Taking a Deep Dive into The World of Underwater Watches

Investing in a classic dive watch can be one of the smartest moves you can make. The prices at auctions seem resolutely set on an upwards trajectory, but just what is it about the dive watch that gets buyers so excited. Do you have a dive watch that you transform into a short term loan?

Rewarding and Robust

Diver’s watches are designed and built to very exacting standards; in fact, they’ve got to meet the ISO 6425 standard to set them aside from other classic watches, even the ones built like a (Cartier) Tank. The ISO standard is a mark that has been agreed on by over 160 member nations, with watches passing several set tests before they can be sold as a dive watch.

The dive watch has to be watertight. Critical underwater, it also makes for a great everyday watch that can go in the shower without a second thought. The dive watch must also feature a unidirectional timing bezel, which was adopted by the Rolex Submariner and is now seen as standard.

Reliably Familiar

Is a dive watch a good investment because it looks so much like all the other dive watches? There is something reassuringly comforting about the fact that so much emphasis falls on making it meet the standard, that any extreme design flair feels extra and unnecessary. It also means that if you’ve got a dive watch that looks the (predictable) part, you’re also going to have a bulky and heavy ‘thunk’ on the wrist to remind you you’re wearing it.

Status Symbol

A dive watch is everything that a good watch needs to be, but it also suggests the wearer may have hidden depths worth exploring – pun intended. The dive watch tells the world that you might need to, at any given moment, do something dramatic. It adds a frisson of excitement and gives the impression that there is more to the wearer than meets the eye. All this simply from wearing a watch that’s built for outdoor adventure? Absolutely. It might all seem a little James Bond, but the consistently superlative auction and second-hand retail sale performances of the dive watch backs up the theory that a little bit of dangerous living can go a long way.

The Mastery of Man

The dive watch – like the aviator watch – isn’t a symbol of man’s triumph over nature. Instead, both the dive and the aviator evidence the facts that humanity was able to catch up with Mother Nature and to set our watches by her. These watches allow us to explore the world around us with the safety features we need to be able to return to the ground/surface and do it again and again.

A Deep Dive Into Watch Performances

As a London luxury asset lender, we know how important it is to keep a close eye on the watch auctions. Pre-owed watches can perform stunningly well at auction. Sometimes staggeringly well. A Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner wristwatch, made in 1965, was expected to fetch £7-8,000 in 2017, but its particular orange numeric detail caused a flurry of excitement with the watch selling for £230,000.

Has the coronavirus had a negative impact on the value of classic watches? It seems not, with the first live watch auction since the pandemic taking place on 27 June 2020 in Geneva. Not only did the 210 lots total fetch over $31.7 million, but one dive watch in particular performed well. A rare Tornek-Rayville stainless steel anti-magnetic diver’s wristwatch sold for $118,685, which was well above its high estimate of $94,700. Produced in the mid-1960s, the watch had a humidity indicator that was designed for but then rejected by the U.S. Navy, making this watch an unusual buy.

As a luxury asset lender, we work with some of the finest watch brands on the planet, including Rolex, Breitling and Omega; we can release the value in your classic dive watch today.