Many of today’s most popular men’s watches owe their masculine demeanor to the need for reliable dive watches. And given that men comprise much of the watch collecting public, these dive styles are exceedingly popular. Their thick cases, robust straps and easy-to-read bezels have become a favored style, especially during the past decade or so.

But style is no substitute for genuine functionality, and a real dive watch should have an uncluttered, easy-to-read dial, a unidirectional timing bezel, guaranteed water resistance to at least 200 meters, a screw-down crown, and a rubber strap or stainless steel bracelet with adjustable dive-suit extension (or the ability to add such a function).

On the following pages you’ll see a wide selection of dive watches that look equally at home on land or underwater. Ranging from the highly functional quartz-powered models to well-known mechanical masterpieces, all of the models were designed to perform under the most challenging underwater conditions.

We’ve included as many as we can fit, though several others can be found elsewhere in this special nautical issue, notably Blancpain (p. 92), Doxa (p.98), Louis Vuitton (p.66), and Montblanc (p.74). Still more are pictured in Steve Lundin’s photo-dive stories starting on pages 104 and 125.