DWF terms Boutique divers/tool watches

[kjp17]

Newbie here just want to make sure I understand some of the terms used here on the forum. Boutique refers to small company watches like deep blue, halios, helson. Tool watches are watches that are worn on an everyday basis. Thanks.

[mingsta]

Sounds about right, but I wouldn't get too caught up in terminology. Its all subjective, while some may consider the Rolex Sub a classic tool watch, there are others who'd keep it in the watch box for sunday best!

[jcoat007]

I think of a tool watch as being a "tool" or an instrument used for its intended purpose; in this case diving. It can also imply a certain look or maybe "attitude" is better descriptor.

mingsta is correct that some may see the Rolex Submariner as a tool watch, while others might see it as a safe queen, never to get near the ocean, lake, bathtub, shower or sink.

I think the UTS line is very toolish as is the Sinn U series. There are many.

[_Rand_]

I don't really think of a tool watch as a everyday one.

I mean, you can wear a dress watch as your every day, and its hardly what I'd call a tool watch.

I think of a tool watch as something that has a primary purpose in being functional rather than decorative.

So for example, most military style watches I would consider tool watches.

Simple, easy to read, clean lines etc.

That doesn't mean they are ugly or anything, just that they are not really made specifically to stand out, like say a diamond encrusted watch.

The SAR line I would consider tool watches as well. Not terribly simple, and somewhat complicated dials, but the look and feel of them is all about being tough and usable.

On the other hand, their design DOES stand out, but in a different way. It's more of an industrial design though.

Some watches are tool watches, some are dress, some are fashion, some are any combination of the above.

It's a hard thing to define really. I guess the best I could say is "I know it when I see it."

[Bemo]

Don't most tool watches eschew highly polished surfaces for brushed or bead-blasted finishes? Better to hide or blend in the scuffs that occur from actually using the watch?

[putnam dan]

Perhaps the tool is the one that looks better from its use.

[OnTimeGabe]

Don't most tool watches eschew highly polished surfaces for brushed or bead-blasted finishes? Better to hide or blend in the scuffs that occur from actually using the watch?

Not necessarily. Rolex Submariners have lots of polished steel, as do many classic Seikos and other dive watches that have been used by professionals as diving 'tools' for decades. Something like case finish doesn't have much to do with how well a watch performs. But as someone said above, many here are talking about more of an attitude when they use the term, rather than anything that has to do with functionality. In the small world of watch enthusiasts, I would agree that tool has come to mean no polished steel, chunky, masculine lines, no frills dial, etc. But when you get down to it, some watches that are lauded as great tool divers aren't that great as diving tools due to deficiencies in the lume, poor bezel action, etc.

[akit110]

Not necessarily. Rolex Submariners have lots of polished steel, as do many classic Seikos and other dive watches that have been used by professionals as diving 'tools' for decades. Something like case finish doesn't have much to do with how well a watch performs. But as someone said above, many here are talking about more of an attitude when they use the term, rather than anything that has to do with functionality. In the small world of watch enthusiasts, I would agree that tool has come to mean no polished steel, chunky, masculine lines, no frills dial, etc. But when you get down to it, some watches that are lauded as great tool divers aren't that great as diving tools due to deficiencies in the lume, poor bezel action, etc.

Great post!

[scuttle]

A tool watch used to be a watch that was designed for a special job, like an aviator watch or a diver. Often this involved making the watch tougher and engineering for usability in a way that made the watch heavier and less aesthetically acceptable.

Then in the 1980's conventional tool watches were replaced by diving computers and G-Shocks, and the term changed to mean "butch jewellery" at best, moving on through "sadly camp", "wrist mounted padded posing pouch" and ending up, at the tragic extreme, as "walting accessory". (http://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Walts)