Iconic Dive Watches In Action

History’s Most Important Dive Watches & The Legends Who Wore Them

While scuba diving as a recreational activity isn’t exactly having a moment in 2024, watches designed for diving represent one of the most popular overall categories, with more dive watches being produced in a year in Switzerland alone than there are active divers on Earth to wear them. But how can this make sense? The fact is that over the seventy years or so since their introduction, dive watches have transcended their original specialized use case almost entirely, benefiting from their unmatched robustness, intriguing heritage, and associations with important and influential characters both real and imagined. Where would the Omega Seamaster be without James Bond, I might ask?

Paid celebrity endorsements and big-screen product placement will always be effective tools for influencing the masses. However, I am infinitely more interested in seeing dive watches used by real-life heroes, the kind of people quietly altering the course of history or writing the pages of science textbooks with a capable dive timer on the wrist. For some of the most impactful dive watches of all time, the real stories are often more unbelievable than anything Hollywood could have dreamed up. In this second edition of the Dive Log, I’ll share some of history’s most iconic dive watches and some of the incredible people who wore them. These are iconic dive watches in action.

The Rolex Submariner & Scott Carpenter

Watch Photo Source: The Time Bum 

Arguably the most recognizable and popular watch design of all time, the Rolex Submariner was officially introduced in 1953 before becoming widely available the following year. Designed to meet the needs of the burgeoning sport of scuba diving, the Submariner was used as a tool by some of history’s most important underwater explorers including pioneering filmmaker Jacques Cousteau, one of scuba diving’s forefathers. Also finding favor among military divers, the Rolex Submariner was also the chosen dive timer of Scott Carpenter, a US Navy test pilot and Mercury astronaut turned aquanaut who served on the US Navy’s SEALAB underwater habitat trials starting in 1964. Is Sean Connery wearing an early Submariner reference 6538 in Dr. No cool? Yes, without a doubt, but not as cool as a guy who’s been to outer space and inner space, at least for me.

The Zodiac Sea Wolf & The US Navy Underwater Demolition Teams

Watch Photo Source: Analog:Shift

While the brand claims the watch was released in 1953, a deeper investigation seems to indicate the Zodiac Sea Wolf wasn’t official until years later. In any case, the Sea Wolf, which was smaller in diameter than something like the Rolex Submariner and more in keeping with the watch sizing norms of the day, quickly caught on with early divers, again making a splash with the military in particular. Forged from early maritime commando units hastily assembled during the Second World War, the UDTs or Underwater Demolition Teams provided hydrographic reconnaissance and clearance operations in advance of beach landings by more conventional troops. Many photos of early UDT men including this one show the prototypical frogman of the 1950s, wearing nothing more than a pair of canvas UDT shorts, a mask, a snorkel, a pair of Voit fins, and a Zodiac Sea Wolf. Also, as a top tip, vintage examples of this legendary dive watch can be had a relative bargain compared to many of the other names on this list.

Omega Seamaster 300 & A Royal Navy Clearance Diver

Watch Photo Source: Analog:Shift

When it comes to the Omega Seamaster, James Bond’s onscreen antics understandably garner the majority of the limelight, but it’s important to remember the real history behind one of the dive watch world’s most important names. Unveiled in 1957, the Seamaster 300 was the brand’s answer to the Rolex Submariner, making enough of a name for itself that the British Ministry Of Defense requested a special version of the Seamaster for its Clearance Divers, the Royal Navy’s unexploded ordnance and mine clearance experts. This image shows a Clearance Diver wearing a military Seamaster 300 in 1974 while supporting Operation Rheostat, a multi-national effort tasked with clearing the Suez Canal of a plethora of unexploded munitions from conflicts in the region. While it’s tough to make out in the image, a fair bet would be that this old diver was wearing his Seamaster not on a Tropic rubber strap or bracelet but rather a pull-through nylon “NATO” strap whose core design also stems from the British military.

Seiko “Turtle” 6309 & A US Navy Diver

Watch Photo Source: Benjamin Lowry

A legend among watch enthusiasts for its precise blend of utility, design, and attainability, a Seiko dive watch was always going to need to be included in our list of icons. There are many models to choose from, but the watch I most often see in vintage diving or special operations photographs is unquestionably the 6309, affectionately nicknamed the “Turtle” for its cushion-style case shape. Issued to US Navy SEALs, US Air Force Pararescuemen, and countless other amphibious military units, this image shows a prototypical 1980s US Navy Diver wearing UDT shorts, a big honkin’ knife, an oval-shaped dive mask, and, of course, a Seiko 6309. Sometimes compared to Toyota trucks like the legendary Hilux, the 6309 has earned a reputation as an almost indestructible watch with a simple non-hacking automatic caliber that inexplicably continues ticking for decades without even the slightest hint of a service. It might not provide chronometer timekeeping, but for real divers, a Seiko Turtle was all you needed back in the day.

Tudor Submariner & A US Navy Frogman 

Watch Photo Source: Fog City Vintage

Sticking with the US Navy theme, we have another watch commonly associated with being issued to military forces, the Tudor Submariner. Originally intended as a cheaper alternative to the Rolex Submariner to which it was almost identical outside of its third-party caliber, the Tudor Sub developed its legend by becoming — because of its cheaper price point — a common choice for penny-pinching military supply officers equipping divers and other waterborne special operations forces. In this image, UDT frogman Bob Coggin wears his Tudor Submariner reference 7928 while working one of history’s coolest jobs, plucking astronauts from the ocean. Essentially, once a Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo space capsule splashed down in the ocean, old-school UDT men jumped from helicopters to assist the astronauts in safely egressing the capsule. Having been a part of astronaut recovery and so many other legendary feats beneath the waves, the Tudor Submariner is so much more than a less expensive Rolex.

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms & A French Combat Diver

Watch Photo Source: Amsterdam Vintage Watches

Where many of the watches on this list have military associations, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms goes a step further, owing its very existence to the amphibious operators for which it was designed. An intriguing collaboration between Captain Robert ‘Bob’ Maloubier, a WWII espionage legend and head of an early French combat diving unit, and Jean-Jacques Fiechter, a passionate scuba diver and head of Blancpain, the original Fifty Fathoms cemented many elements of what we now consider essential for any dive watch including a rotating bezel and luminescent indices. In this image, a nageur de combat (combat swimmer) of the Commando Hubert, France’s diving special operations unit, is seen preparing for a dive in Egypt’s Suez Canal in 1956. Sure, modern Blancpain’s price points have gone a bit insane, but the heritage is unmatched.

Doxa Sub 300 & A Pioneering Undersea Scientist

Watch Photo Source: Analog:Shift

One brand with a uniquely passionate following among real divers who don’t necessarily care about watches is Doxa, which made its name thanks to the Sub 300 unveiled in 1976. With a polarizing cushion case shape and a no decompression limits bezel, the Doxa Sub is one of the defining dive watch designs of the late 1960s and 70s, earning favor among military and recreational divers as well as fictional characters like Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt who famously wore a Doxa Sub. In this image, Dr. Glen Egstrom is seen attaching EKG leads to a diver named Gene Cornelius who is wearing a very obscure General Aquadyne Incorporated AH-2 (Air Helmet 2). Like other watches on this list, the Doxa has a military history that deserves some cred, but it’s best known for its use by civilian divers and scientists. Given the more polarizing design, it’s not for everyone, but the Doxa Sub 300 has some of the most passionate fans in modern undersea watchmaking.

Citizen Aqualand & A US Air Force Combat Controller

Anyone interested in scuba diving before the year 2000 has undoubtedly encountered the Citizen Aqualand. Launched in 1985, the original Aqualand was an analog-digital ISO-rated dive watch with an integrated depth gauge that enabled certain diving computer-like functionality. While it’s hard to say how many were sold to military and recreational divers, it must have been a lot as the Aqualand is one of our most commonly spotted watches in 1980s and 90s diving and military archives. In this particular image, a pair of US Air Force combat controllers prepares for a jump with one operator wearing a Citizen C023 or C022. Compared to many of the watches on this list, both vintage Aqualand models and their faithful recreations are impressively attainable and just as effective as a diving tool as they were back in the good old days when sex was safe and diving was dangerous.

At least for me, photos like these are stronger proof of diving utility and legitimacy than any overly commercialized ad campaign full of Italian models wearing dive watches. The difference between tools and jewels is often easiest to identify by the wrists of the men and women wearing them. Admittedly, dive watches are less commonly used for their intended purpose in 2024 compared to the golden age of diving and watches, but I’d argue the best way to experience any of these iconic watches is always going to be beneath the surface. Do you want a flawless Omega Seamaster locked away in a safety deposit box at all times when off-wrist or a watch that bears the scares of adventure, a sort of roadmap of your life with each twist and turn emblazoned in scratches and dings? If you’re here, I hope I know your answer.

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