What Do You Need to Know About Watches’ Water Resistant?
When we choose a watch, we constantly ask the sales assistant about this very important parameter, or we ourselves are looking for the water-resistant number in the manual or description. So, let’s figure out what the numbers and letters on the back of a watch mean, in this article created by our team.
What is water resistance?
The water resistance of a watch is an indicator on the back of a wristwatch, which will point to how well the watch is protected from water penetration. Usually, this inscription is accompanied by an indication of the static pressure to which the newly manufactured watch sample was subjected during testing. The test pressure can be specified in different values, but most often atmospheres or equivalent depths are indicated in meters.
However, this test pressure does not at all guarantee that the watch is ready for repeated long-term use at the same depths. Here’s the thing: the test is carried out only once using static pressure, but in real conditions, we have a sharp change in pressure, temperature, seawater, mechanical stress, which has a very negative effect on the water-resistance of the watch.
Waterproof watch – 3 ATM
If there is water-resistance of 30m stamp on the back of the watch, then such a watch will easily cope with accidental contact with water, for example, rain, gentle hand washing, but no more. That is, you cannot be under the shower, immersed in water, and even more so to swim.
Waterproof watch – 5 ATM
If there is a stamp water resistance of 50m on the case back of the watch, it means that such a watch will easily endure contact with water when washing hands, raining, and even if accidentally immersed in water entirely. You may come across information that watches with the water-resistance of 50m mark are also suitable for swimming, however, many service workers do not recommend doing this.
Waterproof watch – 10 ATM
If there is a water-resistance of 100m stamp on the case back, a watch with such an engraving is perfect for water sports such as swimming, surfing, snorkelling, etc. It is recommended to wash the watch with fresh water or wipe it with a dry cloth.
Waterproof watch – 20 ATM
If the case the backside bears the stamp of water-resistance – 200m, it means that this watch can be used for scuba diving. The duration of the dive should not exceed 2 hours. Well, and, accordingly, you can actively use them in all the previous options, which were described above.
And one more recommendation for using the watch. Try not to use waterproof watches in baths, saunas, do not expose the watch to excessively hot streams of water – all this can lead to deformation of the sealing layers and, as a result, damage the watch. Moisture in watches is a dangerous phenomenon. If you do not pay attention to condensation or recklessly treat the ingress of water under the glass of the product, after a week the indicator in the quartz watch will become unusable, and after two weeks the entire mechanism board will rot.
Mechanical products in 5-7 days after water ingress will begin to rust, starting from the barrel, and in 14-20 days all parts of the mechanism will become completely damaged. Moreover, if seawater suddenly enters the hull, then all these changes will occur even faster. And it will be even more difficult to restore the accessory.
Decide how deeply you want to dive and choose your best watch on the WatchShop website.
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