One of the most difficult mens watches to be developed was the diving watches. It was important to protect these watches from stringent outside environmental hazards to the inside mechanisms of the watch.
It was the development of waterproof watches that were the first to make such break through before moving towards water-resistance criteria.
Firstly, the focus among watches was to prevent weather, dust, and body moisture. Only in 1920 that solutions toward these issues were addressed like having plastic resins to replace glasses that were snapped on the bezels.
Also, the casebacks were screwed in and protected by gaskets. Around 1926, Rolex created the suitable crown for waterproofing and this propelled it to popularity.
In the 1950s, there was a great demand for diving watches and it was then that further solutions and innovative construction methods were used to meet the needs of professional divers.
Examples are the use of small bathscaphs of ideal proportions, clear dials, and strong reliable cases constructed for water-resistance purpose.
Divers' watches requires protection of the movement from water and moisture. In order to achieve that gaskets (or O-rings) are joined at every point where the surfaces of every parts have to be joint together. Examples of these are between the glass and bezel, the bezel and case, and caseback and the case.
These gaskets used are actually quite minute in order to fit for these parts in diving chronographs. It seems that every different brands or models have different numbers of gaskets. Many of them have patent on the numbers used within their watches.
In order to ascertain the quality of diving watches, the Swiss watch industry has established itself a certification to guarantee the water-resistance rating for these watches. Manufacturers will rely on these ratings to confirm the warranty of their watches.
Targeting at professional divers, like those working long hours in marine abysses, there is a critical issue to address in professional diving watches.
When divers work inside pressurized tanks, they are usually breathing a mixture of oxygen and helium. So the watches are made with helium valves to manage helium, a volatile and light gas, entering into the watchcases through the gaskets and steel porosities.
Once helium enters the watch, the pressure within the watch will build up to match the pressures of the tank and the underwater.
The moment the divers reach the surface, the higher pressure within the watch than the outside will exert the watch glass to burst. However, the valve helps to let go of the gas directly releasing pressure within the diving watch and protects the case structure.
Quite a few well-known diving watches were developed by Seiko and IWC. Seiko was the first to discover the use of titanium for its diving watch. This metal has been a highly anti-corrosive, resistant, and hypoallergenic. For these properties, Seiko created the very first 300m Pro Diver.
In 1975, the 600m Pro Diver, the first titanium diver’s wristwatch, was introduced. It has an alternative gasket system that prevented helium entry into the watch known as the L-system gasket patented by Seiko. This particular watch has 20 patents on its design and movement.
They are Ocean 2000 and Deep One. The Ocean 2000 was a design by Porsche and an early titanium case and bracelet diving watch. It was known for its 2000m water-resistance capability.
This model was discontinued around 1997. It was replaced by another new titanium Aquatimer that also has the ability to reach the 2000m mark and known as GST Aquatimer in 1997.
The Deep One was known for its immaculate depth rating gauge that measure up to 45 meters under water. Due to its sophiscation to build, only 1000 of it was produced after its indefinite discontinuation thereafter.
Its mechanism is able to read the surrounding water and transmit pressure variations values to its two hands, one that gives real-time indication of the depth and the other for the deepest measurement attained.
Another great diving watch manufacturer is Seiko because they were the first to discover the use of titanium on their diving watches.
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