The 8 Most Iconic Dive Watches Ever Made

Mechanical watches are no longer very relevant to diving. But the design, solutions and technology watchmakers developed for diving in the 20th century sure are relevant to modern watches. With their rotating timing bezels, bright-glowing lume, high legibility, robust durability and handsome, purposeful looks, the dive watch itself is iconic.

Among the sea of dive watches, however, there are a handful that stand out. There are many considered historically notable or with a special place in the hearts and minds of collectors. But how many of those have the cultural presence that we can call truly iconic? It might depend on your definition, or how deep you are into watch nerdery.

We’d happily debate you over a drink or five on which watches do or do not belong on a list titled “The Most Iconic Dive Watches.” For now, though, here are the dive watches we feel will help any newcomer to watches get a lay of the land.

Photo by Zen Love for Gear Patrol

Rolex Submariner

Rolex

• Year Introduced: 1953
• Still in Production: Yes

The Rolex Submariner as an icon kinda goes without saying. You might love it or roll your eyes at its ubiquity, you might argue if it really was the first dive watch or not … but the impact and status of the “Sub” isn’t debatable. Recognizable even to those who know nothing about watches, no other dive watch even comes close to its influence.

Introduced in 1953, it was among a handful of the first commercially available dive watches as we’d recognize them today — and it had pretty much all of the traits considered essential and iconic right from the get-go. The multitudes of other dive watches are influenced by the Sub in some way or another and even the likes of Rolex’s own Sea-Dweller, an icon in its own right, is an evolution of it.

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms

Blancpain

• Year Introduced: 1953
• Still in Production: Yes

The same year as the earliest Submariners (see above) came the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. 1953 was really the year modern dive watches were born. The Fifty Fathoms is often even considered to have beaten Rolex’s dive watch to market, but that’s another story.

The watch’s name refers to a British unit of measurement just shy of 100m, which is roughly the water resistance of all the dive watches released that year. Developed for the French navy, there have been many versions of the Fifty Fathoms over the years. So which one are we talking about as an icon? The very first reference is perhaps the most representative, today represented by Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms Automatique line, but the whole collection is distinctive and recognizable.

Zodiac Sea-Wolf

Zodiac

• Year Introduced: 1953
• Still in Production: Yes

But wait, there was yet another dive watch introduced in 1953, suggesting that the common features they introduced were a result of common trends and forces rather than spy-level intrigue. The Zodiac Sea-Wolf doesn’t have the luxury clout as the above watches, but it was right there with them, neck-in-neck for the title of “first.”

It remains the most accessible and affordable link to that history today and it’s even got one ace up its sleeve in terms of innovation cred: You know the way the first 15 minutes on a dive watch bezel are emphasized with hash marks? Yeah, Zodiac did that first, to be followed later by nearly everyone else.

Doxa Sub 300

Doxa

• Year Introduced: 1967
• Still in Production: Yes

Doxa is a brand beloved by divers and its distinctively busy bezel featuring two scales makes it easily recognizable. It was developed with input from famed undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau himself. But Doxa is also known for something else: the color orange.

The brand created the first dive watch with a bright orange dial with the intention being to improve legibility. This didn’t pan out, as red/orange is one of the first colors in the spectrum to disappear as one descends underwater, but it did result in one hell of an eye-catching watch. Many more watchmakers have followed suit with orange divers of their own.

Photo by Allen Farmelo for Gear Patrol

Seiko SKX

Amazon

• Year Introduced: 1996
• Still in Production: No

There are a number of Seiko dive watches you might call iconic, and the series known simply as the SKX is a descendant of Seiko celebrities like the 62MAS and 6105. It’s become an icon, however, for rather different reasons than any other watch on this list.

The SKX series, and particularly the version with a monochromatic black dial and bezel known as the SKX007, became legendary as an extremely affordable dive watch that started many an eventual collector’s journey. Now discontinued, the collector buzz around it has ironically led to prices that make it far from the most affordable and capable automatic Seiko diver you can get. But collectors will not forget it, and its influence is seen in the design of modern collections from Seiko like the Seiko 5 Sports SKX Sports style series.

Omega Seamaster Diver 300m

Omega

• Year Introduced: 1993
• Still in Production: Yes

Omega has a number of notable dive watches, from the Seamaster 300 first introduced in 1957 to the weird-ass oversized Ploprof. But the Seamaster Diver 300m stands out above all of them for one major reason: Bond. James Bond. The fictional spy wore many watches, but at the start of Pierce Brosnan’s run as the character in 1995, a costume designer placed a funky blue Omega with a wavy dial on his wrist, and he’s been a brand loyalist ever since.

Bond has sometimes worn other Seamasters — Daniel Craig has sported an Aqua Terra, a Seamaster 300 and a couple of Planet Oceans — but the Seamaster Diver 300m is the “Bond Watch.” The very ’90s design has since been modernized a bit with a ceramic bezel, laser-cut dial and flatter tank-tread bracelet, but it remains staunchly recognizable thanks to its many quirks (Helium escape crown, anyone?) and is one of the most unique designs among mainstream dive watches.

Panerai Luminor

Panerai

• Year Introduced: 1993
• Still in Production: Yes

Often worn on a leather strap and lacking a rotating bezel, the Panerai Luminor might look out of place among traditional dive watches. It belongs here, however, because of its origins: Panerai developed the Radiomir as a dive watch for the Italian navy way back in the 1930s before rotating dive bezels were even a thing and features like water resistance and legibility were the main focus.

Panerai also has the claim of developing the first lumed dive watches, using a material called Luminor. With its distinctive crown protector introduced in 1956, the collection now known as Luminor has the most iconic look. Such watches were long only available to the military and only introduced to the public in 1993, with a boost from Sylvester Stallone helping to catapult them to icon status by wearing one in his 1996 action flick Daylight. And if you do decide you want a rotating dive bezel on your Panerai, you can grab a watch from the brand’s slightly more traditional Submersible collection.

Tudor Black Bay

Tudor

• Year Introduced: 2012
• Still in Production: Yes

Who says a dive watch has to be vintage (or neo-vintage) to qualify as an icon? The Tudor Black Bay has shot to the top of the public consciousness since its introduction in 2012, and is the most emblematic symbol of Tudor’s resurgance as a major playor in the luxury watch market.

At just a dozen years old, the Black Bay might be a bit young for a watch to be considered an icon, but it relies on cues from vintage watches such as its “snowflake” hour hand which dates back to Tudor divers from 1969. Of course, it owes its popularity in part to the brand’s association with its sister company Rolex, but the Black Bay in all its multitudinous variants — like the ever-popular Black Bay 58 and even chronograph and GMT variants — easily stands on its own.

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