Reps And Water Resistance

[TJGladeRaider]

I apologize for starting a new thread when there is an existing thread on this topic, but having spent a lot of money on a waterproof tester, a small fortune on watches and many hours of my time testing them and posting pictorials, I do not wish to have my comments "lost in the sauce" of a thread that professes to have determined the exact opposite of what I found.

At this point, I have bought watches from Eddie Lee, Ms. King and Joshua that have all tested to be perfectly waterproof - and I am not trying to be partisan. If any other dealer wants to send a watch or two (without band or bracelet) along with a return paid envelope, I'll test them gratis - DEALERS ONLY.

Anyone who wants to invest a few minutes searching can pull up those results so I shall not repost them here.

The notion that you cannot shower or swin with watches that test to 132 feet is competely ridiculous - I have been diving with my subs.

Now, having said that, if you're buying $89 subs with expectations, you are nutz. Buu a first quality sub, PO, SMP, Pam Marina . . . and you can have faith in it. If it concerns you, take it to a watchmaker and have it tested. It could not cost much - it takes five mintes.

Bill

[ubiquitous]

Hmmmm... Maybe the moderators can move your water resistance test threads to the knowledge base? It is definitely some good information, especially to see and understand how the tests are performed.

[TJGladeRaider]

Hmmmm... Maybe the moderators can move your water resistance test threads to the knowledge base? It is definitely some good information, especially to see and understand how the tests are performed.

If it is something that will be ongoing useful, I will be happy to keep doing the tests on these things and publishing the pictorials, but it is really pretty damn frustrating to go to all the trouble to test so many of these and prove them to be waterproof, and then see posts taking it as a given that you cannot even swim in them.

I'm going diving with this new Sea Dweller - just wait and see!

Bill

[Jetsons]

Keep up the good work, Bill! I for one am very appreciative of what your showing us. I hope your info is added to the knowledge base as Ubi suggested.

The water resitance issue has been discussed many times and the prevailing wisdom has been that reps are only good for a 50 yard dash in the rain and that is it. I believe this is this that your hearing. I always believed that the watches I purchased were well enough put together and should hold up to at least swimming, if checked beforehand.

I've gone swimming (not diving) with my TW Submariner several times (pools & ocean) and have had zero problems. I did remove the case back, silicone greased the seals and made sure all was nice and tight. Most of these higher end reps are solidly built pieces.

Nice SD from Joshua.

Jet

Edited June 4, 2006 by Jetsons

[TJGladeRaider]

Keep up the good work, Bill! I for one am very appreciative of what your showing us. I hope your info is added to the knowledge base as Ubi suggested.

The water resitance issue has been discussed many times and the prevailing wisdom has been that reps are only good for a 50 yard dash in the rain and that is it. I believe this is this that your hearing. I always believed that the watches I purchased were well enough put together and should hold up to at least swimming, if checked beforehand.

I've gone swimming (not diving) with my TW Submariner several times (pools & ocean) and have had zero problems. I did remove the case back, silicone greased the seals and made sure all was nice and tight. Most of these higher end reps are solidly built pieces.

Nice SD from Joshua.

Jet

I'll check the SD in my tester first since failure won't hurt the watch, but if it passes, and I would bet it will since they all have thus far, it will be my regular dive watch.

I find myself wondering if this notion that reps are not water proof was started by the gen industry.

Bill

[Craytonic]

While I think it is great what you did with the pictorials; I also think it is important for people to know not to expect a water proof watch. Just got my bergeon in the mail and was suprised to see one of my subs fail at ~1.2. Obviously, you have had much better luck. But if someone doesn't have one of these units to test, they shouldn't expect their watch to be waterproof.

[offshore]

Bill/All,

I have a WP tester ( Mido) and can say I only batted around 50% on my reps ( 30+).

The interesting point is I am seeing less than this on used genuines. I don't keep a record of each test, as I would do 4-5 a day, but my guess is maybe 30% which pass.

Most leaks are at the crown, although I see a lot of damaged (disintergrated) case back gaskets, and have had a couple of leaks at the crystal seal- but not many. I stress that these are on used watches.

Offshore

[ubiquitous]

Very true, Cray. As with anything, nothing is guaranteed in life; YMMV.

[TJGladeRaider]

While I think it is great what you did with the pictorials; I also think it is important for people to know not to expect a water proof watch. Just got my bergeon in the mail and was suprised to see one of my subs fail at ~1.2. Obviously, you have had much better luck. But if someone doesn't have one of these units to test, they shouldn't expect their watch to be waterproof.

Was the sub that failed a cheapie by any chance?

Also, just to mention it, air trapped under the bezel can look like a leak. The best test is with the bezel removed.

Bill

[Craytonic]

No. I won't go in to specifics of whose it was though.

Also tested a VC overseas and a daydate president today, both eventually failed.

[lagae]

I too have tested many dozens of replicas and agree with TJGladeRaider that there's rarely any problems with the watches.

The notion that you cannot shower or swim with watches that test to 132 feet is completely ridiculous - I have been diving with my subs.

This too has been bugging me for a long time, and it's not just about replicas. Many places seem to think that a watch rated to 3 atm is good for nothing more than washing your hands and you need watches rated to 10 or 20 atm before you can safely go swimming or scuba diving with them. The rational is that while you're swimming you're moving about and the pressure increases. Or when you enter the water that will increase the pressures beyond what the watch is rated for.

The pressure at the surface is 14.7 psi. For every 10 meters you go down the pressure increases by 14.7 psi. A watch rated to 3 atm/30 meters would experience 58.8 psi. 10 atm/100 meters would be 161.7 psi and 20 atm/200 meters would be 308.7 psi.

So could anyone explain why I can't sit in a tub with a watch rated 3 atm? How is that going to be exposed to anything near 60 psi? How about swimming in a pool? Just how much pressure will the watch be exposed to entering the pool; diving into the pool or swimming with it?

I let's say I want to go scuba diving. Why do I need a watch rated to 20 atm/200 meters/300 psi? How fast can I really move my hands under water? Enough to create an additional 250 psi?

For the record, I've washed the dog and the car while wear my replicas. I've gone swimming with them and spent countless days at a water park enjoying all of the rides with my son - and not once has a watch failed. Haven't taken on scuba diving yet, but that's only because I haven't gone diving recently.

[Chronus]

I find myself wondering if this notion that reps are not water proof was started by the gen industry.

I think this is from the dealers as they know there is no quality control, and no testing of water-resistance.

If they said it was water-resistant without having tested it, chances are they may be replacing a few watches that leaked, losing money in the process.