Womens dive watches have come on leaps and bounds in recent years. They offer both fashion and functionality. And they’re something you can enjoy both in and out of the water.
A good dive watch is very often an essential piece of diving gear because it can do a heck of a lot more than just help you gauge the elapsed dive time - it can give you the current depth too. And better yet, some dive watches even track the lunar cycles and discern tidal patterns for you. How great is that!
This kind of functionality is not just good for diving, but can be useful for all your water sports, so you can take it snorkeling, fishing, surfing, paddle boarding...the list goes on.
Many dive watch review blog posts are filled with men’s watches which tend to be predominantly black and bulky affairs, and don’t really accommodate what women like to look for in a dive watch.
That’s where this post comes in. We’ve carefully hand picked our Top 8 women’s dive watches that are out on the market today, and our reviews on these watches are coming up shortly. We’ve got quite the mix of different types there, so you should find something that meets your tastes.
After that, we’ve also got a buying guide for you, which goes into some real detail. We talk about the watch parts, the international standards for diving watches, and of course water resistance and waterproofing.
So to help you pick a really good women’s diving watch, please read on!
Top 7 Best Women’s Dive Watches
OUR TOP PICK
Summary
This is a classy little waterproof diving watch from Invicta - you can wear it anywhere, diving of course, or even when having dinner with friends.
The Stainless steel metallic strap has an attractive two-tone design which you can pair equally well with gold or silver jewellery. It's analogue clock face has that classic nautical blue face with beautiful gold accents.
It’s features include that all-important luminosity, so you can see the watch underwater, and a water resistance of up to 100m. And the protective anti-reflective window, also helps make it easy to read underwater.
Pros:
Good, reasonable price
Classical nautical design
Water resistant to 100 M
Cons:
Does not appear to be ISO tested
EDITORS CHOICE
Summary
Casio is one of the biggest names in sports watches, and this GLX5600-1 really lives up to the name.
It’s water Resistant up to a whopping 200m, making it a great watch for many water sports, such as recreational scuba diving, snorkeling, surfing and so on.
What we love about it is the inclusion of a luna diagram and tidal chart. And it's digital display is really easy to read underwater.
With it’s white resin bezel and strap, it’s a watch that will work with just about any outfit, so you can enjoy wearing it when you’re not diving too. Speaking of which it has great functionality out of the water too, such as being able to set your morning alarm, which can sure come in handy.
It may be down on the Amazon page as a men’s watch but we would argue that it looks just fine on a women’s wrist too, thank you very much.
We also love that it comes backed by a one-year limited manufacturer's warranty.
Pros:
Lunar and tidal diagrams
Easy-to-read digital display
Excellent functionality out of water
Cons:
Has a sporty look rather than more elegant look
BEST VALUE
Summary
What we love about this diving watch from Momentum is it’s tough, rugged design. It’s stainless steel strap and bezel have a nice classic gunmetal finish, which gives it a heavier look.
And it's as durable as it looks with solid hardware and a heavy-duty steel clasp.
It's water resistant up to 200m, and has a luminous face, which makes it perfectly suited for scuba diving.
We like the teeth that run along the bezel, it makes for easier gripping while you’re diving underwater.
We also get a kick out of the diver-down flag accent, and the clock face hands are also in white and red to match.
It makes for a great what when you're out of the water too, since it's one of those accessories which could match several outfits.
Pros:
Rugged durable sporty look
Goes with any outfit
Diver-down flag accent
Teeth along the bezel
Cons:
Rugged appearance makes it look less feminine
RUNNER UP
Summary
This may not be a dress watch, but this dive watch from Hazard 4 is unsurpassed in it’s durability and functionality as a diving watch. And better yet, you get all that functionality whilst paying less money than for some of the other dive watches in our selection.
And just because it’s not a dress watch doesn’t mean you can’t wear it out of the water too. It’s black and silver design will go well with office clothes or gym clothes.
It has a chunky bezel, and the figures on the analog clock face a very big bold and easy to read. And as for being able to see it underwater, the watch glows continuously using self-powered tritium (H3) Swiss mini-lamps.
It’s stand out feature however is that because of its titanium construction, it's not only really lightweight but it’s also hypoallergenic too. It has a high water resistance of up to 300m, and has that all important unidirectional bezel.
It also features a scratch resistant and anti reflective sapphire crystal window on the analog clock face.
Pros:
Chunky easy to read analog watch
Lightweight hypoallergenic titanium
scratch resistant and anti reflective
Cons:
Does not appear to be ISO tested
RUNNER UP
Summary
Now this is a smart looking timepiece from Luminox. With it’s shiny stainless steel construction, and black analog clock face, you get a classic looking watch that offers both functionality and style. The sleek, easy to wear look means you can enjoy it out of the water too.
We can confirm that it’s water resistant up to 200m, so it’s perfectly suitable for taking scuba diving.
It also has that all important uni-directional bezel that we make brief reference to later in our buying guide.
There are luminescent hands and markings, and there’s an anti-reflective window on the clock face. Together this makes the watch really easy to read under the water.
We also like that it features scratch-resistant sapphire crystal windows, which makes it that bit more durable than your average watch.
Pros:
Smart yet sporty appearance
Scratch-resistant window
Anti-reflective window
Cons:
Does not appear to be ISO tested
RUNNER UP
Summary
This is one smart and sleek watch from Tag Heuer. It has a silver look stainless steel band and a gorgeous blue dial on the analog clock face. It’s smart enough to wear anywhere, absolutely stunning. Elegant without being flashy.
It also has superior water resistance, being water resistant up to a whopping 300m. It’s also luminous enough to read underwater, and to that end it's also anti-reflective too.
We also like that it’s scratch resistant besides
Pros:
Gorgeous wear anywhere sleek design
Anti reflective scratch-resistant windows
Depth rating
Cons:
Premium product at a premium price
RUNNER UP
Summary
For those who like their labels, then this may be the watch for you. Gucci are in their own class when it comes to quality and style.
It’s stainless steel band is in a nice silver finish, and the dial on the analog clock face has a very feminie dusky pink finish, with complementing white accents. Again it’s something you can wear anywhere.
In terms of its performance under the water, it’s water resistant up to 660 feet. And it has that all important unidirectional bezel.
It may be Italian in it’s style, but the watch movements are top quality Swiss-quartz and the clock face window is made from anti reflective sapphire crystal.
Pros:
Reasonable price for a such a premium brand
Smart and feminie silver and pink style
Cons:
Does not appear to be ISO tested
Best Women’s Dive Watches Buying Guide
First of all in this buying guide, we're going to talk about the different parts of a diving watch and then we're going to talk about water resistance and waterproofing, followed by the international standard for diving watches.
Different parts of a diving watch
Analogue or digital display
As you may have seen from our product reviews earlier a diving watch can have either analog display play or a digital display. An analogue watch has a dial with hands whereas a digital watch uses a display screen. Some diving watches feature both.
Bezel
The bezel of a watch is the circular rim around the Watch face. It is our recommendation that you go for a watch with a unidirectional rotating bezel. This can be used to mark elapsed time. A very handy feature for a diver.
Lume
The lume of a diving watch, also known as a “luminous phosphorescent glowing solution” Is what makes it possible to read the watch in the dark, whether it is because there isn't enough light penetration at your particular depth, or because you're diving at night, or even perhaps diving in a cave or cavern etc. The brighter the lume, the easier it is to see the watch.
Strap/Band
Straps for diving watches generally come in rubber stainless steel or titanium.
Rubber straps can be quite comfortable, expanding or contracting to best fit the wrist. They are flexible and easy to fasten. they are also the most affordable option.
Metal straps on the other hand are a more expensive option, with titanium being more expensive than stainless steel. Titanium straps are more preferable if you can afford it because they’re hypoallergenic and are more lightweight than stainless steel. Unfortunately titanium diving watch straps aren’t common in women's watches as they are in men's ranges.
Movement
With analog diving watches you can get quartz or mechanical movements. Quartz watches are both very accurate and affordable. The downside however is that they run on batteries which will need replacing over time.
Diving watches with mechanical movements into the realm of luxury diving watches. With these types of watches, the watch kept going by natural movement.
Depth gauge
A great feature for a diving watch is a depth gauge. On an analogue diving watch, the depth gauge is placed between the numbers and the hands. This depth gauge has one hand for the current depth and another hand and for the deepest depth. Unfortunately not all diving watches have this feature.
Water resistance and waterproofing
It is not enough for a diving watch to be water-resistant; it must be completely waterproof. An item’s level of water resistance or waterproofing is measured by its IP rating, where the higher the IP rating is, the greater its level of water resistance. To be completely waterproof if any item will need to have an IP rating of at least IP65.
Other water resistant labelling can be more confusing for example a watch might be described as 100m water resistant but still might not be suitable for scuba diving. So You must ensure that you read the fine print before you buy a diving watch.
This is important because an unsuitable watch when taken underwater can not only malfunction, but even implode. This also goes for vintage and well worn used dive watches.
Sometimes a diving watch will have an ISO rating. If a diving watch has an ISO rating this means that it has met the international standards for diving watches which we will look at at more closely in a short while. It is worth noting at this point that not all diving watches will have an ISO rating. And this is because it can be quite expensive to do the testing.
ISO 6425 Standard for diving watches
The ISO 6425 Standard for diving watches, is an international standard established by the International Organization for Standardization That was put in place to demonstrate that a watch is suitable for taking diving.
To meet this standard the diving watch must undergo considerable testing to prove that it has all the necessary features. These features include, in no particular order, water resistance, clearly distinguishable minute markings, a unidirectional bezel, shock resistance, an easy-to-read clock face visible in the dark, magnetic resistance, and finally, a good solid strap.
Conclusion
So, as you have now seen, there’s no shortage of women’s dive watches out on the market today, but unfortunately you may be hard pressed to find one that’s ISO rated. However there are some great women’s dive watches that can cater to many different tastes, including several that can also be worn out of the ocean as dress watches. Our main recommendation however is that you ensure that your dive watch is water resistant to at least 100m if not more.
Happy diving!