Tool watches - Using watches for their intended purpose
Do you use your watches for their intended purpose?
Are you a diver or a desk diver? Are you a traveller or you check other time zones?
Comment down below your expriences with your watches!
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Luca
Welcome to my WatchCrunch profile.
Milano
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Last active: 1 week ago
7.00” / 17.78 cm
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No, or rarely. I think the time when a wrist watch was the best tool for its original use is for the most part long since gone. But being built to still meet that purpose can often mean you get something robust, well engineered and access to endless variety of designs and styles.
I take mine on the weakest intended use cases imaginable.
Diver when splashing around in the lake or pool.
GMT on driving vacations.
Field Watch on day hikes.
Chronograph to “check” speedometer.
Dress watch on dinner date with my wife.
I don’t have a chronograph and I can’t swim so I’m relegated to desk diving. Out of all the different types of watches, the only one I’d really use is a traveler’s gmt (which I don’t have 😂)
GMT for work. Diver for play.
I use a giga lumed diver only to check the time in a dark cinema room when the film is boring. That's how extreme my lifestyle is.
Someone better post their Mission to Mars here 🤣🤣
I always wear a G-Shock when calibrating the navigational deflector array and tuning the matter/antimatter streams.
I use my watches as tools for my job, but not necessarily the way they were intended originally. My Navigator is my go-to watch for work when out doing inspections. It was designed as a pilot's watch originally, but even the manufacturer now calls it a field watch.
Though, occasionally I take other watches too.
From all of my 3 watches I use Field watch the rarest.
But when it comes to the hiking - it’s the obvious 1st pick. Besides it’s tasteful and colourful design, it’s also the most durable and simple, which are good qualities for a “tool watch”. Farer did a great job in this regard.
Closest to this is that I had my breitling b-1 when doing my pilot license and flying the c150/172 and Seneca
Funny, I just bought this as my outdoor/hiking/camping watch:
I also took a diving class and too this with me:
99% of the time I’m on desk or field duty so I’m not out diving the Great Barrier Reef, exploring the Outback, or climbing Everest. 🤣
Baltic @ 3% of it's depth capability.
I appreciate the professional watches for their functionality. I also appreciate them for how the design is purposely crafted to help the wearer in whatever it is their doing. I never intend to go to 300m below the sea nor do I ever need to quickly flip between time zones. But I use the diving bezel to check time during appointment and use the GMT to keep time in Syndey (wear family lives).
All my divers have at minimum been in the pool (Lorier Neptune, VAER D4 Solar Diver and the OMEGA SMP 300) My Vaer C3 Tradition Field has been hiking. So yes, I do use my watches for their intended purpose. They got scratched up in the process but it's better than sitting in the box collecting dust
I love my tool watches…
I use my field watch (Tudor Ranger) a lot when Hiking, skiing, biking… or typically when I’m in the mountains.
My dive watches typically when I’m diving or swimming outdoors
My GMT for travel and the office
My pilot watches when I’m flying my FPV drones around.
Nice pics!
I have 4 dive watches:
Casio SGW-100 (200m WR), Casio Duro (200m WR), Invicta Grand Diver (300m WR), and Invicta Sub-Aqua (500m WR.) Sadly, none of these will ever see a fraction of the depth that they are designed for. Even when I am at the beach, I rarely swim in water more than 50 feet deep (15m.) And most swimming pools don't get any deeper than 12-15 ft. (3.7 - 4.6 meters.)
I have 3 dress watches:
Marc Ecko Encore, Stuhrling Raceway, and Tissot Classic Dream. I wear them both regularly to work, church, and special occasions like birthday dinners, anniversary dinners, etc. So you could say that I wear these two watches for their exact, intended purpose. The Raceway could also be considered a "sports watch," since after all, it is a Daytona homage. But it's very sleek and elegant, so I tend to wear it less for "sports," and more for dress occasions.
I have 1 vintage watch:
My Texas Instruments Model 550 LCD Watch, 1978 Edition. I wear it as part of my daily rotation, but aside from its vintage status, I am not sure how to categorize it; it's not a sports watch, because it doesn't have any timers or stopwatch functions; it's not a diver, because it has no water resistance whatsoever, it's not a dress watch, because it simply isn't "pretty" enough, it's not a beater, because I baby the heck out of it. It's the only watch I have that simply keeps the time (hours, mins, secs) and the date (month and day.) So in that regard, being simply a "generic watch," I would say that yes, I do wear it for its intended purpose.
I have 1 "miscellaneous" watch:
My new find, the Casio W-800H, is 100m WR, a has dual time zone function, a stopwatch function, and an alarm function. So I guess you could call it a sports watch. It can go 100m deep, which is deeper than I will ever swim, so I guess you could lump it in together with the dive watches. It's not really pretty enough to be a dress watch, although I do think it's quite stylish, in a non-formal sort of way.
I would hesitate to call the 800H a "beater" watch, because although it is built well enough to handle a moderate amount of punishment, I myself try to avoid situations where my watches can be bumped, dinged, or whacked, or otherwise damaged. And as I said above, I like the looks of it, so I won't intentionally abuse it.
Do I use it for its intended purposes? Here's the breakdown: Dual time zone: yes. (I have family members in Poland, so the dual time zone is set for that time.) 100m WR: yes, intentions-wise; I occasionally go swimming, either in a pool, in a lake, or in the ocean, and I wouldn't be afraid to wear it for that purpose. But this being a new watch, I haven't yet had the opportunity to take it into the water. Stopwatch: no. I'll be honest here, I would probably use my phone. Alarm: no. I regularly use my phone for that. Thus, I use 50% of its functions. Come to think of it, the same could probably be said for the SGW-100, it has 5 different alarms, and a compass, among other things. I don't do much hiking. And even the hiking trails I have been on have been curated, and well-marked, no need for a compass when you have signs saying "Scenic Overlook--->" and "<---Waterfall," LOL. 😎
Thoughts?
you are missing a proper mechanical GMT, you cant travel without it!!! Jokes a part the collection is very balanced and you can cover any occasion you will encounter!
I use my watch for everything. From cutting grass to building a deck I always have a watch on.
you are missing a proper mechanical GMT, you cant travel without it!!! Jokes a part the collection is very balanced and you can cover any occasion you will encounter!
I will endeavor to acquire a GMT as soon as possible! 😂 I have one or two on my wish list currently. 😎
No. The only tool watch i have is the apple watch. The rest is for fun and play.
I take mine on the weakest intended use cases imaginable.
Diver when splashing around in the lake or pool.
GMT on driving vacations.
Field Watch on day hikes.
Chronograph to “check” speedometer.
Dress watch on dinner date with my wife.
You're a "power user"!😄
You're a "power user"!😄
That sounds a lot better than most things I’m called.
That sounds a lot better than most things I’m called.
🍻
Only watches I use for their intended purpose are my GMT watches. I travel quite a bit and across timezones. Otherwise, I’m just an enthusiast like everyone else here and wear them because they’re interesting and cool.
Yep
When I travel..
Haven’t mustered courage to use diver other than washing hands
Not a huge Omega fan, but love this one.
I’m a head chef. I wouldn’t dare wear my omega to work. However, within five minutes of getting home, it’s on without question.
Is the purpose defined by the watch or the wearer? I learned that quite a lot of people use dive watches not necessarily for diving, but e.g. for tracking time during tests, cooking eggs, tracking the laundry and lots more.
Is it necessary to join the coast guards or the sea rescuers to wear an S.A.R. Rescue-Timer? Or is it just an ultra sturdy and extremely well made watch?
GMTs? Yes, but not only one time zone but multiple to keep in mind what time it is for my children and other relatives.
I use my watch for everything. From cutting grass to building a deck I always have a watch on.
couldn t agree more
Is the purpose defined by the watch or the wearer? I learned that quite a lot of people use dive watches not necessarily for diving, but e.g. for tracking time during tests, cooking eggs, tracking the laundry and lots more.
Is it necessary to join the coast guards or the sea rescuers to wear an S.A.R. Rescue-Timer? Or is it just an ultra sturdy and extremely well made watch?
GMTs? Yes, but not only one time zone but multiple to keep in mind what time it is for my children and other relatives.
That is a good point!