Collection: Men's Dive Watches

Men’s dive watches and their ratings

A dive watch is built around a one-way rotating bezel for timing a dive, luminous hands and markers for dark water, and a case sealed well past everyday needs. The models here come from Citizen and Bulova, and their ratings differ: some are made for scuba diving, others for swimming and snorkelling, so check the spec before you take one under.

Rated for scuba: Citizen Promaster

Citizen’s Promaster dive watches are rated Diver’s 200m, Citizen’s mark for scuba diving, and built to ISO dive standards. The Eco-Drive versions charge from light, so the case never needs opening for a battery: the 40.6 mm Promaster Dive under sapphire crystal, and the 44 mm Promaster Professional Diver BN0150 with an elapsed-time bezel and the Promaster crown. The Promaster Dive Automatics revive Citizen divers from the 1970s and from 1989, including a 41 mm titanium model on calibre 9051. The Citizen Promaster Dive page goes through every model in detail.

For swimming and snorkelling

Bulova’s Oceanographer, the watch Bulova sells as the Devil Diver, is rated 200 metres, shown as 666 feet on Bulova’s spec sheets, and Bulova lists it for swimming and snorkelling. The Oceanographer GMT adds a second time zone to an automatic with about 42 hours of reserve. The Bulova Snorkel, a 41 mm hybrid-ceramic case with a one-way elapsed-time bezel, is rated 100 metres, as is the 43 mm Citizen Force Diver. These suit the pool, the beach and snorkelling; for scuba, choose a Promaster.

Size and strap

Dive cases here run from about 40 to 46 mm. On a smaller wrist, the 40.6 mm Promaster Dive or the 41 mm titanium automatic wears more easily than the 44 and 45 mm Promaster divers. Rubber shrugs off water and rinses clean, and a steel or titanium bracelet goes from the office to the beach.

Questions

What does Diver’s 200m mean? It’s Citizen’s rating for scuba diving with an air tank. A watch rated 100 or 200 metres without that marking is fine for swimming and snorkelling, and not for scuba. Our guide to what water resistance means lays out each rating.

How do I use the bezel? As you go under, turn the bezel until its zero marker sits over the minute hand. The minute hand then reads the elapsed minutes on the bezel scale. On these watches the bezel turns one way only.

Any care after the sea? Rinse the watch in fresh water after salt water or a chlorinated pool and let it dry. If the crown screws down, screw it in fully before the watch gets wet.