Watch water resistance question

[gibbs_breakfast]

I bought a Seiko 5 SNK809 today, and I am new to the watch game.

The back just says "water resistant," but it does not give a specific depth. What is a safe amount of wetness to subject the watch to? Shower? Ocean/Lake? I don't SCUBA so that is not an issue.

Thanks

[LesserBlackDog]

"Water resistant" can mean a few different things... typically it refers to anything between 10m (30ft) and 30m (90ft) water resistance. That's basically watch code for "safe for splashes and brief submersion, but not long-term submersion or water sports." By contrast, most "sport" watches have 100m+ water resistance, and all modern diving watches have at least 200m water resistance. Most watches with good case construction and fresh, correctly-seated gaskets will be able to withstand shallow submersion regardless of their WR rating, but there's no real guarantee.

Seiko makes good quality watches, so I imagine they aren't playing around with the "water resistant" label. I'm sure the watch is safe for hand-washing, occasinal showering, and brief submersion. But I would wear something with a little more water resistance for swimming or any other kind of water sport.

[JGL]

Amazons spec sheet for the watch says 30ft. The back of the watch is a screw plate instead of the pop/friction variety. That should help with the "water resistance" but not much more then the specified amount.

[javadave]

Washing your hands it about the limit for 30 feet. great field watch

note that this is really a measurement of pressure not how deep a watch can go. when you jump, swim and splash in a pool that creates a certain amount of force/pressure that will be applied to the watch. even though you may be only a foot deep in the pool the watch will be experiencing pressures greater than a foot of water sitting on top of it.