All About Watch Water Resistance

Watch water resistance is measured in ATM, short for atmospheric pressure. 30ATM is 300 meters of atmospheric pressure the timepiece can manage water without leaking. The above chart simplifies activities you can do with your ATM rating.

However, do not follow this rule for vintage watches. Kalle Slaap, watchmaker from the Netherlands is one of my favorite to watch and he has a saying every watch enthusiast and collector should hear; "we fix the watch the way it should be, not the way we got it". This means if it's not brand new, expect it to be altered.

Here is a link to Chronoglide- https://www.youtube.com/c/chronoglidewatchmaking

I refurbish watches, therefore I restore them cosmetically. I restore affordable common watches and often change the original structure. Sometimes for example, I will put an acrylic crystal in place of what was once a waterproof glass crystal with a gasket. This is because I don't have the exact materials to replicate the original but it's under $100 and looks great so it's not a watch someone is buying for water resistance. 

However if someone is collecting the Gordon Ramsay Breitling Breitling Cockpit Chronograph model A30012, 10ATM or 100 meter water resistance watch, they will expect it to be as close to original as possible.