Dive watch care and maintenance tips: Timely stitches keep away the glitches

April 20, 2020
Watch Gonzo
Automatic, Chronograph, Citizen, Depth Gauge, Diver's, GMT, Kinetic, Kinetic, Men's, PADI, Promaster, Prospex, Prospex Automatic, Radio Controed, Radio-controlled, Seiko, Solar
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Beginning of a story

Congratulations on your first dive watch! You are now rightfully the proud owner of a tool that’s not restricted within just the timekeeper parenthesis. Henceforth, you will exhibit art, science and man’s ingenuity on your wrist; well, to answer for how long, you need to play your part.

Caring the least

It’s definite that a well-reputed dive watch will serve you well and will run trouble-free for many years but with a bit of sensibility, it will run even longer! And better.

Dive watches that never made it to the water are good with a set-it-and-forget-it policy for a long time. It is fine for a decade or so for mechanical watches; quartz will any way get their due maintenance with every battery change and solar dive watches virtually don’t require any except for external cleaning from time to time. Now, that cleaning also applies to quartz, mechanicals and their crossovers or derivatives alike. You will definitely love to wear a watch that’s shining and impeccably clean.

Taking usual care

Those that went to water and still dip need another pattern. More so, if your dive-watch is not limited to recreational diving, or you dive at high altitudes.

The life of a diving watch is its water and surrounding humidity; sometimes corrosive. It becomes essential, thus, for pressure tests conducted from time to time. For them into frequent exposure to such environments an annual check-up by a service and repair facility is must. For recreational and casual users, every two to five years would be fine.
Seals and/or gaskets must be replaced once the case back is taken off. Applies to all kinds of watches; not just divers. It’s just that others might get away with it. Divers’ won’t. They eventually deteriorate and affect the water resistance. The factory seals last longer than the subsequent ones; the only way to keep them going longer is not to let dirt accumulate where the back plate joins the body. Heavy or regular users must check them every 18 months; depending on usage, the servicing interval can stretch to a max of 36 months.
Brine or chlorine water; in fact, anything touching the watch must be washed properly once the requirements for being in touch with it has ended. In short, rinse after every dive. Wash any liquid that falls upon it; alcohol, carbonated drinks, coffee…the list is endless. A daily rub with a soft cloth and with a damp cloth once a week! Don’t forget to shine your watch up again after the damp cloth treatment.
You got to turn the bezel every now and then. That aside, also when you are rinsing the watch. It will loosen and get rid of any dirt collected underneath.
Wearing a watch to sauna, Jacuzzi or in a hot tub is discouraged. Sudden temperature changes beyond norm might affect the sealing capabilities your dive watch built to .
Dive watches with screwed-in and -out crown(s) and pushers must have them entirely screwed all the way down before getting into the water. They are not to be unscrewed underwater unless specifically built for that. Also, do not unscrew them when the watch is wet. Wipe your watch dry and then do it to see if any water particle has seeped in. Screw it back down after drying it out.
DO NOT use aerosol or any kind of liquid cleaners to clean you dive watch. Rubbing compounds, strong cleaning chemicals and/or solvents might bring damage to the glass/body/back plate joining or dry out gaskets underneath.

Links to some of the really cool and efficient workhorses of diving watches are given below. Click to have a look and then buy.