Watches & Pencils #3 – The DeskDiver
Our bi-weekly cartoon by Teun van Heerebeek is his interpretation of the famous DeskDiver. The DeskDiver is the person that has a preference for divers watches while the only water the watch will see is that of the bathroom, kitchen, garden, car wash and perhaps the occasional hotel swimming pool.
The love for diving watches is mainly based on style. Sporty watches with rotatable bezels, depth gauge, helium valves, rubber straps or metal bracelets with diving extension etc. Watches that have a water resistance of 200 meters (~20ATM) or more and preferably meet the requirements of ISO 6425, the standard on diver’s watches. However, in all honesty, only a few of the diving watches out there will make it actually into the sea or ocean. Even watches that are clearly designed and developed to use in water and have a somewhat quirky appearance on land, like the Omega Seamaster PloProf or Seiko Marinemaster “Tuna” models, are rarely worn in the water.
Nothing wrong with that of course! The Rolex Submariner and Omega Seamaster models are one of the most popular dive watch models out there and aside from the occasional swimming pool, they are mainly seen with cuffs or shirts.
The typical deskdiver – on his wrist is a watch that can withstand quite some abuse – quietly sits in front of his monitor or laptop, working on presentations, financial overviews in Excel or does some programming. Yet he regularly gets involved into heated discussions on watch forums, blogs, Facebook and Instagram about the use of a Helium valve or the construction of the crown to prevent water from getting into the case. Willing to spend €3000 Euro or more on a watch that has a bunch of innovations that will prevent it from fogging up, have clear vision on the dial when diving 35 meters or deeper and has a a neat bracelet extension that allows him to wear it over a diving suit.
We love the deskdiver and the above description applies to ourselves as well. Besides a budget and brand name, the style of a watch comes at a solid 3rd place when it comes to the customer journey of a watch idiot savant. The deskdiver is the reason why there are diving watches with chronographs or even tourbillon complications while the real diver only needs a uni-directional bezel, legible dial and hands (read here about colors on watches under water) and a good rubber or silicon strap that will go over his diving suit.
However, there is no harm in dreaming away during office time or just preferring a tough look & feel when it comes to your watches. Oh, and James Bond has one as well.
