Thread: Tradie watches, Tough or Greatly Shocking...

I brought one in 1985 while doing a diving course almost all in Sydney harbour. It was supposed to be water proof to 150 meters. It broke at under 20. I broke one every day for a week. Mine was replaced under warranty every night post diving. The shop owner after five replacements offered me a nicer watch - it broke as well. That was a long time ago and they may well have changed from advertising waffle to another product now.

"200-meter water resistance" I would not trust the new one water proof claim in a water any deeper than a kids swimming pool.


A seiko Automatic sports 100 was the longest lasting watch I had for about 25 years. I think they would survive any trade if you tighten the water proof bevel. They are a little heavy mind.

Amen... I've got a Citizen 'divers' watch, automatic and resistant to 200 metres. Grafted onto my wrist... never comes off except to clean the band...you'know, the unmentionable crud that accumulates...
(I Chucked the rubber band, replaced it with s/steel bracelet from a fake Rolex.)

Four years in and the dreaded soap/hot showers have'nt killed it.
Around $120 on evilBay, would have had a SEIKO but $$$s more.

Just went onto evilB...and found mine auctioning so far at $US255, for a used one. I suspect they all know it's value!

Gave up on the GShock years ago. Went through 4 under warranty due to moisture getting into the watch.
I was walking in me out freezers back into Darwin heat and the seals couldn't handle the extremes.

Went back to a dive watch and never had an issue after that.

Current watch is a seiko kinetic sporturo and basically never leaves my wrist. It is my everything watch smart enough for going out and tough enough for every day use. Only take it off if I remember doing dirty stuff on the vehicle and to clean the band.

Cheers, Chris

My experience has been different. I've had a good run with the two G-Shocks I've had. The first, the battery died and I never bothered to replace it because the nylon strap was nearly kaput, the second (my current) is a G-Shopck Mudman (G-9300-1 - PRODUCTS - G-SHOCK - CASIO) is supposed to never go flat with solar and what not. Both have been given hell but I only use them when working on the car, garden ,camping fishing etc. I'm definitely not working outside with them 7 days a week so cant offer experience with that.

My experience with my first G-Shock diving was positive. Although it was rated to 200m it wasn't a dive watch by any means but quite happily accepted button presses under water. It was only a few years later I found out that buttons were not supposed to be used under water on the watch so probably more luck the seals kept it water tight.

IMO G-Shocks are marketed more at those who bash their watches about rather than quality of seals. When I bought my last one 3 odd years ago there definitely seems to be a line of "dress" g-shocks now which seem to be more focused on style than durability though.

I have a Citizen Aqualand dive watch that I first bought in 1990. Has copped an amazing amount of abuse and is still going strong. Am onto the third band and no sign of replacing it yet.

I neglected to mention the price of the watch I wore for 25 years was possibly surprising. A mate in Hong Kong was trying to give $100 to buy a nice dress watch from a hawker stall gent on the back of our ship. The Old Gent would not accept the $100 which was making my mate confused and grumpy. I explained he was trying not to rip him off and he wanted to haggle. My mate was still confused ( first time uptop)

I showed him by pointing to the Seiko and offered a $1. 45 minutes later I had my Seiko dive watch and my mates Seiko dress watch for a total of $20 AUD.

Mine stopped on the way back to Oz. Took it to a Seiko shop in Sydney. The jeweller look closely at the watch and warranty and fixed it. He told me it was at least $250 worth. My mate was with me and excited by the value of mine asked the jewler how much his would cost? The jeweller carefully looked through his book of Seiko watches and broke the news- Seiko had never made a watch like his
Moral- My good deed showing ho to haggle worked for me. Not knowing what you buying can be a minefield

Good yarn Navy Diver.

I have yet to own an every day watch that will go the distance. The last one was a Victorinox which never went for more than a swim. It decided to take five minute smokos at random intervals. SWMBO gave me a Citizen Chronograph solar powered watch for our Anniversary, meanwhile I bought a Casio for $120.00 not knowing what was coming. We'll see how they go.

I have a G-Shock, it's lasted me for YEARSSSSS. It's a G-9010 Mudman Tough Solar/Mud Resist etc..... a great watch with no issues.