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Post by Tusker on Dec 9, 2022 14:50:43 GMT -8
Over the years I have always had people ask me about my favorite dive watch. They usually give me odd looks when I show them my casio duro ( $39.99) pre-inflation now they are 49.00 ish. I had a fairly new diver( you know the one that is a master diver in 3 months ) last summer thinking I was lying to him. Three of my dive buddies were on the trip and all showed his they were wearing the same watch. My son told a watch salesman recently" A sorry man is one who bangs up a rolex on a dive boat "... Most of my coworkers who are underwater a lot use G-Shocks although the GOV will not approve them as a Dive Watch... I am sure most of you have fewer watches than regulators but still have a LC go to ? I'd love a Duro, it's just far too large for what I prefer. While significantly more expensive than the Duro (by about 4-5 times, which still isn't terrible), you might like what Paul Scurfield is doing with Scurfa Watches. The Diver One is pretty cool, especially in titanium. Paul is a working saturation diver and designed these with that in mind. Jacob
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 4, 2023 14:12:53 GMT -8
Okay, when my Seiko watch got old, for a time I was wearing this Armilton watch. As you can see, it has quite a bit of wear, and so I was wearing it for a while. Dive Watch001 by John Ratliff, on Flickr This is the face, which shows that it had "Date," "ALM" (alarm, I think), "Split," and "STP.W" (whatever that is). Dive Watch002 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Here's the back of the watch. I think I need to put a battery into it to get it working again. Here's the story behind the Armitron company: www.armitron.com/pages/about-usJohn Well, I’m back to my Armilton or my self-wind Seiko dive watches, as my Seiko Solar Dive Watch stopped functioning. At first, I noticed that the watch wasn’t keeping good time, and then I noticed that the watch’s second hand was skipping one second (would wait and go two seconds at a time). So I looked it up on the Seiko solar watch website, and they said it had lost charge, and needed to be placed in a window for some hours. Well, I did that, and it did not recharge. So I decided to take it into my own hands, and placed it under a very bright clamp-on light. It charged! But at a cost. I had heated it up enough to warp the day/date indicator so that they did not work. I asked Anthony to have him estimate what to do, and he said he could not fixe the day/date feature. I said that was okay, as I rarely looked at that feature anyway, and it was charged again. Anthony did say to keep it about 15 inches away from a light source so that it didn’t heat up. Well, It stopped again, and after a day in the window, it hasn’t come back. Anthony said he didn’t know about batteries for a solar watch, so I’ll probably have to send i to a Seiko-authorized repair shop for repair. I may, and may not get it repaired. Until then, or I got something new, I’m back to the above combos. John
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Post by Tusker on Feb 8, 2023 6:47:05 GMT -8
Well, I’m back to my Armilton or my self-wind Seiko dive watches, as my Seiko Solar Dive Watch stopped functioning. At first, I noticed that the watch wasn’t keeping good time, and then I noticed that the watch’s second hand was skipping one second (would wait and go two seconds at a time). So I looked it up on the Seiko solar watch website, and they said it had lost charge, and needed to be placed in a window for some hours. Well, I did that, and it did not recharge. So I decided to take it into my own hands, and placed it under a very bright clamp-on light. It charged! But at a cost. I had heated it up enough to warp the day/date indicator so that they did not work. I asked Anthony to have him estimate what to do, and he said he could not fixe the day/date feature. I said that was okay, as I rarely looked at that feature anyway, and it was charged again. Anthony did say to keep it about 15 inches away from a light source so that it didn’t heat up. Well, It stopped again, and after a day in the window, it hasn’t come back. Anthony said he didn’t know about batteries for a solar watch, so I’ll probably have to send i to a Seiko-authorized repair shop for repair. I may, and may not get it repaired. Until then, or I got something new, I’m back to the above combos. John John, I'm sorry to hear that. You might be able to find another one on eBay to get the parts and/or to swap the movement. The reference would be on the case, but it looks like a SNE107 to me. There's some sale currently. Seiko has also introduced a few new Prospex-series Solar divers if you end up inclined to go that direction. The SNE5XX references are my favorites of the new bunch. What are the automatic Seiko's you've got? Jacob
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Post by SeaRat on Feb 8, 2023 8:44:28 GMT -8
Jacob, Here's the Seiko Solar Dive Watch I have. IMG_2803 by John Ratliff, on Flickr I have it in the window, and it is slowly gaining a charge, but still skipping the second hand (indicating it isn't yet charged correctly). The back of the watch is hard to photograph as the band is in the way. It says: "Air Divers 200M" "SEIKO" serial number "Stainles Steel VISO-OAED" (I think, it's hard to read.) VG Movement Japan John
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Post by Tusker on Feb 9, 2023 16:13:53 GMT -8
John, yes, I think that's a SNE107. It uses a Seiko V158 solar movement (you can see it at the right of 6 o'clock on the bottom, opposite of MOVEMENT JAPAN). You can buy a brand new one from Esslinger, but it doesn't include the day wheel. On the flip side, there's plenty of watches on eBay which use the same movement. Jacob
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Post by SeaRat on Mar 3, 2023 14:36:36 GMT -8
I just yesterday went to the LDS, and to my astonishment, they had no dive watches. They used to have a good selection. When I asked Laura, she said, “Nobody is buying dive watches anymore. I gave a few to employees, and sent the rest back to the manufacturer.” Well, that kinda precludes me from buying one through her store. So now I’m back to square one. I’ve been thinking about updating my dive computer with a wrist-computer. Then, I looked and the Apple Watch Ultra can now be loaded with software and become a dive computer with the Oceanic+ software. That makes for an interesting set of decisions. www.divein.com/diving/apple-watch-8-ultra/John
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Post by Tusker on Mar 6, 2023 16:32:04 GMT -8
John, I'm sorry—if not surprised—to hear that. I think the only shop I've ever been in that had watches was down in the Keys — they sold Shark and Momentum watches. From what I've heard, Momentum is trying very hard to get watches back in dive shops. The founder's family used to own a brand called Chronosport, whose Sea Quartz 30 fans of Magnum P.I. will recognize. Momentum has recently reissued that watch. My dad was very excited when the news of the Apple Watch Ultra came out, but the Oceanic+ service requires what we felt was a pretty steep fee of $10/month or $80/year to access computer functions beyond depth and time. This on top of the $800 price tag for the device itself seemed too much to us. Jacob
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Post by tomcatpc on Mar 19, 2023 7:00:19 GMT -8
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Post by SeaRat on Mar 19, 2023 13:00:23 GMT -8
Well, I’m rehabilitating two older dive watches. The Armiton watch has a new battery, and is functioning well again. I can used it diving. I also brought my older, self-winding Seiko watch back into working order. It is running, but tends to gain about 5 minutes in 24 hours. So I now have two alternatives for watches for my diving. I also have a new battery in my Suunto Cobra dive computer.
That Apple Watch is appealing, but really, really expensive. So I’ll watch it (pun intended) for a while, but probably won’t pick one up now.
John
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Post by nikeajax on Mar 19, 2023 14:16:32 GMT -8
Mark, as I recall, your wife got you that one That in itself makes it special, and it work exactly as it's supposed to, so in my book, that makes it a totally k!ck@ss watch JB
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Post by tomcatpc on Mar 19, 2023 16:39:02 GMT -8
Yes, that is the one the Mrs got me. I plan on getting another with a blue/red bezel in the future. I'd love to have an actual 1960's dive watch, but happy with this one. Mark
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Post by Tusker on Mar 21, 2023 5:58:33 GMT -8
Mark, I'm with JB — it does the job and looks every bit the part. The added sentimental value makes it better than any random watch could be. Jacob
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Post by james1979 on Mar 21, 2023 6:19:13 GMT -8
Not laughing.... Looking one up for my wish list! I don't have a dive watch, and am super cheap. As others said, it looks the part... And from what you said, it does the job.
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Post by SeaRat on Mar 21, 2023 8:04:11 GMT -8
Not laughing.... Looking one up for my wish list! I don't have a dive watch, and am super cheap. As others said, it looks the part... And from what you said, it does the job. Some of the cheaper watches can be very, very good. Here's a Citizen Watch, that was found in this condition, still ticking. 285599486_1005681116781358_7812308780752503496_n by John Ratliff, on Flickr In the USAF, some of us were issued Rolex Dive Watches, and one of our PJs went diving with me out of Naha, Okinawa. During the dive, he swam up to me and showed me his "Rolex." It not only had water inside, but some sand too! We had been issued fake Rolex watches. I have found out that very few of today's divers actually dive diving watches. Instead, they rely upon dive computers. Dive watches are now more of a fashon statement than a diving tool, which I find troubling. John
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Post by james1979 on Mar 21, 2023 11:55:09 GMT -8
As my el-cheapo solution when I first started diving, I was using tables and the stopwatch function of a cheap G-Shock digital watch. I don't see the transition to computers as a problem, just as a change. I use a computer (even though most of my diving doesn't need it) simply for the ease of logging dives. I can (and sometimes do) just keep track of time. I'll probably get the Casio that Mark pointed out, for when I want to immerse myself in the spirit of vintage diving instead of my usual modern diving with vintage gear.
Respectfully,
James
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