Just a few years ago there was only one legitimate dive watch on the market for $50, now we have three. As of the writing of this blog post, there are three dive watches on the market for between $50 to $55.
The great thing about any of these watches is you can beat the crap out of them and not feel too bad about it.
None of these is a Rolex or Omega, but they don’t need to be. All three of these watches are nice to look at, tough, and can go scuba diving.
Criteria
Cheap – When I started this post, I knew about these three watches already from other reviews that I have done, but I really scoured the marketplace for other legitimate dive watches in the $50 range.
Uni-directional Rotating Bezel – To be considered a dive watch, it must have a timing device. That’s what the bezel is for. If you don’t know how to operate one I have a full blog post here about it. Most dive watch manufacturers use a uni-directional rotating bezel, although some have other interesting ways of doing this, this is by far the most common.
200 Meter Water Resistance. You will see other watch blogs that have lists of dive watches with many of them listed having water resistance (WR) ratings to 50 or 100 meters. These are not dive watches. A dive watch needs to be WR to 200 meters. Some would argue that most divers will never dive below 40 meters, and that is correct. 99% of scuba divers probably will never go deeper than 40 meters. You can read the ISO rating specifications, but the main reason that a dive watch needs to be WR to 200 meters is because the o-rings and gaskets wear out and degrade over time.
I have serviced and rebuilt hundreds of pieces of scuba gear, and every time you service scuba equipment you replace the o-ring. They are often deformed, torn or abraded. A dive watch uses these same o-rings and gaskets to maintain water resistance under pressure. You don’t want your timing device to fail on a dive.
Casio Duro
Price: $50 Case Size: 44mm Thickness: 10.3mm WR: 200M Movement: Quartz Crystal: Mineral
The Casio Duro has been around for quite a while. When you think of Casio you probably think more about calculators than dive watches. They actually don’t even make that many dive watches. The Casio Duro, or sometimes referred to as the Casio Marlin for the marlin on the dial, is a winner.
If you need to buy a dive watch and don’t want to spend a lot of money on one go no further.
Here is the Casio Duro listing on Amazon.
Addiesdive MY-H3
Price: $54 Case Size: 41mm Thickness: 13.5mm WR: 200M Movement: Quartz Crystal: Mineral
In a world with some watch makers that have heritage that lasts back to the 1700’s, Addiesdive is clearly one of the new players. They’ve only been around for a few years. They’re not even designing their own watches, they just make homage versions, or copies, of other watch makers. And this is what you are getting here. This is a copy of a Rolex Submariner.
If you’re looking for a solid dive watch for fifty bucks though, this is a great deal. The Addiesdive features a Japanese quartz movement, a 316 grade stainless case and a pin and collar bracelet. At this price anything with a 200M water resistance rating is a steal.
Here is the Addiesdive MY-H3 Amazon listing.
Invicta Pro Diver
Price: $55 Case Size: 41mm Thickness: 13.5mm WR: 200M Movement: Quartz Crystal: Mineral
Unlike the Addiesdive listed above, Invicta has been around much longer, Invicta started making watches in 1837. This is essentially another homage to the Rolex Submariner. Invicta adds its own unique touches to it though, so although it is an homage to another watch, it’s not trying to be a direct copy.
So, is the Invicta better than the Addiesdive? No, I don’t think so.
Here is the Amazon listing for the Invicta Pro Diver.
Which One is the Best?
First off, I think any one of these watches is a great deal at around $50. Their prices will fluctuate a bit. To be honest, with the massive amount of inflation we’ve had lately I am pretty shocked the prices aren’t 20% to 30% higher. Raw materials, labor and shipping have increased that much. I’m guessing there is so much competition in the watch space that they are having to keep prices down.
To get any legitimate dive watch for $50 is phenomenal. Hooray for free markets.
If I were going to buy only one of these watches I would probably go with the Casio Duro. Yes, Casio isn’t exactly known for making dive watches. But, I’m jaded, I’ve had mine for about five years with absolutely zero issues. Plus it’s the largest of the three. I like a 44mm dive watch. If you have a smaller wrist, one of the other two would be just as good. I have no issues with any of them. Also, if you really like a bracelet the Addiesdive and Invicta both have bracelets.
If you do purchase one, please post below in the comments what you think of it.
If you see another legitimate dive watch that should have a place on this blog post, shoot me a line on my Contact Page.
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