Can you dive with a 200M\100M\50M watch?
There are two types of divers; recreational divers and technical divers. Deciding which one you are is the first step in picking a watch you can take diving. A recreational diver doesn’t necessarily need the professional diving watch, except for Fashion or collection purposes. And a recreational dive watch is useless to a professional scuba diver.
For recreational divers, watches rated 200m/ 100m/ 50m are good enough for diving. But technical divers require watches that are rated 200m and above.
How deep can you dive with a 200m watch
A 200m rating on a watch implies that it can withstand 20 Bars of Pressure.
That explicitly means that the maximum depth a diver can dive to with a 200m watch is 660ft.
Going beyond 200m is the point where the impending pressure of the water is stronger than the watch can resist. The dial becomes unreadable and the glass protection begins to crack.
Examples of watches that are rated 200m include:
- Casio G-shock
- Seiko Prospex Gray SNE563
- Vincero Vessel
- Casio Sports
- Seiko Prospex Padi Solar
With a 200 meter deep dive watch, you are provided the opportunity to press the watch’s buttons while submerged. This is okay as long as it doesn’t take place close to the depth rating limit.
It is beneficial to note that a 200M water-resistant watch is not the same as a 200M Divers watch.
How deep can you dive with a 100m watch?
Being the middleman between shallow diving and deep diving, 100m watches can resist water pressure up to 10 Bar. Every 10 meters deep you go your body will experience 1 bar pressure.
Since 1 Bar=10m and 1m=33ft, You can dive as deep as 330 feet with a 100m dive watch.
Watches with this water-resistance rating are part of the “Triple Ten Criteria”. This criterion states that a dive watch should be able to survive a 10m fall, be water-resistant up to 10 bars, and have nothing less than 10-year battery life. This shows that 100m is a good rating for a dive watch.
Examples of watches with a 100m water-resistance rating are;
- Panerai Submersible
- Oris Divers Sixty-Five
- Nixon Time Teller
- Timex Men Expedition
- SRPD79 Seiko 5
You can swim and dive with your watch if it claims to be water-resistant up to 100m, but it should only be worn when close to the surface. 100m watches are also safe to be worn during swimming and other athletic sports which involve shallow waters.
How deep can you dive with a 50m watch
50m water-resistant watches are not considered standard dive watches to many. This is because they are not suitable for any serious or high-velocity water-related activity.
Yeah, it can withstand splashes, and showers and is suitable for swimming, but you can only dive up to 165ft with a 50m watch.
That is not a great depth for diving, as you would have to constantly be close to the surface and the whole point of diving is to venture below the water surface.
They are also wearable around sinks, during swimming, athletic sports, and in shallow waters.
Examples of watch with 50m rating
- Amazfit Band 5
- Apple Watch Series 3,4,5,6 and 7
- SKMEI men’s outdoor watch
50 m water-resistant watches are mostly smartwatches and watches designed by next-generation companies. Old watches were built for diving deep, as there were no diving computers back then, which most divers rely on nowadays.
What happens to a watch when the depth rating is exceeded?
The pressure of the water, freshwater or seawater, increases as you get deeper below.
When you exceed a watch’s water-resistance rating, there are adverse effects of such action. Some of these effects include case deformation, case back deformation, Destruction of the watch’s movement, Destruction of the gasket or seal preventing water from coming into the watch, and lastly, Flooding of the inner components of the watch.
The level of destruction that a watch will face depends on the build of the watch, and to what depth the watch was submerged.
Is this rating good for scuba diving?
50m is not a good rating for scuba diving, rather it is risky for the watch.
A 50m water-resistant rating does not even give the assurance of diving to the stated 165 ft.
The minimum depth for shallow diving is 30-40 m, so this is all your 50m can handle for you. This rating only affords a maximum of 20 minutes underwater, so you wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy your shallow dive.
Before you purchase a dive watch, you have to clarify and be certain of the use of the watch. If your intention in obtaining a dive watch is for high-velocity water purposes, a 200m watch is highly recommended.
Can a 50m watch be used for snorkeling?
A 50m watch is of use for a shallow water snorkelling.
The common depth for snorkeling is 100m, so a 50m watch does more than what it takes to undergo a proper snorkel session.
As with deep-sea scuba diving, a 50m water-resistant watch can only offer the bare minimum to snorkelers. To snorkel with a 50m watch, you have to be very close to the surface, as going deeper subdues the watch with more pressure than it can handle.
How many BARs can each rating stand?
Different depths of water have different BARs of water they can withstand.
50m watches can withstand 5 BARs/ATM of pressure.
100m watches can withstand 10 BARs/ATM of pressure.
200m watches can withstand 20 BARs/ATM of pressure.
300m watches can withstand 30 BARs/ATM of pressure.
1 Atmosphere of pressure (normal mean air pressure at sea level) is equivalent to 1 Bar.
There is a standard method of calculating the number of BARs a watch can withstand using the watch’s rating.
I BAR = 10m
This means that each meter of water depth you go down is one more atmosphere, so to get the number of BARs a water-resistant watch can withstand, divide the rating by 10.
How waterproof is a 200m watch?
A 200m watch is only ‘waterproof’ to a distance of 200 meters beneath the surface of the water. This depth is also equivalent to 660 feet.
That being said, 200 meter deep dive watch is highly capable of diving and will exceed most divers’ expectations and needs.
How waterproof a watch is can simply be described as ” to what depth can a watch resist the pressure of water”. Proof means will not leak, at all, within the stated limitations and till an actual waterproof watch is invented, every other watch is waterproof only to a certain depth. It may be 50M, 100M, 150M, 200M, 300M, 500M e.t.c. One similarity among all watches is that once the depth rating of the watch is exceeded, it is no longer waterproof and will then face the threat of getting damaged by water.
Can you dive with a 100m watch?
In direct contrast to watches marked 10m, 30m, or 50m, a dive watch marked with 100m of water resistance or more is absolutely capable of being submerged in the stated depth of water which is 100 meters.
Yes, you can dive with a 100m watch.
Any watch rated above 40m is good enough for a dive. From this point, the water-resistance rating only helps you understand how much further from the surface you can be.
Can 200m watches be used by professional scuba divers for technical dive missions?
200m watches can be used for professional marine activity and technical dive watches.
200m is the limit for penetration of light from the surface though some visibility may be possible further down. Anyone diving beyond this point will need a 200M Divers watch or a 300M watch.
There is a big difference between a 200M water-resistant watch and a 200M divers watch. 200M WR watches are designed for scuba diving, and 200M divers watches were made for deep underwater exploration. They were specifically designed for deep water venturing. A 200M WR watch may not be able to serve a diver completely up to 200 meters. But a 200M Divers watch can do just that, and more. These watches go through far more rigorous testing than its counterpart.
What is the maximum depth for recreational diving and why?
The maximum depth a recreational diver can venture into is 40 meters. It is beyond this depth that professional diving equipment and helium gas and other gas mixtures need to be used.
The main reason the diving limit is 40 meters is safety. Beyond that point, you will need technical diving skills and a certificate from taking a technical diving course. Beyond 40 meters/130 feet, it is necessary to make decompression stops and even use different gas mixtures, depending on the depth you reach.
Beyond the recreational depth limit, there is a high risk of nitrogen narcosis and, especially if you make several dives in a day, the possibility of decompression sickness also increases.
Conclusion
“When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable” -Myles Munroe.
This quote applies also to watches. Before you purchase a dive watch, consider the kind of activities you think you might wear it for, and choose the level of waterproofing accordingly.
The more information you have about the water resistance of watches, the easier it will be to maintain the watch. Every watch has its resistance rating, exceeding them has catastrophic effects on the watch.
