Watches Similar to Rolex Submariner

This stylish watch first appeared in 1953 and is fast becoming legendary. It is made in stainless steel with a 41mm face, surrounded by a blue ceramic tachymeter with white enamel diving scale. The watch dial is blue with a distinctive laser-engraved wave design.

The hands and indexes are raised, and rhodium-plated with white Superluminova for excellent viability. There is a date window at the 6’o’clock position and the dial is protected by a domed sapphire crystal that is both anti-reflective and scratch-resistant. This beautifully designed watch is packed with the Omega Co-Axial Master Chronometer 8800 which can be seen through its transparent case back

The Swiss watch company Omega has been producing luxury watches since 1848 and is known for creating stunning timepieces with strong design features and an excellent heritage. They are favourite with the British Royal Family and Omega was the first watch brand worn on the moon by astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Now the favourite watch brand of the new James Bond – Daniel Craig – the new Seamaster Diver 300m will appear for the first time in the new Bond film ‘No Time To Die’ which will be released in 2021.

In 1953 this watch recognised for its uniquely styled tube style bezel revolutionised the diving world and became the first modern diving watch as all the main watchmakers competed for customers in the new Scuba diving market.

A race took part between many famous watch brands to produce some of the best suitable watches for diving, Rolex, Omega and Blancpain to name a few, pushed diving watches to the limit.

Blancpain developed the Fifty Fathoms watch in partnership with Robert Maloubier, a French Naval Special Forces Captain. This watch is recognised in the entire watch community and human history for using an innovative bezel that only can be turned one way, called the uni-directional bezel. This new innovation set the standard for a dive watch, leaving other brands scrabbling to create their own safety bezels.

The company went to market the year before the Rolex Submariner (1954).  The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is an automatic watch and minimalistic style in satin-brushed titanium with a 45 mm black face and black rotating bezel made of sapphire crystal. The bezel has notches that are in C3 Superlumiinova, as are the hands, hours and seconds – making them really easy to read. There is a date window between 4- 5 o’clock.

Blancpain is a Swiss company, now part of the Swatch Group. As a company, it has made a commitment to the world’s oceans and works closely with divers, scientists and underwater explorers in trying to raise the profile of the importance of the world’s oceans and how vital it is that they are protected.

The Swiss watch company Breitling has been making excellent precision watches since 1884. In the 1950s, the company launched its first Superocean range of watches – designed as robust and practical sports watches. In 2018, the company relaunched the five models in the range having upgraded and streamlined them.

The revised Superocean Automatic 44 is a sporty fresh-looking watch and is much clearer and streamlined. The 44 mm dial on the new watch is less cluttered and more minimalistic in design, which makes it far easier to read and much more refined – it definitely looks better for it! The watch is in brushed and polished stainless steel and the dial is matt and lightly grained – either in blue or black. There are numbers at the 6, 9 and 12 positions and they – plus the hands and markers- are highlighted with Superluminova.

The second hand is easy to spot as it has an over-sized red arrow at its tip. The dial is protected by a sapphire crystal that has been treated with a double anti-reflective coating. The watch’s sporty look is enhanced by its Diver Pro II rubber strap​.

Eye-catching and sporty, this watch has classic good looks that will suit all occasions. Made in stainless steel with an automatic self-wind, the watch face measures 42 mm This watch has a mechanical exterior and internal rotating bezel and comes with the Safe Dive System. The black dial has luminous hands, intervals and a date window at the 3 o’clock position. The dial is covered with a convex sapphire crystal that is anti-reflective. This watch has a black rubber watch strap that is the IWC patented ‘quick change’ design.

IWC is based in Schaffhausen in Switzerland and has been making luxury watches since 1868 and is known for creating refined watches with impeccable taste. The Aquatimer was its first true divers’ watch that was unveiled at the Basel Fair in 1967 and almost five decades later, the company is still producing this elegant watch which is proving as popular as ever.

Based on its ‘big brother’ the Oris ProDiver Chronograph, the Oris ProDiver Date is solid, robust and a very serious piece of kit.

Based in Holstein in Switzerland, Oris has been making luxury mechanical watches since 1904. The company began making seriously good diving watches in the 1950s and the ProDiver has been one of the staples on the market and still has many fans.

Oris is known for its superb craftsmanship and has collections of watches for aviation and motor racing enthusiasts as well as divers. This watch has a titanium case with a ceramic timing bezel. Its face measures 49 mm – slightly smaller than the Chronograph. The dial is black with an etched wave design and the one- and five-minute intervals plus the hands are treated with Superluminova BGW9 and there is a date window at 6’o’clock.

The top glass is convex on both sides and anti-reflective. Because this watch really is a tough watch for serious deep-sea divers, it is fitted with a helium escape valve. and the watch is presented with a black rubber strap with the word ‘ORIS’ written on both shoulders.

Classically designed with a clear, easy to read dial, this stylish sporty watch from Swiss watchmakers Longines, made its first appearance in 2007.

With a brushed black ceramic with a ceramic bezel, this 41mm watch has a Sunray black dial with a date window at 3 o’clock and Arabic numerals at  6, 9 and 12 o’clock and silver polished hands. All the indexes have been treated with green Swiss Superluminova for great viability – when put to the test, the green luminescence is really impressive.  The top glass is sapphire crystal and has several layers of anti- reflective coating has been applied to the underside.

This watch takes a different aesthetic from the normal Longines design, giving it a more sleeker and aggressive design, compared to their usual friendly classic appearance. This watch comes in a sporty black rubber with a double security folding clasp. The beauty of this watch is that is has a great design that suits either an active or social event.

If you are looking for something just a little different, Bremont is brand fairly new to the watch industry, a British watchmaker, founded by Giles and Nick English in 2002. Their first watches were inspired by aviation, a strong heritage in the founding families history. Their most successful watch was the ‘Spitfire’ which set the brand to become a highly respected player. In 2009, they turned their attention to create a diving watch with the launch of their S500 – which also has become a success in its own right.

The larger S2000 followed three years later and can go to a greater depth than its brother. The Bremont Supermarine S2000 has smart linear lines and is very distinctive as it has a dark red 20 minute counter on its uni-directional rotating bezel The watch is 45 mm and made in stainless steel with Trip-Tick® case construction and anti-shock and Faraday Cage.

The black dial has a knurled effect in the centre and large clear indexes with a date window at 3 o’clock. The minute hand is tipped in red to match the red on the bezel and all the hands and indexes have Superluminova to ensure they are really easy to read even at great depths and in darkness. As this watch is designed for depth, it has an auto helium escape.

This model has its own exclusive bracelet design, which features both a diver’s extension and a micro-adjustable clasp – these features give the wearer great flexibility to ensure a comfortable fit. To add extra detail there are polished facets.

Made to high quality, this watch is advertised as a ‘professional diving instrument’ and when you are diving it is essential that you have a watch that you can rely on as your life may depend on it, back in the day of using mechanical watches for diving.  The Aquaracer certainly looks smart, rugged and capable.

It has a brushed and polished stainless steel case and a black Sunray dial measuring 43mm. There are large clear numerals on the turning ceramic bezel and the watch dial has large clear intervals. The second hand has a yellow tip and ‘calibre 5’ is written in yellow in the centre of the dial. There is a date window at the 3 o’clock position.

All of the details on the dial are luminous and in the dark are a brilliant turquoise colour which is super easy to read.  The stainless steel bracelet has a safety folding clasp and an integrated diver extension so that the watch can be easily worn over a wetsuit sleeve.