Are dive watches appropriate daily watches?
Had a great conversation with a colleague who noticed that I wear a dive watch as a daily and he wears a dress or non-bezeled watch on leather. He thought that dive watches aren’t very professional. There is a 30 year age gap between us so maybe it’s an age difference?
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Owner of a few watches I love: Omega Seamaster 300M, Tudor Black Bay 58 & 36, Lorier Hyperion Skyward GMT, SKX009 and a G Shock.
United States
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Last active: 2 days ago
17.78 cm
Dude, looking at your profile picture, I'm guessing there is nearly a 30 year age gap between you and me, so it has nothing to do with age. It has to do with your work colleague being an idiot.
Dive watches are ALWAYS APPROPRIATE. If I were talking to your work colleague right at this very moment, here's what I would say to him...
[Just used this gif in another comment, so decided that I had to just crtl-v it into this comment too!]
Sad thing is if it was a Sub or Seamaster do you think they would have said anything? I rock my microbrand diver almost everyday, dressed up with an alligator strap for some occasions, nato for when I’m feeling rugged, bracelet for most occasions.
I agree that wearing a diver daily seems fine I wear my Orient Kamasu daily on it’s brown leather strap and that feels fine.
My mouse jumped and I hit the wrong answer! I meant to click yes! 😭
Sure they're appropriate. Unless you're in a tux, a diver might not be the ideal choice, unless your name is James Bond.
Divers are rugged and destined to take a beating if need be.
I wore my BB58 Navy daily for 2 years until I got my Explorer 1. I still rotate the BB58, but the honeymoon is still strong with the Exp. 1
Dive watches are fine for daily wear. Are they dress watches? No. But how often is anyone really in a semi-formal or formal setting in today's society? I wear a diver or a field watch daily. When I attend a formal event, wedding or funeral, the dress watch comes out.
Dive, flight and field watches are always appropriate for a daily use. Hell, even gold dressed pieces.
The only ones you should not wear daily are your JLC Gyrotourbillon and co.
Of course they are a daily. I never looked at watches associated with where I was or what I was doing. I would wear a diver to a wedding with a suit or a dress watch on the beach (if I wanted to). Of course I never went swimming with the dress watch, so most of the time I would wear a watch that I could swim with. Other than that, I never looked at a watch as something that had to match with an outfit. I do happen to pick a special watch when I go to an affair and I wear a suit once or twice a year, but when I was going to the office, I wore whatever I wanted and what made me happy. Most people don't even notice your watch, so the hobby is for you and how it makes you feel. I have even wore my many character watches to the office and I get really positive feedback on them. Long live Snoopy!
Does he have an opinion about tie knots (a half Windsor not being professional, that sort of thing)?
He should just be glad that you aren't wearing a Garmin.
If you work in an environment where you are expected to project a very businesslike professional image, and are using the dive extension to wear it over your suit jacket, I can possibly see his point, but otherwise I would think most dive watches would be appropriate.
That is a first world problem. Be glad that you have arms.
I wear an orange Orient Mako to the office quite often.
I find myself on holiday wearing my Kamasu in the pool,in the sea and in the evening at the restaurant. I also bought a casio twin sensor and a Duro on a Barton strap bur the Kamasu covers all the bases. When I go back to work it will most often be the Kamasu again. It can pull off smart and professional every time!
If he's your boss, he's right.
However, that just means you need to find a boss that isn't stuck in the 1920's.
I kinda see his point, dive watches to me come across as a tool watch, that being said, it's all I own! If I had a job that required me to wear a suit then I'd be wearing anything from a Bambino to a Calatrava depending on budget.
But that's just my opinion on what I'd like to wear.
Horses for courses
Sorry, I answered No for the question "There is a 30 year age gap between us so maybe it’s an age difference?" and later found out the main question was "Are dive watches appropriate daily watches?". Yes, I think dive watches are perfect every day watches.
Dive watches are tool watches - ready for any occasion. Dressed up or down with a choice of strap, they are so versatile.
There‘a no right or wrong here. If you want to wear a GShock to the boardroom, good for you, or a Diver to a wedding. Your wrist, your choice…
I wear most of my watches in my work rotation, including my Combat Sub, my BB GMT and my Aiman, all of which have rotatable bezels. I’ve never had an issue. My boss doesn’t wear a watch, so he couldn’t really give a hoot. To be fair, prior to the pandemic, I was generally wearing my JLC Master Control Date to the office in suits and ties for Court. These days, office standard dress is jeans and a firm polo. You guys have no idea how much this pandemic has saved me in dry cleaning costs…
Court? Are you a member of the Fla Bar? If so, I know exactly how much you’ve saved and echo the same savings 🤣🤣🤣
I'm much of the same opinion of HWC69 but probably a bit more crass and not all that polite, especially when it comes to being confronted by wankers in my work place about what I'm wearing, a watch or any other item of clothing, also their position within the company doesn't give them the right to voice their own opinions, especially on what watch a person is wearing, that's just BS in my own opinion.
My first reaction would of been "F#$k Off, what's it got to do with you, so go away and mind you own business", if they we're a work colleague that I've worked with for a number of years, they would know not to have a cheap shot about what I'm wearing on my wrist or they would get a mouth full. If it was someone with whom I didn't associate with much at work my reaction would be F#$k Off I'll wear what I like, so go and have a look in the mirror, your no oil painting mate.
He just sounds like a pretentious MF'er to me, the kind of people I loathe.
Each to their own, you wear what you like and makes you happy.
It's a bit like this 👍
Damn right!
I think it depends on what you are doing daily. I also think people who have different opinions shouldn't be flamed for them.
Court? Are you a member of the Fla Bar? If so, I know exactly how much you’ve saved and echo the same savings 🤣🤣🤣
Yes, I am. Zoom UMCs have been a godsend. I want the pandemic to end, but I hope Zoom UMCs never do!
Yes, I am. Zoom UMCs have been a godsend. I want the pandemic to end, but I hope Zoom UMCs never do!
I am a huge fan of virtual for UMC, CMC, anything non-evidentiary. Saved so much time.
What is professional depends on your profession. There are very few watches that are truly unprofessional, especially across the board.
But if you play the high-end man's fashion game, where your look is only correct with a waistcoat carrying a cloth handkerchief, and where a tie is better replaced with a cravat - then a dive watch completes your look as well as red yoga pants do.
Many watch collectors have dive watches as (often expensive) centrepieces of their collections and take a dim view on any suggestions that their love clocks might be inappropriate in some formal setting. I doubt everybody sees it that way, yet most people fail to care about such matters.
As for me: the clothes I wear never constrain my watch wear. I pretty much never wear ties or related neck attire. Still, I really like dress watches, not for dressing professionally, I just like their simplicity/clarity/elegance. Consequently, if my job had a formal dress code that favoured dress watches I'd happily embrace that and would take my liberties elsewhere.
While I no longer dive with mine, they're perfectly at home in the board room.
It all depends you your relationship with the people that pay you (ie the customers) - after all that's what it means to be professional.
If your watch adversely impacts that relationship its unprofessional (and extremely unlikely) - if it doesn't its perfectly ok.
Even though I'm a strong advocate for dress watches and "conservative" (i.e. tailored) clothing in general, I'd never call a diver "unprofessional" just because it's a diver. The legacy of Sean Connery making the Sub suit-appropriate is still very much alive.
However, a navy three-piece suit and a bright orange Doxa might still not be the perfect match for everyday professional use. 😉
The many divers on the wrists of office workers exerting it's power over the leather watch wearers😂
I'm RICK JAMES! 😂
“appropriated” = what you like; I couldn’t care less what other people think about me ^^
White tennis shoes and a suit ( tails are a bonus) will enhance any dive watch wearer. Particularly at job interviews and first dates.
I wear my divers daily. I’ve also turned 3,6,&9 into different meanings. That way I can remind myself of something by turning my bezel. Lol Even just spinning my bezel upside down let’s me know something is off and I was supposed to remember something.