we are no wrist watch pros here, nor are we experts in diving sports, but still that doesn’t stop us from giving this budget dive watch our very own take. aesthetically, i would say the SKYWATCH Dive Watch is a handsome time piece. the built and construction are great and we love the idea of using sailcloth material for the strap and the blue strap keeper just give the watch an added character (though some may argued the blue is kind of off with the whole watch, but that’s beside the point). though well built, the watch takes some getting use to. why? first off, the watch is a tad too light for my liking (it is very light, tipping the scale at a little over 80 grams) and the lack of weight does not really give it the dive watch feel. but i guess that doesn’t really matters if you are really wearing this for diving.
the model we have is a standard 44mm three-hand stainless model but at 44mm the watch does feel a little on the small side which i suppose may not be as ideal for underwater reading (personally, i would expect a larger dial face for legibility sake). that said, the large numerals and markings, plus the Super Luminova luminescent did make up for the lack of size. btw, the Super Luminova luminescent works really well in low or no light environment. personally, i thought 46mm would be a good size for a dive watch and the strap could benefit from a wider width. speaking of the strap, it is composed of two materials: premium Italian sailcloth on the outside and the inside is lined with nubuck leather. i have never thought leather and water are of a good match, but the nubuck leather lining does feel extremely comfortable on the wrist. with a comfy strap plus the watch lightness, i could easily forget that i was wearing one. as for the unidirectional rotating bezel, it does offer good, satisfying clicking. it is not too light to result in accidental clicks by knocks and yet, not too tight to impede easy adjustments. also, i found there is no free-play once the bezel is set which another testament to its build quality. additionally, the ‘geared’ edge on the bezel provides a good grip for bare hand adjustment, as well as with standard diving gloves on.
one other thing we noticed about this watch is that the second hand does not quite aligned with the indices but i am well aware that this is a fairly common phenomenal across quartz movements. however, the ‘misalignment’ on this particular watch isn’t by a lot and it doesn’t really affect the watch performance in anyway. so perfectionists, you have been warned. so having rant so much about this watch, what’s our verdict? well, for starter, it is no doubt a beautiful time piece with high level of wear comfort, but only if you can get pass the ‘smallness’. however, if you are just starting out on diving, the SKYWATCH does make a good entry level dive watch that’s complete with style and functionality – without ripping your bank account apart.
