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Anyone Go Swimming With A Speedmaster?
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![Bjærgning%20Catalina%201[1].jpg](https://omegaforums.net/data/attachments/300/300254-dff0c413567186cbba2d98e70e7addf4.jpg?hash=3_DEE1Zxhs "Bjærgning%20Catalina%201[1].jpg")
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padders
··Oooo subtitles!Why is this so hard to understand? If the seals hold and if the pushers or crown aren't touched then you will probably be fine down to any sensible depth. The problem is other than the day the watch leaves the factory or service centre you don't know they will. You can be confident of course but seals don't last forever. By all means go swimming in your 10 year old watch (or 30 year old watch serviced a while back) but don't come whining when it fogs the glass as some will.
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Sgt_Bilko
·Absolutely, categorically, no way would I take a Speedmaster in the water. Personally I wouldn't go in the water with anything other than a cheap quartz like a Casio G-Shock.
A watchmaker told me a couple years ago that a large chunk of his work comes through water damaged watches. Particularly in light of the rapidly rising values of Speedmasters taking them in the water seems like madness to me.
A watchmaker told me a couple years ago that a large chunk of his work comes through water damaged watches. Particularly in light of the rapidly rising values of Speedmasters taking them in the water seems like madness to me.
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerSEIKO, for example, clearly lists on their website examples of water sport activities approved for their watches with different water resistant ratings (e.g., 3 BAR, 5 BAR, 10 BAR, 20 BAR, 30 BAR, etc.) (See, https://www.seiko-watch.co.jp/support/function/knowledge/waterproof.php). Omega, on the other hand, doesn't give any such information with examples of activities... At least I cannot find on their website or in the printed manual if their Speedmaster models that are only rated to 5 BAR (i.e., moon watches) are appropriate for swimming or if they Speedmaster models that are rated to 10 BAR (i.e., Speedmaster '57 and Speedmaster Racing) are appropriate for snorkeling, etc. (for legal reasons, I presume)....
That's probably why we keep seeing debates like this on watch forums, where people express their personal opinions, share specific individual experiences that may or may not represent statistically more common (or likely) occurrences, give hearsays and even perpetuate interweb urban legends...
This is all fun, though, because we get to talk about watches and play the same old "what if" scenarios over and over again. 😉
https://www.omegawatches.com/fileadmin/Customer_Service/omega_water_resistance_chart.pdf
It says clearly...WATCHES RESISTANT TO WATER UP TO SPECIFIED DEPTH
I'm not sure what more you would need to be honest...
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flw
··history nerdAbsolutely, categorically, no way would I take a Speedmaster in the water. Personally I wouldn't go in the water with anything other than a cheap quartz like a Casio G-Shock.
A watchmaker told me a couple years ago that a large chunk of his work comes through water damaged watches. Particularly in light of the rapidly rising values of Speedmasters taking them in the water seems like madness to me.
I had a conversation with an independent watch dealer a few weeks ago, who was pushing me to buy a used Explorer I (overpriced, IMHO) and who was wearing a vintage Submariner. I asked him if his shop had the equipment to pressure test my watches, and he replied that sure, he could do that - but he didn't see the point, since he advised me NEVER to get my Rolex Sub or Seamaster wet ... "Just not worth the risk", etc.
My view is that this is what these watches were designed to do. In the same vein, I wouldn't buy the kind of ridiculously expensive cars that I see around my neighborhood (even assuming I could) unless I fully intended to take them out on a race track and drive them to their design specifications. Otherwise, it's a colossal waste. Why have a Lamborghini, or Aston Martin, or AMG, or whatever, if you never go over the speed limit?
I assume that many less expensive watch brands only give ballpark estimates of their water resistance (Seiko being an obvious exception). But Omega and Rolex, for instance, really mean what they say. Use 'em if you got 'em!
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Sgt_Bilko
·So you wouldn't go swimming, let alone diving, with, say, a Seamaster 300 or a Rolex Submariner?
Frankly no. You only need to have something go fractionally wrong to ruin a really nice watch. I remember reading a blog post by the watch guy a while back about his father who messed up his Rolex in the shower, because the crown wasn't perfectly screwed in.
Almost 20 years ago, I wondered into a jewellery shop in Milan and bought a quartz Seiko that I still use if there is any risk of damage to a more valuable watch. The shopkeeper commented that although the watch was supposedly good for a depth of 50m it was always better to stay away from water with any watch and would greatly extend the life of the item. I've never even taken that watch in the shower and I think it was good advice.
As an afterthought, it's worth mentioning that vintage watches are my thing and they require particular care. I don't even like going out in heavy rain wearing a vintage dress watch. Having said that a watch has to survive long enough to become vintage and taking it in water is unlikely to help.
Edited:
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SmokyT
·... .
I'm not sure what more you would need to be honest...
Watch enthusiasts (="Watcholics") cannot help having debates over every aspect of every watch at every opportunity using every piece of watch related information as an excuse to talk about watches. Even though they may not "need" any additional technical information, they probably "want" more information from the manufactures, dealers and watchmakers, so that they can use it as another excuse to continue to talk about watches. 😉
I always find your posts as a watchmaker very educational!
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Pahawi
·Wow, so the Catalina isn't rated for 50m?
Story behind this?
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https://omegaforums.net/threads/another-speedy-145-012-came-in.29038/
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nfranco
·Beach today. Thought of this thread.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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delmarco
·Exactly!
I don't think Omega would entertain WATER RESISTANT ratings on a $3,000+ watch if none of their watches were not water resistant beyond hand washing.
It is like BMW rating cars 300 or 400 Horsepower when the cars have way less power than advertised. No one would take them seriously anymore and they would have a lot of legal headaches.
Taking a 50M+ rated $3,000 to $10,000+ watch underwater in the ocean or swimming at the pool would scare me for other more logical reasons such as losing it and damaging the watch. I've scuffed the bezel and bracelets of many casio/timex watches at the pool and I have lost a watch or two at the beach. So I would probably NEVER go swimming in my Omega.
It tells the time and the chronograph is a useful tool but at the end of the day so does a $10 Walmart Timex. Your Omega at its high price point is pretty much estate jewelry that can get wet but worse can also get damaged or go missing in a beach/pool setting.
I don't think Omega would entertain WATER RESISTANT ratings on a $3,000+ watch if none of their watches were not water resistant beyond hand washing.
It is like BMW rating cars 300 or 400 Horsepower when the cars have way less power than advertised. No one would take them seriously anymore and they would have a lot of legal headaches.
Taking a 50M+ rated $3,000 to $10,000+ watch underwater in the ocean or swimming at the pool would scare me for other more logical reasons such as losing it and damaging the watch. I've scuffed the bezel and bracelets of many casio/timex watches at the pool and I have lost a watch or two at the beach. So I would probably NEVER go swimming in my Omega.
It tells the time and the chronograph is a useful tool but at the end of the day so does a $10 Walmart Timex. Your Omega at its high price point is pretty much estate jewelry that can get wet but worse can also get damaged or go missing in a beach/pool setting.
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w.finkenstaedt
·Taking a 50M+ rated $3,000 to $10,000+ watch underwater in the ocean or swimming at the pool would scare me for other more logical reasons such as losing it and damaging the watch. I've scuffed the bezel and bracelets of many casio/timex watches at the pool and I have lost a watch or two at the beach. So I would probably NEVER go swimming in my Omega.
For reference, my insurance covers stuff like water ingress, bezel damage, they'll even pay for the service if I damage the movement (somehow).
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kkt
·https://www.omegawatches.com/fileadmin/Customer_Service/omega_water_resistance_chart.pdf
It says clearly...WATCHES RESISTANT TO WATER UP TO SPECIFIED DEPTH
I'm not sure what more you would need to be honest...
How about reading the very last line. How many people have their watches pressure tested once a year? If they're not diving with it. And by an Omega service center, not some 3rd party watchmaker, no matter how excellent.
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerHow about reading the very last line. How many people have their watches pressure tested once a year? If they're not diving with it. And by an Omega service center, not some 3rd party watchmaker, no matter how excellent.
I well aware of the fine print - what does that have to do with what pressure the watch is designed to be water resistant to?
I obviously can't say how many people have their watches tested regularly, but I suspect there are people out there who understand personal responsibility and the concept of preventative maintenance. As the sentence preceding says, water resistance can't be permanently guaranteed - as I have said countless times, it requires maintenance.
If someone doesn't get the watch pressure tested, and the seals replaced periodically, and they take the watch in the water, well quite frankly they are not very bright.
Any Omega approved watchmaker, Omega AD with a watchmaker on staff, or any Omega Boutique that has either a boutique technician or boutique watchmaker on staff will have the equipment required to pressure test watches. A Speedmaster can be done with a dry pressure testing machine as I showed at the start of this thread:
https://omegaforums.net/threads/pressure-testing-a-watchco-sm300.45375/
In order to be approved by Omega, you must have this equipment.
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Nitzbar
·How about reading the very last line. How many people have their watches pressure tested once a year? If they're not diving with it. And by an Omega service center, not some 3rd party watchmaker, no matter how excellent.
I do. And mostly all I do is float around the pool with a cocktail in my hand.
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delmarco
·https://www.omegawatches.com/fileadmin/Customer_Service/omega_water_resistance_chart.pdf
According to Omega swimming is fine with your 'modern' WR watches!
According to Omega swimming is fine with your 'modern' WR watches!
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ktc
·https://www.omegawatches.com/fileadmin/Customer_Service/omega_water_resistance_chart.pdf
According to Omega swimming is fine with your 'modern' WR watches!
There's only one way to find out... 😜
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ncstate1201
·Count me out on this experiment...sounds like the making of a future tropicalized dial and movement in a 1 yr old watch 😀
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bmickdewey
·You can drive a Ferrari in the mud too, but why?
This is what your Seamaster is for.
This is what your Seamaster is for.
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