How Far Below Can They Go? 4 Deep-Sea Dive Watches


From the WatchTime archives: These four extreme divers’ watches — listed in ascending order of their water-resistance level — are reliable companions for adventurers who explore the darkness under the sea.

1. Mühle-Glashütte Rasmus 2000 (2,000 Meters)

Muhle Glashutte Rasmus 2000

The Glashütte-based brand developed this watch in collaboration with research scientists from the University of Rostock, Germany. The 44-mm stainless-steel case has an easy-to-grasp rotatable bezel and an inner case of soft iron to protect the movement against magnetic fields. It is water-resistant to 2,000 meters. Mühle’s modified version of the Sellita self-winding Caliber SW 200 ticks behind a black, blue, or orange dial. Price: $4,099*.

2. Breitling Avenger II Seawolf (3,000 Meters)

Breitling Avenger II Seawolf

The Avenger II Seawolf is water-resistant to 3,000 meters and has an attention-getting color scheme that calls to mind the unusual creatures that dwell at such depths. Self-winding Breitling Caliber 17, which is based on ETA’s 2824, is COSC-certified and ticks beneath the bright yellow dial. The case is steel and 45 mm in diameter. Price: $3,825*.

3. Hublot King Power Oceanographic Exo 4000 (4,000 Meters)

Hublot King Power Oceanographic EXO4000

Few divers’ watches can descend to 4,000 meters. Hublot’s Oceanographic is one of the rare exceptions. This model’s most recent variation has a 48-mm carbon-fiber case and a rubber strap that’s inlaid with white synthetic fibers. The timekeeping tasks are performed by the automatic HUB 1401 caliber, which is based on an ETA 7750 that has been stripped of its chronograph mechanism. Price: $25,900*.

4. Rolex Deepsea Challenge (12,000 Meters)

Rolex Deepsea Challenge

Movie director James Cameron brought this watch along when he descended into the Mariana Trench in March 2012. The watch measures 28.5 mm in thickness and 51.4 mm in diameter. Thanks to a 14.3-mm-thick sapphire crystal and a reinforced titanium caseback, the watch’s steel case and in-house automatic Caliber 3135 inside survived the plunge, despite the fact that the Deepsea Challenge was strapped to an exterior gripper arm outside Cameron’s special submersible, which dove to a depth of 10,898 meters. According to the Deepsea Challenge’s specified level of water resistance, the watch could have kept functioning more than 1,000 meters farther below the surface to a depth of 12,000 meters. This watch is not for sale.

* Prices are subject to change.

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  1. RAM D INOCENCIO

    FIND ME AN AUTOMATIC DIVER WITH TWO TONE BRACELET WITH A MECHANICAL ALARM

    Reply
  2. Carlos Vaccaro

    Omega just beat that mariana trench record with the planet ocean ultra deep professional, and they used 3 watches atached to the artifact

    Reply
  3. Colin Agar-Rea

    Can not fathom! Why Rolex has never built the Deep Sea. Beautiful piece.

    Reply
  4. George Joannou

    Amazing technology used where a watch can theoretically be submerged to such crushing ocean depths. As fascinating as they are I’m afraid to say it is overkill. Unless you are a professional diver a depth rating of 500 meters would suffice let alone 2000 – 12000 meters. Using the motoring world as an example some cars are capable of in excess of 300 kms per hour in the real world hardly anyone will drive at this speed.

    Reply
  5. Why does Hublot always seem to make the ugly watch in the bunch ?

    Reply
  6. MrTissot

    It would be amazing to see it still functioning when retrieved many years later !!

    Reply
  7. Sylvio F. Bertoli

    On what tough reliable diving watches are concerned, it is either Rolex or Seiko. The rest is meaningless , in my humble opinion.

    Reply
  8. Dark Overlord

    Interesting which pieces were chosen for this. Boutique German brand H2O has a 6000 and 8000 m w/r model in their Kalmar 2 model. And they’re relatively affordable. The breitling is a great watch for the price but I think for a dive tool is go with the stick markers for enhanced lume. But the Hublot? It’s cool sure but looks like it would be so hard to read and why strip a 7750 of it chronograph? Either way at that price it’s a problem I’ll never need to worry about. Kudos to those who can!

    Reply
  9. Ian Bernadt

    The Rolex Deep Sea Challenge exceeds the Swiss Military 20000 feet (7500 meters) watch.
    Hopefully Rolex will produce these for public purchase in the future.

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  10. Rolex should have at least left one deep sea challenge watch down the trench with a marker. The next challenger can recover it and get some sort of sponsorship from Rolex. Now that would be a statement!

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