Diving watches are one of the most popular types of watch in the entire male watch market. That’s why every high-end brand has their own collection of superb divers, many of them at fathomless prices.
As we have mentioned a few times in this series, most divers watches don’t get to see too much action in the cold and wet. They tend to merely look mean and moody in the boardroom. But what watch do you buy when you really do want to don a wet suit, and back flip off a boat into the great blue yonder to swim with whales.
If you want a solid reliable diver with Swiss standards of quality and workmanship, but without the ocean going yacht price tags of some of the high-end brands, you could look to Swiss Military Watches or SMW for short.
SMW Watches
With SMW you don’t get George Clooney looking cool and tanned in a motor boat on Lake Como wearing your watch. But you do get a brand of top quality, Swiss made timepieces, extremely rugged and designed to meet the most rigorous military and leisure time requirements.
Furthermore, the SMW watches labelled T25 are equipped with the very best illumination system available. It’s a lighting technology that requires no batteries. A very thin coating of luminous substance is applied to a glass surface. The coating is bombarded with electrons emitted by the tritium gas (H3), which cause the layer to light up (conversion of the electric charge to light). The tritium gas filled markers provide a continuous light source good for 20 years. These timepieces are the easiest in the world to read in low light conditions and even in total darkness. They call it ‘see the time all the time’ technology.
Like all good divers watches, they are sufficiently versatile to wear for business or pleasure. But SMW watches go several steps further and are designed to withstand extreme cold and humidity, absorb impacts, sudden changes in altitude and shield against magnetic fields.
SMW Q7 Professional 300m PVD Diver
This watch runs on an ultra reliable Ronda 515 Swiss quartz mechanism. It features H3 Trigalight permanent illumination with a thick coating of Sueprluminova on the hands and indices. The sizeable 46mm casing is made from tough 316L stainless steel with a PVD coating. The date window is at 4 o’clock. The crown is screw down and the bezel is unidirectional. This watch is used by air sea rescue services and professionals such as police frogmen and industrial divers. They retail on ebay for around £300 – although you could find them being priced at considerably more.
SMW Chronograph Automatic Valjoux 7750
If you prefer a mechanical watch, there’s the trusty Valjoux 7750 powered chronograph with up to 44 hours of power reserve. It’s treated with the same T3 lighting system as the professional diver. Day and date display has a rapid correction system, and like the Professional Diver, it’s water resistant to 300 metres. The watch comes either on a rubber or leather strap. This watch is available for around £1,630.
A non-flashy quality diver, specifically designed for purpose, what they lack in cool looks they more than make up for with an unmistakeable air of authentic adventure.
