Scuba diving has become a very popular sport with many families spending their vacations scuba diving in lovely spots in the Caribbean. As with snow skiing, in order to scuba dive appropriately, you will need all of the special gear. There are scuba diving stores in every major city in the United States that will have all of the essential gear. One of the essential accessories when scuba diving is your dive watch. This watch is imperative, as it will let you know when your air supply is getting low. It is very easy to lose track of time when you in the underwater world.



Specialty Watch

Dive watches are specialty watches that are designed specifically with underwater features. One of these features includes water resistance greater than 10 ATM, which is the equivalent of one hundred meters. A professional diver will have a watch that will be water resistant for around two to three hundred meters, although there are dive watches that can go much deeper. Usually these professional watches are marked with the word DIVER on it to distinguish it from dive watches that are look-alike watches but do not have the same capabilities.

Omega was the first company who made dive watches. They were originally made for the military and other professional needs and are the finest of the dive watches. The very top honor for these watches goes to the Omega Marine, which was introduced in 1932. Another Italian brand, Panerai, offered another watch in the 1930's that was not only water resistant but luminescent as well. Many canteen style dive watches were made with military specifications during WWII. These watches were made in small amounts and not intended for commercial distribution. However, today these same canteen dive watches are precious to watch collectors.

In 1954, Lip-Blancpain's Fifty Fathoms, a French watch came onto the marketplace. Jacques Cousteau and his divers wore these dive watches during his underwater films. Many other companies have jumped on the bandwagon and have come out with their version of the underwater watch and lucky for divers, the prices have come down considerably. You can even rent dive watches when going on specific dives or diving vacations. The underwater world is fascinating, but you have to live as a fish would live and be sure everything is submersible. Have your underwater camera ready and your water resistant dive watches to keep an eye on that air supply.