This is my grandfather's watch - he was a tightfisted old Yankee farmer, born in 1895. Nobody in the family has the slightest clue about what he was doing with this on his wrist, but he wore it constantly, and wore the hell out of it. (I had the crystal replaced; you could barely see through it when it was passed to me!)
Case and movement date to 1940, but the hands are obviously a later modification, probably done when the originals, with their radium lume, had died out. The bracelet is Rolex, but probably not original either. (If "Frankenrolex" is a thing, this is that thing.) Anathema to a modern "collector", but exactly what a practical man would have done back in the day.
Still runs like a champ, too - the "Precision" tag is well-deserved.
This is a bit like asking if you can put normal street tires on your Lambo, instead of 200-mph track tires. The question is, do you need the latter?
Leather is fine. 99% of dive watches never go diving anyhow - they're "dive style" watches that won't be damaged if the owner should happen to fall into a pool, a.k.a. "desk divers."