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Dive Watches

Created for diving professionals, dive watches boast high water resistance, highly legible dials and help tell divers how long they’ve been submerged for via a rotational bezel. They’re loved for their distinctive and robust design, making them one of the most popular watch genres around.

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Popular Brands
  1. Rolex Rolex
  2. Breitling Breitling
  3. Omega Omega
  4. Tag Heuer Tag Heuer
  5. Panerai Panerai
  6. IWC IWC
  7. Tudor Tudor
  8. Cartier Cartier
  9. Hublot Hublot
  10. Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet
  11. Jaeger-LeCoultre Jaeger-LeCoultre
  12. Vacheron Constantin Vacheron Constantin
  13. Patek Philippe Patek Philippe
All Brands
  1. Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet
  2. Ball Ball
  3. Baume et Mercier Baume et Mercier
  4. Bell and Ross Bell and Ross
  5. Breitling Breitling
  6. Bremont Bremont
  7. Bvlgari Bvlgari
  8. Carl F. Bucherer Carl F. Bucherer
  9. Cartier Cartier
  10. Chanel Chanel
  11. Chopard Chopard
  12. Eterna Eterna
  13. Franck Muller Franck Muller
  14. Frederique Constant Frederique Constant
  15. Girard Perregaux Girard Perregaux
  16. Graham Graham
  17. Grand Seiko Grand Seiko
  18. H. Moser and Cie H. Moser and Cie
  19. Hamilton Hamilton
  20. Hublot Hublot
  21. IWC IWC
  22. Jaeger-LeCoultre Jaeger-LeCoultre
  23. JeanRichard JeanRichard
  24. Longines Longines
  25. Maurice Lacroix Maurice Lacroix
  26. Montblanc Montblanc
  27. Omega Omega
  28. Oris Oris
  29. Panerai Panerai
  30. Parmigiani Parmigiani
  31. Patek Philippe Patek Philippe
  32. Perrelet Perrelet
  33. Rado Rado
  34. Raymond Weil Raymond Weil
  35. Richard Mille Richard Mille
  36. Roger Dubuis Roger Dubuis
  37. Rolex Rolex
  38. Tag Heuer Tag Heuer
  39. Tissot Tissot
  40. Tudor Tudor
  41. Vacheron Constantin Vacheron Constantin
  42. Zenith Zenith
Series
Case Size
The size of a watch is very important for style and comfort. If you prefer an oversized watch like a Panerai Luminor, you’ll probably want Large. If you’re looking for something more discreet like a Rolex Lady Datejust, you’ll want Small. For everything in between, Medium.
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Stock Type
  1. Stock Stock
Case Material
  1. Bronze Bronze
  2. Carbon Carbon
  3. Ceramic Ceramic
  4. Platinum Platinum
  5. Rose Gold Rose Gold
  6. Silver Silver
  7. Steel Steel
  8. Steel & Rose Gold Steel & Rose Gold
  9. Steel & Rose Gold Plated Steel & Rose Gold Plated
  10. Steel & White Gold Steel & White Gold
  11. Steel & Yellow Gold Steel & Yellow Gold
  12. Steel & Yellow Gold Plated Steel & Yellow Gold Plated
  13. Titanium Titanium
  14. White Gold White Gold
  15. Yellow Gold Yellow Gold
  16. Yellow Gold Plated Yellow Gold Plated
Dial Colour
Black
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Strap
  1. Bracelet Bracelet
  2. Fabric Fabric
  3. Leather Leather
  4. Rubber Rubber
Box and Papers
  1. Original box Original box
  1. Original papers Original papers
Movement
A mechanical watch is powered by a spring. Manual mechanical watches must be hand wound. Automatic watches are also mechanical, and are wound by a weight that spins with the wearer's movements. A quartz watch is battery powered and extremely accurate.
  1. Automatic Automatic
  2. Manual Manual
  3. Quartz Quartz
Promotion
Limited Edition
  1. Limited Edition Limited Edition
Reset Results (1036)
Results (1,036)
Sort
Rolex GMT Master II 16710 283034

Rolex
GMT Master II
16710

Box
Papers
Year 2008
£11,010
Rolex GMT Master II 16713 272221
Vintage

Rolex
GMT Master II
16713

Box
Papers
Year 1996
£8,185
Rolex Mid-Size Datejust 68273 258862
Limited Edition

Rolex
Mid-Size Datejust
68273

Box
Papers
Year 1989
£5,010
Rolex Datejust 126234 281534

Rolex
Datejust
126234

Box
Papers
Year 2020
£8,975
Rolex Datejust 116243 278810

Rolex
Datejust
116243

Box
Papers
Year 2014
£11,525
Rolex Datejust 16000 267307
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16000

Box
Papers
Year 1988
£5,270
Rolex Datejust 116234 273908

Rolex
Datejust
116234

Box
Papers
Year 2018
£8,525
Rolex Datejust 116234 276587

Rolex
Datejust
116234

Box
Papers
Year 2018
£7,510
Rolex Datejust 16220 265292
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16220

Box
Papers
Year 1991
£4,730
Rolex GMT Master II 116713 LN 280085

Rolex
GMT Master II
116713 LN

Box
Papers
Year 2012
£10,810
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 115210 274751

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual Date
115210

Box
Papers
Year 2007
£4,090
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 15200 275357

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual Date
15200

Box
Papers
Year 2000
£3,840
Rolex GMT Master II 116718 LN 276218

Rolex
GMT Master II
116718 LN

Box
Papers
Year 2006
£22,770
Rolex GMT Master II 16710 271078

Rolex
GMT Master II
16710

Box
Papers
Year 2006
£11,785
Rolex GMT Master II 116713 LN 277784

Rolex
GMT Master II
116713 LN

Box
Papers
Year 2015
£11,495
Rolex GMT Master 16700 265876
Vintage

Rolex
GMT Master
16700

Box
Papers
Year 1993
£10,670
Rolex GMT Master II 116713 LN 268862

Rolex
GMT Master II
116713 LN

Box
Papers
Year 2010
£10,935
Rolex GMT Master II 16710 273307

Rolex
GMT Master II
16710

Box
Papers
Year 2007
£10,865
Rolex GMT Master II 16710 277324

Rolex
GMT Master II
16710

Box
Papers
Year 2006
£11,885
Rolex Lady Oyster Perpetual 177200 272271

Rolex
Lady Oyster Perpetual
177200

Box
Papers
Year 2016
£4,525
Rolex Oyster Precision 6426 269752
Vintage

Rolex
Oyster Precision
6426

Box
Papers
Year 1984
£3,060
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 15223 266282
Vintage

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual Date
15223

Box
Papers
Year 1996
£4,200
Rolex Mid-Size Datejust 68273 272678
Vintage

Rolex
Mid-Size Datejust
68273

Box
Papers
Year 1994
£4,720
Rolex Pearlmaster 81315 267857

Rolex
Pearlmaster
81315

Box
Papers
Year 2012
£19,475
Rolex Milgauss 116400 GV 256783

Rolex
Milgauss
116400 GV

Box
Papers
Year 2020
£9,555
Rolex GMT Master II 16710 282042

Rolex
GMT Master II
16710

Box
Papers
Year 2007
£10,865
Rolex Mid-Size Datejust 78240 250395

Rolex
Mid-Size Datejust
78240

Box
Papers
Year 2002
£5,455
Rolex GMT Master II 116713 LN 278009

Rolex
GMT Master II
116713 LN

Box
Papers
Year 2013
£11,210
Rolex Yacht-Master 16622 275916

Rolex
Yacht-Master
16622

Box
Papers
Year 2003
£7,355
Rolex Yacht-Master 16622 258827

Rolex
Yacht-Master
16622

Box
Papers
Year 2006
£8,140
Rolex Datejust 126234 281521
Manufacturer's Warranty

Rolex
Datejust
126234

Box
Papers
Year 2023
£9,660
Rolex Yacht-Master 116621 280759

Rolex
Yacht-Master
116621

Box
Papers
Year 2019
£11,465
Rolex Yacht-Master 268621 276357

Rolex
Yacht-Master
268621

Box
Papers
Year 2019
£9,380
Rolex Yacht-Master 68623 281959
Vintage

Rolex
Yacht-Master
68623

Box
Papers
Year 1998
£6,575
Rolex Milgauss 116400 GV 279339

Rolex
Milgauss
116400 GV

Box
Papers
Year 2018
£9,460
Rolex Yacht-Master 116621 259732

Rolex
Yacht-Master
116621

Box
Papers
Year 2021
£11,980
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 115200 267791

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual Date
115200

Box
Papers
Year 2007
£3,785
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 15200 273077

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual Date
15200

Box
Papers
Year 2002
£4,185
Rolex Submariner 14060 276070
Vintage

Rolex
Submariner
14060

Box
Papers
Year 1998
£8,565
Rolex Submariner 116610 LV 285135

Rolex
Submariner
116610 LV

Box
Papers
Year 2020
£13,920
Rolex Submariner 14060 263112

Rolex
Submariner
14060

Box
Papers
Year 2011
£8,680
Rolex Yacht-Master 16622 258988

Rolex
Yacht-Master
16622

Box
Papers
Year 2003
£7,355

Dive Watches

History

The dive watch, a symbol of adventure and resilience, has a rich and exciting history that stretches back to 1927 when Rolex launched its Oyster model. This innovative watch, with its screw-down case and crown, is considered the first fully water-resistant wristwatch.

Famously, it was worn that year by a young swimmer called Mercedes Gleitz who was the first woman to swim the English Channel. To advertise the feat—and the capabilities of its latest watch—Rolex bought the front page of the most widely read British newspaper of the time, the Daily Mail.

Rolex went on to supply movements to Panerai, who developed the dive watch further with the specialist timepieces they made for the frogmen of the Italian navy in the late 1930s. These early dive watches had a water resistance of 30 metres—unimpressive by today’s standards which requires a dive watch to have a minimum water resistance of 100 metres.

By the mid-1950s, scuba-diving was a popular worldwide pastime due to the invention of the aqualung a decade earlier. This led to a spate of similar-looking dive watches like Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms, which featured the first rotating bezel—enabling divers to accurately measure immersion time—and the Rolex Submariner. Both these watches were water-resistant to 100 metres, while the Zodiac Sea Wolf, released shortly afterwards, doubled this to 200 metres.

In the decades since, dive watches have become more and more capable of withstanding extreme water pressure. In 2012, Rolex launched its Deepsea Challenge model which boasted an incredible 12,000 metres water resistance. In the same year it was attached to a submersible that Hollywood director James Cameron piloted to the deepest part of the world’s oceans—the Marianas Trench—to a depth of 10,898 metres, surviving the ordeal unscathed.

Key features

Today, dive watches continue to push boundaries, incorporating advanced technologies and materials such as helium escape valves, luminescent dials, and enhanced water resistance.

What sets dive watches apart from other timepieces? Let's look at what makes a dive watch unique, designed specifically for the rigours of underwater exploration.

Firstly, their exceptional water resistance is critical. Unlike standard watches, dive watches can withstand the extreme conditions of deep-sea diving, with a water resistance rating of at least 100 metres and many capable of depths up to 300 metres or much more.

Additional features of a dive watch include a unidirectional rotating bezel for tracking immersion time, bold luminous markers and hands for good visibility in murky conditions, and a helium escape valve to prevent damage during decompression. Most dive watches don’t have the latter as they are only of use in saturation diving when a diver spends time in a decompression chamber.

Some diving watches even incorporate helium-filled cases and built-in depth gauges, allowing divers to monitor their current depth without the need for additional equipment. These features make dive watches a useful tool for underwater exploration, although in an age of wearable dive computers they are more often now used as a back-up option.

One thing every mechanical dive watch must have is a constantly running seconds hand, or some kind of display indicating the watch is running that can be viewed in total darkness.

The science of water Resistance in dive watches

Water resistance is a vital feature of a dive watch. Special seals and gaskets prevent water infiltration, while robust materials like stainless steel or titanium ensure durability and resistance to corrosion. Rigorous testing verifies a dive watch's ability to withstand different pressures and temperatures, simulating the conditions encountered underwater.

Water resistance is measured in metres or bar units, indicating the depth to which the watch can be submerged safely. It's worth noting that factors such as water temperature and movement can affect a diving watch's performance underwater.

Popular dive watch models

The Rolex Submariner is a classic choice, renowned for its robustness and precision, and capable of withstanding depths of up to 300 metres. It was famously worn by James Bond until the 1990s when he swapped one dive watch for another: the equally iconic Omega Seamaster.

Other enduring models that are as timeless as they are stylish include the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, Breitling Superocean, Panerai Luminor and IWC Aquatimer. Fellow Swiss brands Tudor and TAG Heuer offer more affordable choices like the Black Bay and Aquaracer, respectively.

At Watchfinder, we offer a vast selection of pre-owned luxury dive watches from all of the aforementioned brands, from Rolex to IWC, catering to every budget and taste. Explore our collection and discover the exceptional craftsmanship and performance of these remarkable watches.

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