Why are skin dive watches so popular when professional dive watches do so much more? Find out here.
Have you ever wondered what defines a Skin Diver watch? How do they compare to professional dive watches?
Skin dive watches have become quite a sought-after style on the pre-owned market. Some really cool vintage models pay homage to the era marking the birth of the dive watch. That said, they can be quite pricey.
Luckily, modern vintage-inspired skin-diver watches are just as popular. This selection highlights a few great choices.
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Watches With Diving Capabilities
Part of the fascination of a dive watch is to own a piece of kit with the capability to take you down to great underwater depths.
The truth is, that’s seldom what enthusiasts wear them for. Few of us intend to use dive watches for diving. It goes some way to explain how the Skin Diver Watch really came into its own.
It’s not uncommon to find a dive watch that can withstand depths of 1000 meters or more. We don’t need the functionality. But for enthusiasts, being able to say, “Look what it can do,” is a large part of the appeal.
To break down the skin diver design and how it compares to other styles of underwater instruments, we can look at the bigger picture. To do this, we can split the dive watch genre into three sectors.
The first is the extreme dive watch category. These hard-core tools for professional divers include those like the Omega Ploprof, and Doxa Sub watches. These hefty tools serve one purpose, and that is to take you far beyond normal depths of water.
The second category is the standard dive watch type. These are your Rolex Submariners, your Omega Seamaster, and Blancpain Fifty Fathoms watches.
These traditional models form the archetypal dive watch aesthetic, which springs to mind when we generally talk about “dive watches”.
Lastly, the skin diver category. These are the lightweight dive watches of the industry. They tend to be smaller, slimmer, and less water-resistant, but sometimes dressier.
What Is a Skin Diver Watch?
So, what is a skin diver watch? As mentioned, there are different water-resistant watches for different purposes.
Professional dive watches are for those who take underwater exploration seriously. They offer a higher spec, sometimes with helium escape valves or depth gauges.
The lightweight dive watches are the skin diver type. They take their name from the pursuit of skin diving itself, which requires very little diving gear.
This watch type is normal for having fewer water-resistant capabilities and features. They are, for better words, the most modest of the crew.
Skin diver watches fill a gap in the market. They appeal to those looking for a watch with fewer aquatic aspirations.
They may want to wear a timepiece while taking a quick dip in the water, for example. Alternatively, a person may love the appeal of the “dive watch” look without all the extra features. Skin diver watches are the answer.
The Evolution of the Skin Diver Watch
The practice of wearing a watch as a tool came about during the First World War and continued throughout WWII. No longer were timepieces seen as jewellery-like statement pieces for women.
The same can be said for dive watches. Military personnel were in need of a waterproof watch that could combine legibility and accuracy with a robust case. Enter the dive watch.
Fast forward to post-WWII times, and diving became more of a hobby for amateurs. The reduction in demand for hard-core dive watches led to the arrival of the skin diver.
Blancpain, Panerai, Omega, Breitling, and Rolex had all excelled in this area of expertise. However, one industry leader that stayed at the forefront of these revelations was Longines with its 6921-1 model (and later, the 7042-1).
Having undergone some modifications to its bezel material (a switch from bakelite to steel), it soon became a fan favorite. The Longines skin diver was capable of underwater adventure, albeit to a lesser extent than a professional dive watch.
Other manufacturers that lacked the finances to create bulky, robust tools during the heyday of the dive watch era had to think quickly. They turned to casemakers like Squale and Monnin.
The result was an acrylic crystal glass front, a downward curved case, squared lugs, and a thin rotating bezel. These features now define the vintage skin diver watch that has come to be so highly sought-after today.
Why Is the Vintage Skin Diver Watch So Popular Today?
Part of the popularity of a skin diver watch lends itself to its wearability factor. Because they are less water-resistant, they’re also slimmer and more manageable. This makes them much easier to pair with casual attire than their more aggressive-looking counterparts.
By the time quartz watches entered the market, serious dive watches were less in demand. Slimline quartz watches were the order of the day. The skin diver remained popular due to its slimmer, lighter profile.
In recent years, collectors have rediscovered a love for vintage skin dive watches. Today, there are plenty of designs to choose from, many of which take inspiration from models from this era.
4 of the Best Skin Diver Watches
If you’re looking to add this style of watch to your collection, here are four of the best skin-diver watches.
Zodiac Seawolf 53
The Zodiac Seawolf 53 epitomizes the skin diver aesthetic with its bold, legible, and confident design. The watch comes in several colors, but this deep blue model wins my vote.
The rich blue nuances of the dial combine with a unidirectional rotating diver’s bezel. It allows you to measure elapsed time safely underwater, rotating only in the counter-clockwise direction.
What’s more, Zodiac crafts this watch from titanium for a lightweight experience on the wrist. Securing a black eco-friendly Pro-Planet textile strap, this 200-meter water-resistant watch combines modern functionality with old-school charm.
Oris Divers Sixty-Five
If you want a touch of retro rolled into your skin diver, opt for the Oris Divers Sixty-Five watch. This 42mm steel model features a black diver’s bezel surrounding a deep blue three-handed dial. Equipped with a date window, courtesy of the Calibre 733, this watch can pair with any attire.
The skin diver watch boasts lashings of luminous material on its hour markers and hands, all protected by a domed sapphire glass front. You can also opt for the Divers Sixty-Five model in other colors. The bi-color steel and bronze design with a gradient mocha dial is another personal favorite.
Ball Watch Co. Engineer Master II Skindiver Heritage
The Ball Engineer Master II Skindiver Heritage combines historic aesthetics with cutting-edge functionality. Some could even consider this the pinnacle among dive watches. Despite its listing as a skin diver watch, Ball’s craftsmanship promises the qualities expected of a top-tier dive watch.
A COSC-certified movement powers the Ball Engineer II watch. It also benefits from the company’s innovative micro gas tube luminosity technology.
Upon a black backdrop, a total of 15 tubes attach to the integral elements of the dial. Each one is filled with tritium that, upon emitting electrons, causes an inner coating to shine bright.
The luminous gas tubes are self-powered and glow constantly, creating a luminosity that is 100 times brighter than a standard lume. This luminous dial, an integral element of any dive watch, pairs with several other features.
These include a 5000G shock-resistant steel case with a matching bracelet or rubber band. The watch is also resistant to magnetic fields reaching 80,000A/m and promises 300M water resistance.
Seiko Prospex SJE093
The Seiko Prospex SJE093 is a modern interpretation of the Seiko 62MAS, released in 1965. It boasts a compact 38mm case for slender wrists and 200-meter water resistance. The Japanese brand achieves its retro style by using a striking boxed sapphire glass top.
The integrated automatic Calibre 6L37 lends itself to a smaller case size, beating away at 28,800 Vibrations per hour.
The movement also promises an autonomy of 45 hours. Seiko achieves a design that is like-for-like to the 1965 classic via a legible dial layout and an impressive 12mm thickness.
Conclusion
It matters very little whether you want to use a Skin Diver watch to calculate immersion times or not. This style of watch is sought-after by many and often enjoyed as a statement piece.
The range available on the market is huge, so you’ll always find a style and size that fits your needs.
With slimmer cases, unidirectional bezels, and legible dials in various colors, skin diver watches make great alternatives to professional dive tools. They’re also really affordable and accommodate the smaller wrist better.
And if you don’t have the budget for a vintage novelty from the past, it’s not a big deal. There’s a great range of vintage-inspired models to explore, from names like Oris and Zodiac.
What’s your favorite Skin Diver watch? Share your watch in the comments below! And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter at The Slender Wrist today!
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