When you say that a watch is waterproof, you are saying that water cannot break the case or the seals around the function buttons.
Water resistance is measured in static and non-moving water.
The manufacturer says that so many meters below the surface of still water, the pressure of the water alone will not break the box or the seals.
But if it were to be submerged in water, spilled while water skiing, or found in strong moving water, the pressure of the water hitting the device would be much higher than the static pressure under which the watch was tested.
For that reason, no watch can honestly be described as waterproof.
Water is potentially dangerous, and the enormous variety of hazards cannot be covered at a reasonable cost.
The US Federal Trade Commission requires that watches sold in the US be described as waterproof and not waterproof.
This hasn’t stopped online retailers from describing their watches as water resistant because < waterproof > is the keyword that buyers are typing in the search bar
If Google search spies have registered a retail website for the keyword < water resistant watch >
then Google will only show that website to search engines who type < water resistant watch > in the search bar
But if buyers just write < waterproof watch > In the search bar, Google will only show you the websites that have < waterproof watch > in them
So if you have a retail website and you want those shoppers, that’s the keyword to put on your site.
However, watchmakers require their retailers to display ATM ratings.
The standard atmosphere at sea level is 1ATM.
A watch described as 5ATM is water resistant to 5 atmospheres, or roughly 80 PSI. This translates into a water depth of about 50 meters.
3 ATM – Resistant to rain and splashes.
5 ATM – Swimming without jumping off a diving board. Do not snorkel or dive
10 ATM – All of the above plus shallow water snorkeling. No high-altitude diving.
20 ATMs: all of the above plus high dive
200 ATM – 6,600ft water resistant diving watch
The higher the ATM rating, the more you pay for the watch
but to cater for dangerous events, you need to buy the highest ATM rating that you can reasonably afford
If there are two devices that meet your needs, but one has a 10ATM rating and another has a 5 ATM rating, don’t think “I’ll only use it for swimming so I don’t need the 10ATM
Think “Anything can happen. Can I reasonably afford a better watch?”
Jumping into the pool and doing normal water sports can make your watch (over time) just as hard or tougher than deep sea diving.
The buttons on a watch are difficult to seal.
The more functions there are on a watch, the more buttons there are and the more places water can get into the mechanism.
Therefore, a Water Activity watch should be a metal-backed watch with minimal functions and minimal buttons.
Do not press any button when the watch is underwater
Moisture may appear on the dial if a watch is suddenly cold.
After a while this moisture will disappear again.
However, steam is a different topic
Steam can enter a watch where water cannot and can damage
You should not wear a waterproof watch in the bathroom or while taking a hot shower.
And if you keep the watch on while washing your hands, use cold water
