"tactical" watches

There is tritium and then there is everything else. I have an older Breitling and it glows alot better than a newer one that I have, but neither one are tritium. If you think you will need to see the time in the dark, the tritium is the way to go. It is like comparing tritium gun sights to those with paint on "glow in the dark" paints, which work less well to some extent either reasonable or all the way to useless, stops glowing in 5 minutes type stuff. SOme of the stuff they put on watches now is supposedly better, hight tech glow stuff, still it does not have a radioactive power source and dims eventually. You can find old radium watch dials from the 50's and they still glow better than the glow paint junk, event though they have turned brown and ugly. Might as well also insist on waterproof too. if you want a mechanical watch for not alot of money, some of the Russian Vostok watches on ebay are pretty decent and keep reasonably good time. They just are not as pretty with polished innards that no one sees. They make dive watches that are automatic winding for like 58$ or less on ebay. I still use a quartz Breitling dive rated for my everyday beater watch though. Not flawless, but pretty good.
 
tatical watches

If you really want to impress someone with your watch get an Omega or a Rolex; now if you want a watch that is reliable and affordable get a Timex, Casio, or Seiko dive watch. I have the Black dial “orange monster” it’s a great watch but to heavy for day to day use.
 
Rolex and Tudor were the original "tactical" watches, and are probably still the best.
Some of the Swiss Army watches are very nice, for not a lot of money.
 
Well, as a "mid road" watch somewhere between Timex and Rolex, you might consider Tag Heuer.

They have some pretty rugged "dive style" watches that run around $800 or so. Screw-down crowns keep them waterproof.

I don't use mine for diving, because a dive computer does the job so much better (and it's connected to your tank, so it shows remaining bottom time.)
But, my wife forgot to take her Tag off, and it survived a 90ft dive just fine.

Saphire crystals are very hard to scratch, stainless bands have double-clasp fasteners, etc.

Very well made Swiss watch, without the snob appeal of the Rolex.
 
For one of the most disturbingly overbuilt watches ever, consider the Sinn UX, the Bell & Ross Hydromax, or the Technomarine Abyss.

They're filled with a silicone oil and rated to 12,000 meters of water resistance. Sinn's UX (personally the best-of-breed here) is built from U-Boat steel (Rockwell 67C, harder than most knives), and Sinn even makes a GSG-9 edition for those who simply must have an explicit tactical tie-in.

The Bell & Ross Hydromax is pretty neat. The company is relatively young, but it's built a reputation for building very no-nonsense, purpose-driven watches. They don't really do jewelry, though lately they've started adding a little gold and polish to some of their models (not the Hydromax).

Technomarine's version, the Abyss, has a bubble in the oil, which they consider a feature and not a defect (it gives the oil some room to expand and contract as the temperature changes). It's pretty surreal to watch it moving around, and every time I see someone inspecting one, the bubble seems to hypnotize them for a few seconds (this is unlikely to be useful in a real tactical setting, but some people might consider it a plus in a social one).

Of the three, the Technomarine has the least aggressive testing behind it (Bell & Ross, for example, actually built a pressure chamber to test theirs, and is very proud of that), and the least "ooh"-factor among the watch-collector crowd. On the other hand, a Sinn will set you back $1900-ish, a Hydromax $2400-ish, and the Abyss sells for a bit under $300 on Amazon. The difference is a very nice rifle and some ammo to feed it, or even a box of .380ACP from Cheaper Than Dirt (maybe two if you're lucky).
 
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Image is everything in advertising

The "Special Ops" "Predator" is the watch that suits my image, demeanor, and every other aggressive personality disorder I may harbor. At least that is what the advertising seems to imply. Cool advertising using well made-up male models with $200 haircuts and back packs filled with foam (no indentation at the shoulders). Claims of "true" water resistance - not waterproof - of 300-600 feet equals the water resistance claim of my $49 Casio, which I bought on sale for $29. Of course the 3,300 feet claim for the "Xtreme Ops Seal Team" divers watch means that the watch will tick at that depth while the SEAL wearing it will have long been reduced to fish food. I usually have a good laugh at these types of "tactical" claims but this time I laughed even more because my son, who recently completed 10 years of active duty military service, was on hand to humorously interpret the advertising claims.

My nine years of military service were spent with plain Seikos and two Rolexes. By the way, the Rolexes never kept accurate time for more than a week. A fake gold Rolex I bought for $25 kept better time. Now I hike, recreate, shoot, work, swim, etc. with an analog Casio that seems impervious to nearly anything destructive. The only drawback to the Casio is its non-tactical designation.
 
Tuzo said:
Of course the 3,300 feet claim for the "Xtreme Ops Seal Team" divers watch means that the watch will tick at that depth while the SEAL wearing it will have long been reduced to fish food.
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Not to take the wind out of this very appealing sail, but "water resistance" claims are usually done with with atmospheres, and the "N feet" claims are usually N feet of air used for the pressure test.

If you really want to nerd out, consult ISO standard 2281, but Zeno has a handy translation table.

For example, a "500 meter water resistant watch" translates to being able to resist SCUBA diving at 50 meters for two hours of continuous pressure. The 1000-meter/3,300-foot claim goes to 100 meters for two hours, which is... actually not too unrealistic.

Serious dive watches, including like the ones I mentioned earlier, follow a different standard, ISO 6425, and their numbers are "meters of water". In fact, they get an extra 25%-overpressure test to account for differences in water density. If you're buying one of these, you'll know.

And the Sinn UX is still Tougher Than You. :p
 
I got Omega X-33 for all of my tactical needs... :D excellent readability, serious backlight when needed, UTC time with separate alarms, rotating bezel and strong Luminovas. And the alarms are LOUD.

Also have a 5.11 HRT watch but nowadays can only use the Horus Vision ballistic calculator on it. The Chinese crap-ching movement said up its contract right at warranty end. The calculator is brilliant but everything about the hardware is utter tinsel, for which, shame on 5.11.
 
I like the Timex Ironman series of watches. The last two I have purchased were under $40. I simply run them tell the 5 year battery runs out and replace the whole watch.
 
IDK about tactical, but if you want a good ooking watch with quality internal works(Read will keep good time) for a VERY reasonable price then try here:
http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Watches/Seiko/20748/subcat.html
Yes, I buy my watches and sheets from overstock.com.

Rolex's actually have terrible internal works, some of the worst around. By non-aesthetic standards they are some of the worst watches available. Thing is most women don't care at all about function, at least those you might try to impress with a watch, so they still have a wondrous effect.
 
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I have the Casio G Shock Atomic / Solar and was quite pleased with it for about the first year. After that, it will not hold a charge for anything. I can spend the entire day out in the sun and the first time I hit the indiglo on it, it is already running out of juice.
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Yours might be defective, mine has had no issues for years and years, the only time it even gets to medium power is in the winter if I am wearing long sleeve shirts in the office. Make sure the auto-light-on is off (that is where if you turn you arm the light comes on) and make sure it can see light a little. If you normally wear long sleeve shirts and jackets so that the watch seldom sees the light, it is not the watch for you. The only problem I have now is that in my new house my watch does not sync in the place I normally keep it. at night. So once a week or so I put it in an W. facing window overnight.
 
"Rolex's actually have terrible internal works, some of the worst around. By non-aesthetic standards they are some of the worst watches available."

That's funny! Rolex automatic movements are probably the finest movements made. Now if you don't know the difference between a quartz and automatic, I can understand the statement.
Quartz watches keep better time than any mechanical watch. Of the mechanicals, the Rolex is near (or at) the top. And your Rolex's batteries won't run down.
 
I've worn my Rol' Sub for over 25 years............. and yes I have a demo knife and a blue sapphire ring too! ;)

Regards,
 
I wear my watch to tell what time it its..... not a whole lot more. Date and a few extras are nice but seriously, 5K + for a watch ? No thanks. I'll stick with my $60 G Shock and spend the rest on some decent guns or gear.
 
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