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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Watch family · Style & purpose

Waterproof (Water-Resistant) Watches

Partially verified

Watches with a case sealed against water and dust ingress by gasketed crown, case back and crystal, a wristwatch-era construction problem with no close pocket-watch equivalent since a pocket watch is not normally exposed to water in use.

Movement & mechanism

  • Screw-down or gasketed case back sealing the movement compartment
  • Screw-down or gasketed crown, sometimes with a secondary locking system
  • Gasketed crystal seal, in addition to the case-back and crown seals

Identification

  • Case back or dial marked 'waterproof' or with a specific water-resistance rating
  • Screw-down crown, often with a protective guard
  • Thicker case profile than an equivalent non-sealed watch, to accommodate gaskets

Terminology

  • Gasket — a sealing ring, typically of rubber or synthetic material, preventing water ingress at a case joint
  • Water resistance rating — a depth or pressure figure indicating tested sealing performance

Known variations

  • Screw-back waterproof watch
  • Waterproof watch without a dedicated depth rating
  • Early hermetically sealed 'oyster'-type case designs

Pocket-watch ancestry

Waterproofing addresses a problem specific to the wristwatch's constant, exposed wear on the body rather than a pocket-watch practice being carried over; it drew on general case-sealing and gasket engineering rather than on any established pocket-watch waterproofing tradition, since pocket watches were carried in a pocket and not routinely exposed to water.

Collecting notes

An important precursor category to dive watches, collected for early sealed-case patents and construction as a milestone in wristwatch case engineering.

Related photographs

Citizen Hyper Aqualand Diver's Promaster MA9004-21E, digital quartz diving watch with depth gauge
Citizen Hyper Aqualand Diver's Promaster MA9004-21E, digital quartz diving watch with depth gauge — Pittigrilli, CC0. Wikimedia Commons file page
Citizen Hyper Aqualand Diver's Promaster MA9004-21E, digital quartz diving watch with depth gauge, opening of pressure sensor shown below
Citizen Hyper Aqualand Diver's Promaster MA9004-21E, digital quartz diving watch with depth gauge, opening of pressure sensor shown below — Pittigrilli, CC0. Wikimedia Commons file page

No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.

Sources & references

  1. General literature on early waterproof wristwatch case patents; individual patent priority requires further research.

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.