In this episode, Staff Writer Zen Love reveals what that hole in your Rolex dive watch is, and also discusses why watch enthusiasts are especially enamored by watches with complex and "unnecessary" functions. Fittingly, this topic is from an online Gear Patrol series we call Further Details, in which our writers and editors explore single, often overlooked elements of all kinds of products. Special thanks to Benjamin Lowry, a commercial diver and Gear Patrol contributor, who provided extra research for this episode.
Zen Love reveals what that hole in your dive watch is, and discusses why watch enthusiasts are enamored by watches with "unnecessary" functions.
Episode Navigation:
Featured:
Why Does Your Rolex Dive Watch Have a Hole in Its Side? We Found Out
The Ultimate Guide to Dive Watches
The 12 Best Dive Watches at Every Budget
Questions to Ask Before You Buy a Dive Watch
5 Dive Watches Worn By Professional Saturation Divers
Further Details: Ubiquitous but Overlooked Elements Hidden on Your Favorite Products
Nick Caruso:
This is the Gear Patrol Podcast. In this episode, staff writer, Zen Love, who is one half of Gear Patrol's team covering watches, joins me to explain a detail some of you may have noticed on luxury dive watches, it's that hole in the side. What exactly is it and how is it used? Additionally, and sorry if this gives anything away, Zen and I also talk about why watch enthusiasts are especially enamored by watches with complex and frankly, unnecessary functions. But whether or not you are a watch enthusiast, that brand of obsession probably sounds familiar to you. It's our fascination with products that we'll likely never use to their full potential, but just make us go, wow. So I hope you enjoy this literal deep dive into the watch world with Zen. And if you do, I hope you'll also subscribe to the Gear Patrol Podcast and give us a five-star review so more detail obsessed enthusiasts can join in on the conversation. I'm Nick Caruso and I'm glad you're here. Let's get started. Okay. So Zen, why do so many dive watches have a tiny hole in the side of their cases?
Zen Love:
Well, not a lot of dive watches have it but some dive watches do. And just to get everything clear right off the bat, it's not common necessarily, it's on more hardcore dive watches and it's not really a whole. It sounds fun to say there's a hole on the side of your dive watch, but to be clear, it's a valve made of gaskets and a spring system. Yeah.
Nick Caruso:
Okay. So yeah, there's not actually, it's not like there's a tunnel that you can take a little light to and look at the gears and springs inside your watch. What we're talking about is this, anybody looks at the post that we're referencing on Gear Patrol, which is in the show notes, you'll see, it's a Rolex. What kind of Rolex is that? Is it a Submariner?
Zen Love:
It's a Sea-Dweller.
Nick Caruso:
A Sea-Dweller, which we're going to get to. And in the, I guess on the nine o'clock position, there's a hole that looks like it's plugged with a small piece of steel.
Zen Love:
They call it a helium escape valve or a gas escape valve. There are a couple of different things that people call it by.
Nick Caruso:
Okay. And what does a helium escape valve do exactly?
Zen Love:
Well, this is, I suppose, what we're going to be discussing for most of this conversation about why it's needed, how it works, who uses it, what it does. It lets helium that builds up inside the watch case vent. Which is of course, important because as we'll get into later, if it doesn't, under certain circumstances, it could end up causing the crystal of your watch to pop off, explode more or less.
Nick Caruso:
We're literally releasing pressure from inside a watch, yeah, through a valve rather than through the crystal or the case back or some other place you don't want popping off. So how does it work?
Zen Love:
Well, I think it's important to discuss why it's needed first. I mean, it's a valve, so it operates in one direction. This is not where necessarily the helium gets in to the watch. Helium molecules are extremely small, so if you have a waterproof dive watch that can keep out all of the H2O that it's meant to, those are larger molecules, but helium molecules are really tiny and they get past even the small, tiny little spaces that keep the water out and they get into your watch in certain circumstances.
Nick Caruso:
What situation are we talking about here that helium is getting into a watch?
Zen Love:
This is the crux of the issue, I think first, the first thing to say about this is no average person is ever going to need this. This is made for a specific profession that is even specific among professional commercial divers. So even most commercial divers don't need this particular feature, but the ones that do a type of diving called saturation diving are the only ones who might use this and it's who it was developed for in the 1960s. And this is when divers spend a long time under water, often deep underwater. So the time that their bodies need to decompress from absorbing the gases that they absorb while they're under that water pressure can be too long to be reasonable, to do it multiple times, like day after day. So they need to stay pressurized. Their bodies need to stay pressurized.
Zen Love:
And I believe that back in the day, this would all take place in a chamber underwater. So they would stay underwater, at that pressure, nowadays they do it for a month or so. It's crazy. Yeah. It's one of these extreme professions, extreme situations. It's really fun and interesting for watch lovers to think about this. Today, it should be noted that these compression chambers are often located above water. So they're not necessarily underwater, they're simply in this artificially pressurized environment.
Nick Caruso:
Got it. So this is akin to, I mean, obviously submarines would probably be a little closer but this is like doing a stint on the ISS or something, it's in a very extreme environment. So when a diver goes well underwater, the pressure of the deep compresses all sorts of gases and their body doesn't have an escape valve. So it has to slowly off gas over a long period of time. It takes a long time and if you rush that process, you can really screw up your innards.
Zen Love:
Exactly. It causes a syndrome called the bends. I think it's common to describe the mechanics of it as when you open a soda bottle and you have to open it slowly and let the gas escape slowly or else explode and spill everywhere. So you don't want that happening inside your body. So that's why even recreational divers often have had to make these stops along the way as they're going towards the surface, they have to take the time to let these gases escape their body safely and slowly. For saturation divers, where it's a lot more extreme, it can take, after a month of being in this environment, it can take days for these gases to escape. So to finish the job, it'll be all done and they'll still have to just sit in these really cramped quarters, with just like a bunch of dudes.
Zen Love:
The funny thing is that the environment is pressurized and the gases are different from what we normally breathe. And the nitrogen, a lot of the nitrogen is replaced with helium. It's fun to imagine these often, burly, hardcore dudes and doing this really tough work, living in really extreme circumstances and having to live together. And he's like, basically, where there's room to move between bunk beds maybe and that's it.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. They're in these, I imagine it's like the bunks on a submarine. They've got equipment, they've got each other, it's dark, it's probably a little dank because everything's wet and they've got dive watches.
Zen Love:
Yeah. I mean, it's interesting to imagine this scenario with these tough guys, first of all, the helium makes them talk like the chipmunks.
Nick Caruso:
I didn't even think of that.
Zen Love:
And they say you get used to it after a while. The watches, it's interesting, like other features on most modern watches, dive watches especially, these are often interesting and historical, but not necessarily necessary. I mean, dive watches are not necessarily even for commercial divers or recreational divers. And what I'm told is that the saturation divers often will take these watches with them specifically for sentimental value and for keeping track of, just for keeping their bearings of the time while they're in this strange environment. And they're not necessarily even wearing them on their wrist while they're outside working.
Nick Caruso:
So that's something I was wondering is that the dive watches that we typically cover on Gear Patrol or we think of as very premium dive watches are quite expensive. You mentioned the Rolex Sea-Dweller. What would a typical price for a Sea-Dweller be?
Zen Love:
Well, the current production one is 11,700. The one pictured there is a vintage one, it's all scratched up, you'll see. It's been actually diving.
Nick Caruso:
Sure. But so I'm picturing, I don't know, I guess if you're a saturation diver, you're accustomed to a degree of risk, but I can't really imagine myself taking a $12,000 watch, hundreds of meters under the sea for a long time. It seems like I'm going to screw it up even if there is a valve on it that's meant to protect its innards.
Zen Love:
This is an ongoing discussion within the watch community and watch lovers, people love their dive watches, but when they get very expensive like this, it's a very reasonable question. I wouldn't probably want to do that. And yet there are people that do, that's well-documented, there are plenty of people that dive with Submariners, Sea-Dwellers or Blancpain, Fifty Fathoms and whatnot. Even though these are very expensive, high-end dive watches. There are people that use them like that. They don't need to, to be clear. People have dive computers, even for recreational diving, dive computers, tell you everything you need to know. Some people like to take a dive watch underwater as a backup, just in case their dive computer failed.
Nick Caruso:
I imagine this is a risky enough profession that these guys are probably paid pretty well. And can maybe afford a watch like this, still don't know if I'd want to risk.
Zen Love:
Here's the thing is that even if you're a saturation diver, you probably don't need to worry too much about banging it up onto water. These guys, like I said, they often might take these watches mostly for use during their downtime, when they're in the compression system. This is a feature, what's interesting and what I think a lot of people don't really realize is that this is a feature, even though it's associated with watches with extreme water resistance, helium escape valve is a feature that is not used underwater. It doesn't function. It functions in a dry situation only. If you don't have one of these valves on your watch, the helium in the atmosphere of the saturation tank that you're living in will start to expand and will need to go somewhere. And it will explode the crystal off the top.
Nick Caruso:
It goes to the path of least resistance, which is going to be that crystal on top. So then the valve is there and there are a couple different kinds, there's manual and automatic. But first, can you describe how it works and what are the components of the actual valve? You say there are gaskets and there must be a moving pin of some sort?
Zen Love:
Honestly, I think it's pretty simple. I believe the pressure simply pushes on a spring that opens the valve from the inside. There's been criticism that first of all, the valve needs to room to pop out a little bit. So if the watch is stored someplace that could impede it, that would be an issue. People have criticized that it's an opportunity for dust and particles to get in to the watch or even moisture. That's the type of valve that you see on the side of the Sea-Dweller there, where it's just a hole, where it does it automatically. And there are other kinds, most notably a manual valve, which is essentially like a crown that you have to manually unscrew yourself, which is most common on the Omega Seamaster. This one you have to remember to unscrew it at the end. And I've also been told that you could easily simply just unscrew the regular watches crown and achieve the same venting of gases.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. That makes sense. So you raised an interesting point, if that opens, whether it's automatically or manually, you say there is potential for dust and other particles to enter, maybe some water. I don't know. You must have to have a watch like this serviced every time you use it, to make sure that it's in good shape?
Zen Love:
I mean, it's probably a good idea to service your watch regularly. But like I said, these are minor criticisms. These are things, these are points that people have made about, and sometimes debate about the pros and cons of these helium escape valves. I can't say in the end whether or not it is a real concern, that would take probably some studies. And the other point is, again, that almost nobody in the world is in this situation. The number of saturation divers that are active in the world at any given time is, I believe it's in the hundreds and that's around the whole world.
Nick Caruso:
I'd be curious listeners, if anybody out there has any experience with this kind of diving or knows anyone, or has any input, get ahold of us. You can find us on social media, or you can email me at podcast@gearpatrol.com. And now a quick ad break.
Zen Love:
This feature is in some sense, especially nowadays it's got a lot of marketing value. So it's a cool, interesting feature that makes a dive watch seen more serious, that despite the fact that nobody will use, you can make the same argument about a 300 meter water resistance, which is very typical.
Nick Caruso:
So let's get into that. We're talking about necessity in products, is a really deep conversation. It's got a lot of meat there because what actually is necessary, particularly in a watch or what I love cars, what do you actually need? Who needs a pickup truck? Who needs a massive SUV? Who needs a military grade 4x4? Very few people. And similar in the watch category. So like who needs a dive watch that can survive helium compression and decompression at the most extreme levels? What do you think about that? What do you think about the average consumer or any consumer purchasing watches with, I don't know, "useless features" for them?
Zen Love:
For me, dive watches are a great example because they represent durability and toughness and the longevity you can expect out of it. And the situations that you can use it in. I mean, if this is able to survive something much more extreme than I'll ever subject it to, then I can feel really comfortable doing whatever I want to do with it. Swim in a pool or the beach or something like that. I can be a hundred percent certain that this dive watch is made for something much more extreme. And that has plenty of value to me. And the helium escape valve is I'm never going to be in the situation of a saturation diver, it's not that important to me. I mean, but it's just something that is a feature of some very tough watches. It's cool that it was designed for a real purpose and that it can still be used for that purpose today.
Nick Caruso:
Qualities like this on a watch or a car or whatever it is, some extreme tech are like you say, extra insurance in some cases, but in a lot of cases, it's just like, if you know, you know. I'm celebrating that this technology is super cool, that I love how it works, that I'm enamored with the idea of it and I love to just have it and celebrate it.
Zen Love:
Yeah, Absolutely.
Nick Caruso:
That defines a lot of the watch world, and watch enthusiasm is very much along those lines.
Zen Love:
Exactly. Watches themselves are not necessary. I will still argue that they are useful. Just having the time on your wrist can be useful and they're satisfying in multiple other ways, but they're not necessary in themselves almost at all. I mean, there might be some situations where people really do need to be able to check the time on their wrist easily, but yeah, all of those things can apply to just the entire category of watches.
Nick Caruso:
Within the category, what are some other specific features? I mean, we're talking about tool watches or other features that are common to types of watches that are extreme, in that way, that's like advanced tech for lack of a better word. What are some examples there?
Zen Love:
There are all kinds of features that are not necessarily, that are similarly useless, but that are neat to have and originate in some real practical, real-world use. Chronographs are an example, they're a stopwatch, you can time your hard-boiled egg with it nowadays. But back in the day they had these, they have telemeter scale around the edge that people use to measure speed. They were used for racing cars, airplanes, all kinds of things. They have telemeter scales that were used, nowadays people say you can use them to measure how far a thunderstorm is. Whereas, I think in history, they were used for artillery, telling how far away your shell was heating, that type of thing. Basically, all features on watches are like that. But if you're talking about extreme features, I mean, there's other extreme case materials that people are using that are super hard, this type of thing, or-
Nick Caruso:
You're talking about like ceramics and materials like that?
Zen Love:
The hardness of something like titanium. I mean, nobody ever broke their watch in half. I mean, it's happened probably in history, but typically the hardness of titanium, for example, that people often tout is not very useful probably. It's great that it's super hard, that it's not less hard than steel. It scratches more easily and it's lightweight. So those are good as well.
Nick Caruso:
And then in terms of other complications, I'm always enamored with a mechanical Moonphase or, I mean, there's some watches that are just so extreme, they layer complications on top of complications. Can you actually walk through a few of those for people who may not know about various extreme complications in watches, what are some of your favorite others?
Zen Love:
I'm not sure I can call any of them extreme. I'm trying to think of what an extreme complication would be.
Nick Caruso:
Well, I mean, okay, here, let me back up then. So I'm holding here, I have an Orient dive watch, this is a 300, $350 watch I got it a few years ago. It is stainless steel. It has a date function and a rotating bezel. I think it's very handsome and it says it's water resistant to 200 meters. So there's no escape valve on this. So I would say that anything that isn't on this watch, if it's on a dive watch, I would consider a little excessive, not in a negative way. I just mean extra. So beyond a standard watch, what are some of those features that, like Moonphase is and other complications, like a chronograph that you love?
Zen Love:
Sure. I mean, there are tons. The Moonphase is what people often refer to as poetic complications. Like divers might use them to keep track of say, when there's going to be a bright moon for diving at night, I've heard that people find that useful. There are tide charts even which can be useful, calender to complication, there are chiming mechanisms, which are really cool, but they tend to also be really expensive. Basically, anything you add to a watch in terms of the mechanics, especially with these complications, tend to raise the price. If we're talking about dive watches, there are examples of depth meters, and-
Nick Caruso:
Really, I didn't know that. They must work on a pressure sensor of sorts?
Zen Love:
Yeah. I'm planning to do a whole thing about that, coming up soon.
Nick Caruso:
Blowing up your spot. Okay. Keep your eyes peeled everybody for that rundown. I don't know if you can help me peg this or not, but it's related to the last question I asked, I've got, again, this 300 ish dollar Orient, is there a price threshold when you would expect to start seeing things like helium escape valves on say specifically a dive watch?
Zen Love:
That might be hard to pin down exactly, but they're not going to be on Orient dive watches probably. Other brands that are known for this feature besides Rolex and Omega, which we've already mentioned is Doxa, Doxa developed one of the earliest ones around the same time as Rolex. And their watches are definitely going to be a much more affordable way to get the history, the hard core specs and the helium escape valve. If that's what you want. Doxa is a good thing to look at for people that are interested in this.
Nick Caruso:
I kind of know, this is like a thousand dollars, 1500, is that about where Doxa's begin?
Zen Love:
Yeah, but probably these ones with the helium escape valves are going to be a bit more than that. More like two, 3000, I'm thinking.
Nick Caruso:
I'm familiar with the Doxa Sharkhunter, I loved that model. We did a video involving one, I think, late last year. And it was just really kind of a quirky, incredible attractive watch, really smitten with it.
Zen Love:
Yeah. I mean, it's got a following, it's really unique. They're best known for, well, they're partly known for having pioneered the orange dial. That's another example of a feature that was developed for a certain utility that is now no longer, it is now recognized is no longer really valid for that utility, but the people still love. So people thought the orange dial was going to be more visible and more legible underwater. It turns out that the red spectrum of color is among the first to disappear as you go down. So yeah, it's not going to help you much contrast to what you're looking for legibility, regardless of the color, probably.
Nick Caruso:
Gotcha. Well, that's close to mind, the red underwater, I believe submarines used to use red light inside, and now they use blue because it provides a higher contrast, but still stealthy. So let's end on this. You're talking about these features on a watch, basically being style choices anymore, or for lack of a better term, bragging rights for an owner. Like I've got this amazing piece of tech and I'm infatuated it with it and I want the world to see it. Are dive watches still the pinnacle of the, and correct me if I'm getting the terminology wrong, but the pinnacle of a tool watch that people are wearing as a style statement?
Zen Love:
I mean, I would say, yeah. I mean, dive watches are, they must be the most popular category. What makes, let's say a Sea-Dweller different from a Submariner, I think this, I think is maybe an interesting distinction to make. A Sea-Dweller is larger first of all, it's rated to go deeper underwater and it's got the helium escape valve, but otherwise the design is very similar. I mean, it was actually debuted in 1967 as part of the Submariner line then it became its own collection. But I mean, looking at a picture of them, you might not tell at first glance, which is which.
Nick Caruso:
You have to keep your eye on that little, the nine o'clock position on the case, look for the hole.
Zen Love:
No, it says it on the dial, also that way.
Nick Caruso:
No. That's not the way to do it. No, one's going to be able to do that. You'd have to look for the pin. Okay. So you can cheat a little bit, you can read it on the dial. But now that everybody's informed by your post and this conversation, they'll be able to spot an escape valve from across a room. Good. Well, Zen, thanks for giving us the rundown. You've written a lot of these further detailed posts on a lot of different features and we'll be covering more of them in the future, along with all our other categories from Gear Patrol. So I appreciate your insights and the in-depth pun. Is it a pun? Yeah. In depth lesson.
Zen Love:
Yeah. I want to give a shout out to my friend, Ben Lowery, who is a commercial diver who educated me on a lot of this stuff, gave me a lot of insight and he's written about dive watches as well. So check him out. He's the ultimate resource for this specific question for sure.
Nick Caruso:
Cool. Well, that's what the show notes are for. Maybe you can pass me some links and we can share with our listeners down there.
Zen Love:
For sure.
Nick Caruso:
I want to know what's in Ben's collection, but that's maybe something we need to save for another time. For now, I just want to thank everyone for joining today. This is the Gear Patrol Podcast. You are listening to it, that means you like products and product culture. And I hope that also means you're subscribed. So if you're not, please do. And while you're at it, if you do enjoy the podcast, please give us a review and a rating. Those five star reviews help more people get on the conversation so they can identify helium escape valves and hear our product experts go on and on with their encyclopedic genius like Zen here. If you do have, if you do leave a review, a five star there, drop a comment or a question in there with it, and we'll try to address it on a future episode.
Nick Caruso:
You can also get in touch with us on social media, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, our handle is Gearpatrol, it's one word, or you can email me directly at podcast@gearpatrol.com. Zen, thanks again for tuning in with me today. It was good to chat with you.
Zen Love:
Thanks Nick.
Nick Caruso:
And everybody else, I'm glad you're here. Thanks for joining. And until next time, take care. And now to hit the podcast escape valve.