas

If not... you can get surprises... and bad surprises.

Fr.Xavier

i have read that
 50m - is water resistant  but not recommended  to go swimming
100m- is  suitable for swimming and snorkeling
200m- scuba diving
300m- skin diving
 then i have read from watch companys only take the watch to the depth indicated  meaning 50m is suitable to go swimming with or is it.

Best

50 meters is not enough for swimming...

Think about the pressure your watch receives each time you arm goes in the water when you crawl, or you plunge...

The minimum is 100 meters, and with 100 meters you can also practice scuba,at 10/ 20 meters easily!

Best.

Nicolas

if you want to use it for anything serious. he uses a omega SMP300 qtz which is ideal for him as 150m is pretty deep diving.

i dont quite understand why a depth rating cant be correct. it would save a lot of confusion.

would i be correct then in assuming that swimming is ok for a 50m upwards or is 100m the minimum for immersion in water for prolonged period?

that does beg the question as to why Panerai, a company built on the history of italian military divers, can make watches with a depth rating of only 30m.

the chances of me going deeper than 3m is pretty slim so its not an important question to me, but might be to others.

Graham 

Its quite confusing. Apparently the WR is established in a controlled environment by a certain test standard used by manufacturers. I think it was IWC who used to have a technical explanation of this in their website. I was just looking for it but was unable to find it. However I found this on the AP website under "costumer service". It is not totally clear but as I remember its similar, probably because it refers to the same test standard:

Watches marked “water-resistant” are destined for ordinary daily use and must be resistant to water during activities such as swimming for short periods.

They can be used in conditions of varying water pressure and temperature.  They are not intended for underwater diving.

In order to obtain the “water-resistant” mark, watches must meet air overpressure, water overpressure, temperature and mechanical stress resistance requirements.

In the case of Audemars Piguet watches, in addition to the term “water-resistant”, there is an indication of the test overpressure in bars (e.g. 5 bars) or of the corresponding depth in metres (e.g. 50 m).  However, these are not indications of diving depth; they refer to the pressure at which the water overpressure test was carried out (in accordance with Standard NIHS 92-10 or ISO 2281).

The water resistance of the watch may be adversely affected in an accident or by contact with aggressive substances (acid, perfume, liquid metal, salt water, etc).  After an incident of this kind, it is imperative to avoid immersing the watch and to have a new water-resistance check or service carried out without delay (B1 service in the AP service list). 

hope this helps and that I am not breaking any forum rules

Best COD

This message has been edited by ChristianOfDenmark on 2008-08-10 15:57:51

for clearing up a few things which makes sense and as graham said its very confusing because on the panerai site they say not to take the watch at depth more than indicated which means 100m is ok for diving but they dont recommend 100m for diving so its a bit contradicting  thanks

A diver watch for 100meters but not for for diving ......geeez... well they are still pretty

best

COD

Please. The idea that moving your arm in water significantly increases the pressure on a watch is a complete myth. 

A funny one, though.

There isn't a standardized definition for WR. Best thing to do is follow the guidelines in the manual. As a general rule, anything 100m and under cannot be taken literally (i.e. 30m does not mean you can take the watch down to that depth).

For ISO-certified professional divers, the depth rating can be taken literally. This is usually 200m and above, although the minimum prescribed is 100m. The watches are tested to 125% of rated depth.

As for personal experience, I've had a Swiss Made 30m dress watch fog over after handwashing. The manual specifically says the watch can handle handwashing.

I've also had the 30m WR Tissot T-Touch fail after my jacket got soaked through riding in the rain. It was rated "watertight to a depth of 30 metres".

At the same time, I've heard people taking a 30m WR Omega Speedie white water rafting and snorkeling without issue. I don't know what the 30m refers to in the manual. Perhaps Speedie owners can chime in.

My take is, your mileage will vary but the guidelines from the manufacturers are there for a reason.

First: I got this from Wikipedia, which must be taken with scepticism as a source, so please take it as such.

Second: I hope Im not breaking the forum rules here. If so please delete my post.

However: I was searching the web on the subject discussed, and  I found this article quite enlightening, further clarifying definitions.

it explains in extract:

• Water Resistant mark

 

• ISO 2281 water-resistant watches standard

 

• ISO 6425 divers' watches standard

 

• Water resistance classification

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Resistant_mark

 

Please enjoy!

Best regards

COD