Is 500 or 1000 meters Water Resistance overkill on a Dive Watch?

I first began my torrid love affair with watches at the tender of 22 as a sales person in a jewelry store. Just before then, I thought the height of luxury in watchmaking was Casio , and Timex – I was in for a pretty rude awakening. I was in contact with brands like Breitling, Cartier, Panerai, and IWC on a daily basis and I learned all I could about watchmaking and the industry as a whole. At that time I was in awe with some of the features that these watches possessed.
One in particular from Breitling called the Sea Wolf caught my attention – not because it was beautiful (truth is, I didn't care for it that much), but because it declared rather boldly that it was water resistant to 10,000 feet or about 3,300 meters. I thought that was an incredible number. To put this into perspective, most of the ocean's floor is around 12,000 feet below sea level. Of course, there are deeper points like the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, and the Milwaukee Deep in the Atlantic but those are the exceptions rather than the rule. I was left with the burning question “why did any watch need that much water resistance or even 1000 or 500 meters' worth?” No one except for the truly brave, and deep sea divers (I believe them to be one and the same) venture that far south of sea level.

Before I go any further, I want to talk a little about Bars and Atmospheres . At sea level, the amount of pressure exerted on you is about 14.6 pounds per square inch, and that my friend is what one atmosphere or a bar is. When a watch is rated to 200 meters that is the equivalent of 20 atmospheres or bars. Hence the watch is protected against 20 x 14.6 = 292 pounds per square inch of pressure. It is important to note that movement of the watch underwater adds another 5% of pressure to the equation. To be rated as a professional diving watch by the ISO , the watch needs to have a minimum of 200 meters water resistance.
Watches that have 1000 meters water resistance are good for that 'cool' factor but the truth is there isn't a real world use for that kind of protection. It's akin to taking out a life insurance policy against dying by spaghettification from a black hole. I guess my point is buy a watch because you like the whole package not just because it has an excessive amount of water resistance. Also, there are a few other options you should look for like shock resistance for instance. I'll finish by saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with watches that carry that level of water resistance but it should not be a deciding factor. A watch that has 200 meters of water resistance will do everything you need it to do. vedere di piu orologi replica e Rolex Day Date