[Langeonanato]

I mean I have heard that vintage dive watches are not really waterproof, say for instance a sub from the 60’s.
So if you buy a brand new diver and take care of it, service it every 5 years or so and check the seals etc does this mean that the watch will still not be waterproof after a certain amount of time and after how long time will it not be waterproof anymore?
What causes it to lose it’s water resistance eventually?
For instance, I have a Breitling superocean which is 3 years old bought brand new and I do swim with it and do “light” diving (up to 15 meters a couple of times per year) and generally do not worry about it “because it’s a diver” but check the seals every summer. And plan to do the service intervals. So for how long can we expect modern dive watches to retain their water resistance?

 

[supersilent]

As long as the seals retain their water resistance. So the more often you get them checked/changed the better.

A yearly pressure test is great practice, but there is no guarantee that a seal that passed the test on Jan 1st will still do its job on July 1st. A pressure test right before a trip where you’ll dive with your watch is probably the best practice.

Or just cross your fingers and hope for the best. I would expect that this is what most people do, and they usually do OK. Usually, not always.

 

[MX793]

As long as the seals are in good shape and the sealing surfaces aren't corroded or pitted, WR should be as good as new even for a decades-old watch.

 

[Nokie]

Good, tight, clean seals = happy, long lasting watch.........

 

[bigclive2011]

How long is a piece of rope?

Like your tyres on your car, they might last a year or ten years.

Have them pressure tested regularily for peace of mind.

 

[Buschyfor3]

If you only ever plan on desk diving with it, I'd wager perpetuity.

 

[AnonPi]

Like your tyres on your car, they might last a year or ten years.

This is a good analogy, I think. The main difference is that you can easily inspect your tires, but not your gaskets.

It would be good if watchmakers provided information on the life expectancy of gaskets so that one would know how long they are expected to last. Just like tires, they likely begin degrading immediately. At some point, a 100m watch will fail a 100m pressure test, but may still be fine for surface swimming. At some point, a 30m watch will fail a pressure test but may still be fine for hand washing.

 

[MX793]

This is a good analogy, I think. The main difference is that you can easily inspect your tires, but not your gaskets.

It would be good if watchmakers provided information on the life expectancy of gaskets so that one would know how long they are expected to last. Just like tires, they likely begin degrading immediately. At some point, a 100m watch will fail a 100m pressure test, but may still be fine for surface swimming. At some point, a 30m watch will fail a pressure test but may still be fine for hand washing.

Many manufacturers recommend a "seal service", typically 3-4 years from what I've seen.

 

[hogwldfltr]

Seals degrade with time. From what I understand from a Rolex employed service person located in Switzerland at the main site, the seals on the crystal go faster than others (crumbling after five years exposure to UV from daily wear).

 

[Basho1644]

It's my understanding that a typical service cycle of 4-5 years is pretty common and should keep the watch WR to specs. As another poster stated getting it pressure tested before diving is going to be the safest way to make sure you are in good shape. I know Jason Heaton who dives a lot with his watches and has never had one swamp. He will get a vintage watch serviced before diving with it but I don't think he is super religious about servicing the watches. Sounds like your getting closer to a service on your watch so maybe just pressure testing until you have that done will give you confidence to dive. Really cool you use the watch to dive.

 

[Chris Stark]

This is why you don't dive with dive watches. You don't really know.

 

[AnonPi]

It's my understanding that a typical service cycle of 4-5 years is pretty common and should keep the watch WR to specs.

Right, but suppose you don't care if it has maintained WR "to specs", suppose you just want to know how long it's good for surface swimming or hand washing?

 

[Basho1644]

Right, but suppose you don't care if it has maintained WR "to specs", suppose you just want to know how long it's good for surface swimming or hand washing?

A lot of places can test to a certain spec say 200m. For swimming you could get a watch pressure tested to 50m and be sure. I'm no expert on watch making but to my knowledge this is the only true way to know a watch's WR. Everything else is a guess. For swimming you won't have a lot of pressure on the gaskets so they will probably hold up longer if the watch was meant to go to 200M but you might not want to take a 6 yr old Speedmaster swimming without having it checked (I'm sure many would say you should never take it swimming)

 

[MissileExpert]

If you only ever plan on desk diving with it, I'd wager perpetuity.

When a seal fails, humidity can get inside the case and wreak much havoc on the movement - regardless of whether it's quartz or mechanical. Nothing lasts forever.

 

[Stellite]

Nothing lasts forever.

Diamonds..

 

[AnonPi]

A lot of places can test to a certain spec say 200m. For swimming you could get a watch pressure tested to 50m and be sure. I'm no expert on watch making but to my knowledge this is the only true way to know a watch's WR. Everything else is a guess. For swimming you won't have a lot of pressure on the gaskets so they will probably hold up longer if the watch was meant to go to 200M but you might not want to take a 6 yr old Speedmaster swimming without having it checked (I'm sure many would say you should never take it swimming)

Practically speaking, though, this is exactly the sort of thing many people want to know but which there is little to no data/information to go on. Because pressure testing only tells you that right at that moment your watch tested as good for whatever it was tested to (or not), but it doesn't tell you how long it will remain so. If you depend on (failed) pressure testing alone to tell you when to service the watch and have the gaskets replaced, you've already put yourself in a sort of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped situation. On the other hand, most people don't want to have their watches serviced (or pressure tested) more often than necessary.

 

[supersilent]

Diamonds..

Actually, forever is longer than even diamonds can handle. Especially under the pressure and temperature conditions that allow humans to thrive. They - extremely slowly - turn into… graphite.

Which is kind of cool, because… pencils, you know?!

 

[Basho1644]

Practically speaking, though, this is exactly the sort of thing many people want to know but which there is little to no data/information to go on. Because pressure testing only tells you that right at that moment your watch tested as good for whatever it was tested to (or not), but it doesn't tell you how long it will remain so. If you depend on (failed) pressure testing alone to tell you when to service the watch and have the gaskets replaced, you've already put yourself in a sort of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped situation. On the other hand, most people don't want to have their watches serviced (or pressure tested) more often than necessary.

Maybe I'm not grasping the gist of the issue here but I don't think gaskets go downhill rapidly under normal use. It would seem if someone was worried they could test a watch prior to using it in water say once a year (beginning of summer) and feel pretty confident it would be fine. I think why there isn't a lot of guidelines on this is because it varies so much. As another posted noted the daily wear/exposure to UV may greatly vary. All manufactures have recommended service intervals with this in mind - to check the gaskets and change them out prior to their being an issue. With cars they rotate your tires at certain intervals to help with tire wear and to also discover alignment issues.

So I don't know that my radiator won't fail on my car today and burn up my engine but I if I am worried I can have the system pressure checked and new coolant put in along with an inspection to see if any hoses etc need to be replaced. I'm not going to do that everyday but if the car is a little older and I'm going on a long hot trip I might want to get that checked before the trip. It's my understanding a typical watch service changes out gaskets so that service interval seems to be what the maker feels comfortable with as far as WR. At least to me following the normal service guidelines and maybe having an occasional pressure test before a big trip would be enough for me but like everything in this hobby people may feel different and that is all good too.

 

[5959HH]

IMO the title of this thread is akin to asking how high is up. Any watch used for water activity should probably be tested once per year to make certain all seals are intact. Nothing worse than being on a vacation and looking at a meniscus of water after swimming or snorkeling.

 

[Jonathan T]

Always have the gaskets and seals checked on any watch that claims to have some WR.