Best 5 Dive Watches Under $500 (A professional Watchmaker’s opinion): Orient Casio Deep Blue 5.11
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Mr. Nobody’s list of Top 5 Dive Watches under $500, well actually $400.
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Check out Bernhardt Watch Company and all of their offerings here:
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Check out Momentum and all of their offerings here:
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Two of these timepieces were donated for review by Bernhardt Watch Company and Momentum, therefore this is considered sponsored content.
My criteria as to what to take into consideration when defining a diver-there are 3 major qualifying factors:
1. A rotating elapsed time bezel, aka a count-up bezel that tracks up to 60 minutes
2. Water Resistance of at least 100 meters- ISO standards require only a minimum of only 100 meters
3. The watch has a screw-down crown to prevent the accidental snagging of the crown and stem which could allow the watch to flood; now there’s a common misconception that if a crown is unscrewed that the watch is no longer water resistant- well it technically still is (as long as the seals are still in good condition), the amount of resistance is diminished to typically around to 50 meters.
Top 5 Dive Watches under $500:
5.11 Sentinel:
Approx. retail: $200; can be found $40-$80
Water Resistant: 100 meters
Case Measurements: diameter 46mm, thickness 12.2mm, lug-to-lug 55.5mm
Case: Matte blasted stainless steel, solid screw-down caseback, signed screw-down crown
Bezel: 60-minute, 90 click, rotating steel with aluminum insert
Crystal: Flat Mineral with AR coating
Movement Swiss Quartz
Casio MDV-106:
Approx. Retail: $70; can be found $45-$50
Water Resistant: 200 meters
Case Measurements: diameter 44mm, thickness 12.3mm, lug-to-lug 48.5mm
Case: Brushed and polished stainless steel, solid screw-down caseback, screw-down crown
Bezel: 60-minute, 120 click, rotating steel with aluminum insert
Crystal: Flat Mineral
Movement: Japanese Quartz
Orient “Ray 2” Ref. FA002004B9:
Approx. Retail: $235; can be found $132-$170
Water Resistant: 200 meters
Case Measurements: diameter 41.5mm, thickness 13mm, lug-to-lug 47mm
Case: Brushed and polished stainless steel, solid screw-down caseback, signed screw-down crown
Bezel: 60-minute, 120 click, rotating steel with aluminum insert
Crystal: Flat Mineral
Movement: Orient Cal. F69, 22 Jewel Automatic, 21,600 bph
Power Reserve: 40 hours
Accuracy: -15 to +25 sec./day
Bernhardt Corsair Diver:
Approx. Retail: $320; can be found $271
Water Resistant: 200 meters
Case Measurements: diameter 42mm, thickness 14mm, lug-to-lug 50mm
Case: Brushed stainless steel, exhibition screw-down caseback, signed screw-down crown
Crystal: Flat Sapphire
Movement: Miyota 9015, 24 jewel Automatic, 28,800 bph
Power Reserve: 42 hours
Accuracy: -10 to +30 sec./day
Deep Blue Military Diver 300:
Approx. Retail: $299; can be found $180-$250
Water Resistant: 300 meters
Case Measurements: diameter 44mm, thickness 15mm, lug-to-lug 52mm
Case: Brushed and polished stainless steel, solid screw-down caseback, signed screw-down crown, helium escape valve
Crystal: Flat Sapphire with AR coating
Movement: NH36, 24 jewels Automatic, 21,600 bph
Power Reserve: 41 hours
Accuracy: -20 to +40 seconds per day
Momentum M30:
Approx. Retail: $395
Water Resistant: 300 meters
Case Measurements: diameter 44mm, thickness 15mm, lug-to-lug 52mm
Case: Matte blasted stainless steel, exhibition screw-down caseback, signed screw-down crown
Crystal: Flat Sapphire with AR coating
Movement: NH35, 24 jewels Automatic, 21,600 bph
Power Reserve: 41 hours
Accuracy: -20 to +40 seconds per day
Let me introduce myself, I’m Mr. Nobody!
I go by this name for two reasons: first, anonymity- in order to provide honest reviews without endangering my current standing and active employment within the industry; second, it’s a play on words that hopefully caught your attention, made you do a double take, and piqued your curiosity.
So who is Mr. Nobody:
I am a young Professional Watchmaker who has served in the world of horology for the past 10 years with real world experience in retail, repair, and manufacturing with brick and mortar shops, independents and microbrands, and several of the major brands’ North American Service Centers.
My watch collecting journey began at the age of 4 with the first watch I ever received from my father: an inexpensive plastic watch he picked up at the local pharmacy, I’ll never forget it…it was designed to resemble a tiger that had the digital read-out inside of its mouth. It was awesome! At that moment my fate was sealed, there was no turning back.
The one I would absolutely have on this list is the Glycine Combat Sub. Great watch and a great value!
Love my Deep blues, have 6 of them.
DeepBlue fan here. Great review. Stan makes some great Divers for the $$.
Deep Blue fan here too! Amazing value.
your a fan of trash deep blue is fucking garbage cheap caca
@@alextomlinson1725 you also have shit taste get a real watch
I have been wearing an Orient Mako for many years. Best overall watch in my collection.
Very surprised not to see a Seiko on the list. Another brand that's worth checking out is Islander. Marc's crushing it!
Those macro shots on the Marlin on the Duro are so nice! Makes me appreciate mine even more, truly is great craftsmanship for the price. Just subbed nice video!
As a former professional diver, most divers I know buy watches that are durable and reliable but easily replaced. Diving is very rough on watches. We would not dive a Rolex or Omega for example.. The Casio or, not reviewed here, a Citizen are the most prevalent. Just saying. Not many professional divers would use any of the other watches reviewed here.
Relax
@@BossMan_Jerm Divers are always relaxed you numpty.
Wow, love the Bernhardt again and the Momentum. I will get a Momentum for my husband. He collects watches and use them for everything under the sun. Thanks Mr. Nobody. Love the explanations. Gli
Any thoughts on the Vostok watches?
Thanks for the vid!! The Duro seemed misaligned (seconds hand).
I love Bernhardt watches!!!! Great review!!
Great choice of watches. Something for everyone 👍👍
Here some to add to your list. RLG, Obris Morgan, Zelos, and Geckota. If you don't mind a homage, San martin are excellent. As far as mainstream budget divers go, the Kamasu takes the crown for me
Why no Vostok Amphibias?
At 0:30, what kind of Swiss Army watch is that? That looks cool!
Have Orient Mako and Ray version 1's, and they are decent watches but regard them as diver style watches vs Seiko SKX009, which the Deep Blue Pepsi looks so much like. The SKX009 bezel I can easily hold and rotate vs Ray and Mako which I think would be too difficult to grip when diving.
In the range of price under $500, Orient Triton/Neptune is a high quality watch, with superior specifications over SKX009. Saphire, hack movement, energy reserve indicator. And also like SKX, a certified diver's watch.
If we were to improve something on the Deep Blue watch it would be customer service. It's a joke. I sent a DB watch in to be fixed and never got it back. Thanks a lot Deep Blue.
I agree, my Military Diver 300 screw down crown stripped out and won’t screw down. Took forever to hear back from them and it’s a minimum of $50 for them to look at it plus shipping both ways. The way they thread the crown is dumb and leads to weak threads. I’m just going to salvage parts out of it and toss the case. No more DB for me.
Good video. I agree with exhibition caseback. I would never dive with one need solid caseback for a true divers watch. 2 I would of put on list would be Seiko Monster and Citizen Ecozilla 👍👍👊
I expected to see the Vostok Amphibia on here, why not?
Regarding the Vostok Amphibia, I think it’s a good watch and a fun watch. However, with how much the prices have crept up on them they are in direct competition with some entry level Seiko 5’s and some Orient divers in that similar price range. At that price point Casio, Seiko, and Orient are better values and if you’re not against quartz, there are an even greater number of companies and pieces that are better constructed pieces. I believe the pieces on this list are dollar for dollar superior in fit, finish, and serviceability when compared to the Amphibia- and long-term serviceability is probably the most important factor when considering the true value of a watch (this is where your investment pays dividends) because it makes the timepiece, for lack of a better term, “irreplaceable”. Thanks for the question and keep enjoying the channel.
see through casebacks for low tier movements should be illegal, especially in divers.
Interesting watches to focus on... but almost too narrow in respect to this. Nevertheless, I am interested in your future content. I subscribed:-)
I bought a Deep Blue after seeing a couple of videos. It was a bad experience. Watch was defective when it arrived. Almost impossible to contact customer service. Finally got a reply from “Ed”. I sent it back. After about six enquires I finally got a refund but they kept $50 as a “restocking” fee. For a defective watch!!! Buyer beware
5 times the build quality of a Timex seems like a stretch and I dont own a Timex. My wife had a Timex ladies dress watch. It seemed pretty good quality for the price. I owned a couple cheap Casio"s quality was about the same.
I like to think he is talking about specifically the Duro, not the brand as a whole. I love my duro and Timex has good watches too, and I agree that in general the two brands are about the same quality, but thr Duro, for the money, punches way above its class!
Si compras un deep blue tienes un sunnto para buceo y guardas un doxa que mas le poder pedir a la vida.
steinhart divers
Who in the world would turn to 5.11 for a dive watch?
i do not care for exibition caseback on any watch. It is kind of cool but it looks like a novelty. So i would prefer not to have it. Especialy not on a dive watch.
I doubt any of these watches touched the wetsuit.
I dive all the time with the Duro and several Deep Blues!
Hello!. Nice video and new subscriber....183... cheers!.
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