Recently I've started realizing that many brands that are on the less expensive spectrum seem to do almost exclusively Rolex submariner copy dive watches. Vaer, Sinn, Invicta. It seems like it's almost all they have to offer!
I also don't really appreciate it when people mention Certina only for their DS Action Diver like, sure it's a great watch...but it's not the only good watch Certina makes. In fact it's not even their best watch. It also represents a massive overlook at their history as independent watchmaker before it was purchased by Swatch Group.
In my opinion these submariner copies look like a cheap attempt to cash in on Rolex's design when ultimately...the original design isn't from the brands copying it but from Rolex itself instead.
I don't think anyone needs a diver either honestly it's just more like it's a nice stylistic inspiration if anything these days but few people will dive 300 meters often unless it's their job or they have a hobbie that involves it.
It would be nice if more brands did what Seiko does: they have their own submariner inspired diver, but they also have their own styles of divers which are proprietary designs.
The dive watch (as well as the field watch, the pilots watch…) has followed the same trajectory as so many other items of menswear. Think about the bomber jacket, the desert boot, aviator sunglasses, driving loafers, 1980s basketball sneakers, etc etc — all of these items once had a very specific purpose, and all have long since outlived that purpose as a more general-interest fashion staple. There are tons of thoroughly modern incarnations of all these items, but plenty of them hew pretty close to the more traditional designs, because, after all, it was those original designs that inspired people to say “I don’t actually need that piece of gear, but goddamn it looks cool” in the first place.
It makes sense that a lot of people would want a Sub-type dive watch, the same way it makes sense that a lot of people want an Alpha Industries-style bomber jacket. That was the design that made the whole style catch on. And, for me, the fact that most dive watch owners aren’t scuba divers isn’t any more scandalous than bomber jacket wearers not being pilots, or Air Jordan 4 wearers not playing basketball in them.
It's the same thing yes