Why a Dive Watch Should Never be Haute Horlogerie

Credits:  Article and images by Martin Green @ Quill & Pad.  See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/10/27/why-a-dive-watch-should-never-be-haute-horlogerie-2/

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Like their automotive counterparts, dive watches were made for a purpose, where form follows function.

Two things changed this: First, the introduction of the dive computer, which could do everything a watch could do, and more.

Suddenly, the dive watch was playing second fiddle, now a backup for when the dive computer would stop functioning during the dive.

The second thing that changed the perception of the dive watch was the renaissance of mechanical watchmaking after the quartz crisis.

The mechanical watch became a status symbol, an object of desire, an art form, and as it was not a necessity anymore, it changed our perception of it.

What was once the off-road car of the watch world slowly but surely morphed into the SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle).

Cars originally designed to tackle any obstacle and take you to the most remote areas in the world, were turned into comfortable cars to take the kids to soccer.

The dive watch met a similar fate as it became, for the most part, a lifestyle accessory. Both the SUV and the dive watch evoke a desire for an active and adventurous lifestyle.

SUVs allow their owners to dream that they have to wait for a troop of elephants to cross the path on the Serengeti while they are actually in traffic on their dreadful daily commute.

The dive watch transforms (in the imagination) a swim in the hotel pool into a scene from Jacques Cousteau’s ‘Silent World’ documentary.

A new type of dive watch was born, one in which form no longer follows function.

Reservoir Hydrosphere Bronze The Greg Lecoeur Edition

In essence, a dive watch can never be haute horlogerie, because that compromises the goal it was designed for.

Granted, I am taking the liberty of stretching the term haute horlogerie a little wider than some, but in a dive watch, you don’t want a refined, ultra-slim movement; you want something sturdy and robust.

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Credits:  Article and images by Martin Green @ Quill & Pad.  See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/10/27/why-a-dive-watch-should-never-be-haute-horlogerie-2/