Is my fossil watch watch water proof - Fossil Watches

SOURCE: are fossil 10 atm watches

No watch is "water proof." As a matter of fact, there's a U.S. law on the books that watches (and other equipment) can only be described as "water resistant," since nothing other than a solid object can completely shed water.

All that said, the 10 ATM designation is meant to convey that when the watch was new, it was supposed to withstand up to 10 atmospheres of external pressure--which would translate into being about 300-330 feet underwater. That's pretty water proof in my book.

HOWEVER, and this is a big caveat, a watch's water resistance rating is based on its condition at the time that it left the factory. Over time, the little gaskets that help keep water out of the watch will begin to wear and provide less water resistance. In particular, official factory servicing states that the neoprene gasket between the case and caseback of the watch should be replaced every time that you change the battery. In fact, most people, including me, re-use that gasket if it still looks pretty good when I open the watch. That definitely compromises the factory water resistance rating.

Bottom line: If you have a watch rated for 10 ATM of water resistance that's a few years old, I wouldn't be all that concerned about getting it casually wet, or even going swimming with the watch (I'm paranoid enough that I wouldn't do this, but I'm probably in the minority). However, I wouldn't go diving with a watch that's had its battery replaced unless it was re-tested for water resistance after the battery was serviced. Some but not all jewelers have special machines that perform this test. If you're interested, you could probably pay one of them a few dollars to have your watch tested. They don't have to do anything to the watch other than place it in their machine, so it's not a big deal for someone who has the equipment to perform this test.