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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. Omega Omega
  3. Panerai Panerai
  4. IWC IWC
  5. Breitling Breitling
  6. Cartier Cartier
  7. Tag Heuer Tag Heuer
  8. Jaeger-LeCoultre Jaeger-LeCoultre
  9. Tudor Tudor
  10. Hublot Hublot
  11. Vacheron Constantin Vacheron Constantin
  12. Patek Philippe Patek Philippe
  13. Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet
All Brands
  1. A. Lange and Sohne A. Lange and Sohne
  2. Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet
  3. B.R.M Watches B.R.M Watches
  4. Baume et Mercier Baume et Mercier
  5. Bell and Ross Bell and Ross
  6. Blancpain Blancpain
  7. Breguet Breguet
  8. Breitling Breitling
  9. Bvlgari Bvlgari
  10. Cartier Cartier
  11. Chopard Chopard
  12. Corum Corum
  13. Eterna Eterna
  14. Frederique Constant Frederique Constant
  15. Girard Perregaux Girard Perregaux
  16. Glashutte Original Glashutte Original
  17. Grand Seiko Grand Seiko
  18. Hamilton Hamilton
  19. Hermes Hermes
  20. Hublot Hublot
  21. IWC IWC
  22. Jaeger-LeCoultre Jaeger-LeCoultre
  23. Longines Longines
  24. Maurice Lacroix Maurice Lacroix
  25. Montblanc Montblanc
  26. Omega Omega
  27. Oris Oris
  28. Panerai Panerai
  29. Parmigiani Parmigiani
  30. Patek Philippe Patek Philippe
  31. Piaget Piaget
  32. Porsche Design Porsche Design
  33. Rado Rado
  34. Raymond Weil Raymond Weil
  35. Rolex Rolex
  36. Tag Heuer Tag Heuer
  37. Tissot Tissot
  38. Tudor Tudor
  39. Ulysse Nardin Ulysse Nardin
  40. Vacheron Constantin Vacheron Constantin
  41. 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 & White Gold Steel & White Gold
  10. Steel & Yellow Gold Steel & Yellow Gold
  11. Titanium Titanium
  12. White Gold White Gold
  13. Yellow Gold Yellow Gold
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  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
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Limited Edition
  1. Limited Edition Limited Edition
Reset Results (292)
Results (292)
Sort
Rolex Datejust 16030 282135
Vintage

Rolex
Datejust
16030

Box
Papers
Year 1983
€6,025
Rolex Mid-Size Datejust 78274 278607

Rolex
Mid-Size Datejust
78274

Box
Papers
Year 2004
€4,515
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 1500 275878
Vintage

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual Date
1500

Box
Papers
Year 1986
€3,965
Rolex GMT Master II 16710 272123
Vintage

Rolex
GMT Master II
16710

Box
Papers
Year 1999
€14,380
Rolex Datejust 116200 281822

Rolex
Datejust
116200

Box
Papers
Year 2007
€6,735
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 15210 271454

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual Date
15210

Box
Papers
Year 2001
€4,950
Rolex GMT Master II 16710 281866

Rolex
GMT Master II
16710

Box
Papers
Year 2005
€13,465
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 15053 272652
Vintage

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual Date
15053

Box
Papers
Year 1989
€6,380
Rolex Milgauss 116400 GV 281817

Rolex
Milgauss
116400 GV

Box
Papers
Year 2015
€10,370
Rolex Mid-Size Datejust 68274 272649
Vintage

Rolex
Mid-Size Datejust
68274

Box
Papers
Year 1998
€6,670
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date 15000 275045
Vintage

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual Date
15000

Box
Papers
Year 1989
€3,660
Rolex Yacht-Master 169622 278611

Rolex
Yacht-Master
169622

Box
Papers
Year 2000
€5,500
Rolex Yacht-Master 116622 274794

Rolex
Yacht-Master
116622

Box
Papers
Year 2008
€9,420
Rolex Yacht-Master 16622 281267

Rolex
Yacht-Master
16622

Box
Papers
Year 2004
€9,080
Rolex Milgauss 116400 GV 283666

Rolex
Milgauss
116400 GV

Box
Papers
Year 2017
€9,035
Rolex Submariner 124060 283048
Manufacturer's Warranty

Rolex
Submariner
124060

Box
Papers
Year 2023
€11,785
Rolex Explorer 124270 280590
Manufacturer's Warranty

Rolex
Explorer
124270

Box
Papers
Year 2021
€7,545
Rolex Sea-Dweller 16600 283659
Vintage

Rolex
Sea-Dweller
16600

Box
Papers
Year 1999
€9,705
Rolex Sea-Dweller 126603 282882
Manufacturer's Warranty

Rolex
Sea-Dweller
126603

Box
Papers
Year 2022
€15,840
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 276200 278624
Manufacturer's Warranty

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual
276200

Box
Papers
Year 2023
€4,115
Rolex Explorer 124270 279709
Manufacturer's Warranty

Rolex
Explorer
124270

Box
Papers
Year 2022
€7,725
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 114300 279585

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual
114300

Box
Papers
Year 2020
€7,940
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 124300 283655
Manufacturer's Warranty

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual
124300

Box
Papers
Year 2021
€7,840
Rolex Day-Date 18238 265164
Vintage

Rolex
Day-Date
18238

Box
Papers
Year 1990
€27,025
Rolex Day-Date 18238 250685
Vintage

Rolex
Day-Date
18238

Box
Papers
Year 1990
€27,025
Rolex Day-Date 118238 260035

Rolex
Day-Date
118238

Box
Papers
Year 2004
€23,230
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 77080 253514

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual
77080

Box
Papers
Year 2000
€4,690
Rolex Day-Date 18238 267400
Vintage

Rolex
Day-Date
18238

Box
Papers
Year 1994
€29,325
Rolex Daytona 116500 LN 282807

Rolex
Daytona
116500 LN

Box
Papers
Year 2020
€24,140
Rolex Oyster Perpetual 116000 282345

Rolex
Oyster Perpetual
116000

Box
Papers
Year 2011
€5,515
Rolex Day-Date 118239 283957

Rolex
Day-Date
118239

Box
Papers
Year 2004
€26,390
Rolex Daytona 126518 LN 282346
Manufacturer's Warranty

Rolex
Daytona
126518 LN

Box
Papers
Year 2023
€45,365
Rolex Daytona 116500 LN 281874

Rolex
Daytona
116500 LN

Box
Papers
Year 2020
€24,075
Rolex Daytona 116500 LN 282884

Rolex
Daytona
116500 LN

Box
Papers
Year 2019
€27,500
Rolex Daytona 116500 LN 281602

Rolex
Daytona
116500 LN

Box
Papers
Year 2019
€27,520
Rolex Explorer 14270 266372

Rolex
Explorer
14270

Box
Papers
Year 2001
€6,870
Rolex Explorer 14270 281640
Vintage

Rolex
Explorer
14270

Box
Papers
Year 1998
€6,715
Rolex Air-King 14010 265154
Vintage

Rolex
Air-King
14010

Box
Papers
Year 1994
€5,460
Rolex Air-King 114234 266121

Rolex
Air-King
114234

Box
Papers
Year 2008
€5,385
Rolex Air-King 14000M 262699

Rolex
Air-King
14000M

Box
Papers
Year 1999
€4,610

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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