The Truth About Watches Water Resistance | How Resitant Are They Really?

To find out what your watch can take is pretty confusing because of the way that watch companies state a watch's water resistance. Does 100 meters mean that you can dive down to 100 meters of depth with your watch?
In this video I explain how to understand water resistance and what you watch can manage.
LINK TO THE ARTICLE:
www.jswatch.com/water-resista...
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[@donaldneo4317]

I saw a water resistance chart from Seiko similar to that JS Watch Co. chart in your video and it state you cam swim with WR50m. I swam with my Longines WR50m with no issues although I did not swim with my Speedy Pro as its on a leather strap there are plenty of people who did in forum but just do not operate the chronograph. The JS Chart in your video only tick for WR1000 for deep sea diving which is ridiculous... IMO and discussed in many forum, you can swim with WR50m, you can scuba dive with WR100m and you can deep dive with a true certified dive watch even if it pass with bare minimum WR200m as they are tested to above 20bar. Long island watch channel did an indepth physics calculation on how little actually the arm moving under water can affect the pressure on your watch. 30 to 60m or 100 to 200ft is considered deep dive so unless you are doing some sort of dive exploration/expedition or trying to break diving records, a certified WR200m dive watch like the seiko SKX is sufficient. But if your do intent to submerge your watch, advise to do pressure test at least once a year to ensure your gaskets are in good condition.

[@HRM.H]

That omega speedmaster is just an absolute beauty. One of my grail pieces.

[@chrispierce8349]

Wonderfully stated. Thank you for the education as I was not previously sure what the dive limitations meant. 👍

[@evh4611]

Our collections have a bunch in common. Great video by the way

[@mikep5478]

Thanks for the video and lesson. How did your Have you ever tested the OMEGA RAILMASTER Water resistance: 15 bar (150 metres / 500 feet)? Thanks!

[@brianmsahin]

Excellent video and explanation! I've only used a watch occasionally as a backup to my dive computer. Very few people use the watch anymore and honestly I don't normally. However from curiosity, on our last dive I brought my 200m Orient Mako XL down to 55m and it was OK, I think 150m and more is possible. In my experience a 100m watch in good condition can probably be quite safe at 30m or 50m. A divers 200m is usually tested far beyond 20bar pressure in order to get ISO or the equivalent Japanese certification. 50m can be OK for swimming if it's sealed properly. My Samsung smartwatch which I use for fitness actually measures swimming data on the fitness app on the watch for both swimming pool and sea swimming and it's officials rating is 50m. I used it every week in the summer months before the lockdowns. 30m is definitely only splash proof and it is possible that some 50m watches will leak when swimming if they haven't actually been tested. 100m is safe for most water activities except for deep diving that a 200m or higher dive watch can handle. This video is very important particularly for people with expensive watches who probably shouldn't rely too much on what the dial says! This is great information for people to not expect too much from their watch. 👍👍

[@MrLeSa95]

Bro you cam swim safely with cheap casio watches like a158 with damaging them, and they arent even 5atm, just water resist. I really cant believe how this broscience spread through watch community

[@brianmsahin]

@@MrLeSa95 I wasn't talking about swimming. 🤔I was talking about deep water scuba diving. Are you commenting on the wrong post? Maybe others here mentioned swimming on other comments. Yes, you can get away with swimming with some 30m or even 50m watches. In fact some smart watches with swimming programs are only 50m water resist. Not arguing with you there except I wasn't talking about swimming. :) You should direct your comment to those that are. 😂

[@MrLeSa95]

@@brianmsahin i mean you wrote 30m is only splash proof which is just not the case at least not for any watches i had. Swimming is still sea activity no?

[@brianmsahin]

@@MrLeSa95 Ah, yes. I was only talking from a warranty viewpoint. Swimming is a sea activity but it's not diving. There is a chance that a 30m watch will leak. Even on the watch information booklets provided by the companies themselves say don't swim with a 30m watch. They say it's just splash proof. But if a $20 Casio does leak, who cares? You can always buy another one. If your $2,000 30m dress watch leaks, well that's different I suppose. Water resistance is important for the long term life of a watch in some environments as a higher resistance also keeps out humidity that can eventually corrode the mechanical parts. I live in a very humid country and a vintage Swiss watch with 30m I owned was badly affected just by moisture in the air. I'm always thinking from a divers viewpoint as most of my watches end up in water at some point! One of my favourite watches I've recently started using isn't even a normal diver. It's a G-Shock GG-1000 Mudmaster, has 200m water resistance with a compass and temperature measurement function. Though not important for diving it's fun to know the temperature of the water you're in. You did make a good point generally though, a lot of people who never get a watch wet often say they'd never get a watch with 30m, 50m or 100m water resistance when the only water they see is when they wash their hands! Anyway I appreciate your comment. It's a year since I wrote that! 😊

[@blodmangel]

Note also the very important difference between "Water Resistant 100m" and "Diver's 100m". The latter means that the watch is tested according to the ISO 6425 specification, which subjects the watch to a fair bit of abuse, including 25% overpressurisation. You can safely go scuba diving with watches tested to this specification, even if they "only" say 100m.

[@manuel_winde]

Also the iso6425 has stipulations around the bezel and needing to see that it is working in the dark (usually by using a lumed second hand) A proplof or Seadweller with no second hand couldn’t pass and many big brands don’t bother with ISO ratings.

[@japd7897]

Basically, watch brands lie to their customers, 50M is just a marketing statement, but then they warn you not to submerge the watch 😖😤.

[@TimeAndCrown]

I think a lot of people get confused. It dosn’t seem logical that 50 meters dosn’t mean 50 meters.

[@japd7897]

@@TimeAndCrown It is a scam, that simple.

[@hanspaolo10]

So would swimming in a pool with a Tag Carrera with 100m water resistance be ok? Or swimming in the ocean so long as you don’t dive deeper than a meter or 2? Thanks. Great video.

[@stevefox8605]

Can't say I'd want to risk a Speedmaster in a shower - I remove my Aquis coz read somewhere that detergent & soap bugger up the seals- probably paranoid, but better safe than sorry with an expensive (to me) watch! I will wear it swimming, obviously. Cheers mate 👍🏻👍🏻

[@HarryBunnGRVOTV]

You are 100% correct, you should never shower with a watch, heat, soap & water are a bad combo for seals.

[@humanbeing1675]

A Speedy is not made for water especially not a shower. My personal experience with several diver watches (from expensive to entry level) in the last twenty years including bath, shower & swimming: Absolutely NO problem!

[@diagorasmoustakas249]

Seiko has iso 6425 while omega does not.I will trust seiko 200m by far more than any non iso6425 watch (omega,rolex,tag)

[@saifelkasabi7995]

So can i wash my hand with 5 bar iluminator casio square

[@u.bender8829]

Your points are not really hitting home, Anders. If at sea level the pressure is rated as 1 bar, while swimming your movements under water generates at the most another 1 bar of pressure, and then adding another 1 bar for the occasional dive under the waves and for extra security ... that makes it 3 bar max with which you subject a watch while swimming. 3 bar = 30 meters. ... As long as the seals are in order a 3 bar / 30 meter watch is meant to manage swimming, let alone a 5 bar / 50 meter watch. Else, the watch makers statement on their watches would be completely false (which I doubt renown brands would take the risk of). I think you are let on so that you can justify to yourself to buy a diver watch so that you can go swimming!? Cheers

[@Mark-P]

Glad I wear a U1!

[@evh4611]

Just make sure to have screw down crown. That for me is the most important thing

[@jameshoward9700]

Great stuff! 30m: splash proof (hand-washing); 50m: showering, surface swimming (fingers crossed!); 100m: water-sports (eg jet-ski, windsurf, swimming, leisure snorkelling); 200m: SCUBA or apnea; 300m (traditionally the recommended rating for a dive watch/about as deep as a nuclear submarine!) deep SCUBA or tech diving; 1000m: commercial diving (rarely!) and bragging! Seiko massively underrate their watches (check the video of a Tuna still running at 4000m!). Remember that a nice leather strap isn't swim proof at all! Always a bit underwhelmed by the Speedy's waterproofness. Not sure I'd trust swimming in a 50m chrono (and astronauts train in deep pools - maybe without their Speedies!).

[@Dave062YT]

You have bought into a myth and no idea where it came from.A watch will survive 3 0r 4 times what it says on the dial and you can see the tests for yourself on youtube anytime ,I've been diving with 50m watches with no probs at all btw.

[@HRM.H]

Id love to see how much abuse a Spinnaker Tesei Mille Metri could take. Someone needs to donate one to hydraulic press channel to see how deep it'll go.

[@kraitshakti]

It depends on the watch. For example, a Rolex GMT at 100m means it can actually go deeper. A Rolex Submariner at 300m will go much deeper (and don’t get me started with the SeaDweller and Deep Sea Sea Dweller). There is a lady diver who had an article done on HODINKEE that professionally dives with a gold Rolex Datejust …which has a 50m. So, watches from Rolex and Blancpain one can believe their ratings. A Rolex 50m one can dive with it. Other watches …maybe not so much. A Tag 50m is NOT for diving.

[@rninnim]

Hi this does not explain why they mark them incorrectly, if the watch wont go under why do they print anything on it, just say water resistant. Why print 50m or 5bar if you can't even submerse the watch, its just an unfair marketing ploy to fool buyers. The practice should be stopped and they should be able to claim and mark a real figure.

[@TimeAndCrown]

Hi. They do not mark the watches incorrectly. They are “smart” and use meters as the mark. It has to do with the static pressure test. Some companies mark in feet, atmosphere or bar. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Resistant_mark Best regards, Anders

[@owenlaprath4135]

This ratings idiocy gives the expensive luxury makers an excuse to NOT do sufficient water-proofing. Casio's 10 to 100 dollar per watch OLD water chart looks way different, and allows for a lot more, than all these umpty-thousand dollar per watch Swiss rip-off artists! The "dynamic" pressure, that is added, when you swing your arm back and forth for paddling is far less than one extra ATM or bar or 10meters. Swinging your arm back and forth at 5 m/s, which is 18 Km/h , 11 mph, or 10 Knots, generates 1/10th of an extra Atmosphere, and that is more than twice of what a well trained swimmer can do, when they do a world record speed max of 5 mph! Swimming with a 30meter watch should be just fine, as long as you do not jump-dive into the water! Casio's 10 to 100 dollar per watch water chart looks way different, and allows for a lot more, than all these umpty-thousand dollar per watch Swiss rip-off artists! The "dynamic" pressure, that is added, when you swing your arm back and forth for paddling is far less than one extra ATM or bar or 10meters. Swinging your arm back and forth at 5 m/s, which is 18 Km/h , 11 mph, or 10 Knots, generates 1/10th of an extra Atmosphere, and that is more than twice of what a well trained swimmer can do, when they do a world record speed max of 5 mph! Swimming with a 30meter watch should be just fine, as long as you do not jump-dive into the water! Seiko-5 has been famous as a sports and casual swimming watch for generations, and they were until recently rated for only 30 meters! I guess I need to stick to Seiko and Casio???? Seiko-5 has been famous as a sports and casual swimming watch for generations, and they were until recently rated for only 30 meters! I guess I need to stick to Seiko and Casio????