The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Just giving my watches a clean and it started me thinking! The longiness HydroConquest I have, and love, is the chronograph version and is rated a 300m/1000ft. Is this a "True" dive watch or not? I know it can be in theory be brought to about 100M? I am not talking about specialist watches just the mid/high end watches that are chronographs. I know non-chrono's have a higher rating for obvious reasons but what is the deepest rating for the high street brand chrono's? from my very limited! knowledge and from what I have seen the longiness is has the deepest rating for a Chronograph? I stand to be corrected!! and further my knowledge..
any thoughts.....
Breanach78

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Breanach78

A Few Breitlings.

The seawolf chrono is rated to 1000m. not only that, but its pushers are fully usable all the way down to its rated depth!

EDIT: BTW, if youre talking about mechanical only, JLC master compressor diving chrono is also 1000m.

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-RJ

Corrected!!

But what depth can a watch be classified as a true dive watch?

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Breanach78

A Few Breitlings.

Probably 300m, although even 100m would probably suffice. If you are talking true divers watch, you can look up ISO 6425 to see exactly what standards have been set in order for a watch to be labeled a dive watch.

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-RJ

That is to say only chronograph's???

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Breanach78

A Few Breitlings.

I dont see any difference between chrono and non chrono as far as bring a dive watch. Both are equally functional so long as they can stay water tight at the required depth. Regardless of chrono or not, ISO 6425 sets out exactly what features a watch must have to be called a dive watch. Some of the features are unnecessary from a simple dive standpoint, but either way it gives you a definitive answer to your question.

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-RJ

With a few notable exceptions (like the Seawolf Chrono), a chronograph is not really a chronograph underwater because the pushers can't be used. There is a hole through the case in any watch - for the crown. If that can be waterproofed then so can pushers.

Not many mechanical chronographs out there that have pushers usable to the full rated depth. Does the JLC? Omega Seamaster 300 Chrono is the only one I can think of at the moment, anyone know any others?

There is the omega (but iirc, its a pretty shallow depth rating). The JLC is not operable under water. Not sure of whether they are mechanical or not, but I think I remember hearing about Tag and something else (Sinn, maybe?) that are operable pretty deep.

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-RJ

Yeah, that sounds familiar. As far as I know, however, the Omega is operable down to the full 300.

200m for recreational diving which only allows you to go to 65 - 130 feet depending on your training. That was the standard for years. Somehow got changed to 300m. Dive computers have made dive watches pretty much useless. In any event, I wouldn't wear an expensive watch diving unless I was sure it was up to the task. Very expensive if it does leak.

AFAIK 200m was always generally considered to be a professional diver's watch. 300m nowadays is more the norm.

In terms of pushpieces that are operational at depth, then there is obviously the Seawolf Chrono and the almost identical M1, but as noted they are quartz and work via magnetic pushpieces. The only mechanical chronographs I've seen (and owned actually) with "operational under water" pushpieces are the Tag Heuer Aquagraph 2000 which has pushpieces that are operational to the full 500m WR of the case, and the latest twin-register Doxa 600T-Graph, although while the case is 600m rated the pushpieces are apparently only operational to something like 60 - 100m.

I'm sure there are probably others, but none that I can think of at the moment.

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Driver8

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