A dive watch is a tool.
Much like a wrench that you can use to change your oil, then you wipe it down and put it back in the toolbox, a dive watch is similar in that you take it diving to do a job then you rinse it off in fresh water.
Dive watches are much more however, evoking a sense of adventure and pursuit. They are rugged and can take a beating. I think that’s why I am drawn to them.
They are equally at home in the depths as they are in the board room. You can take them surfing, backpacking, hunting and they will shine through it all. You can smack them on a door jamb, against a dive tank, or accidentally drop them down a bilge (don’t ask) and they will, for the most part, come through the other side unscathed.
Dive watches are the sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks of the watch world. They come in all forms from the sporty Range Rover to the rugged Jeep. Some are completely utilitarian while others have decades of refinement and pedigree with the price to go along with it. I have yet to fully destroy one.
The scratches and dings I have in all of my watches are like the scars on my body, they all tell a story.
The human body is a vehicle that, as we age, cut ourselves, break bones and get scuffed up moves our soul across the earth and the ocean. There is a certain beauty in that rugged imperfection from our adventures, foibles and achievement. The same is true of a good dive watch. It will bear similar scars from those same adventures.
A dive watch is our silent partner in life that helps get us through an adventure just like a trusty shotgun that has brought home hundreds of ducks or a canoe that has floated you down thousands of miles of rivers.
There are lots of people who own dive watches who do not dive. There’s nothing wrong with that. One of the great things about dive watches is their durability. I always have one on my wrist, constantly banging them into stuff, getting them wet, muddy, bloody and the like. They always come out shining on the other end.
So, whether you are an avid diver with thousands of dives, or just want a functional watch that looks good and can take a beating you owe it to yourself to get a dive watch or two.