Watch Water Resistance Ratings. Are They Unclear?

Here are the video links I promised to include:
A couple of folks test a Casio G-Shock in a tabletop pressure chamber...    • How Waterproof Casio G-Shock really i...  

Casio demonstrates what happens when one of their watches is submerged below 200 meters of water...    • Casio G-Shock DW 5600 goes an underwa...  

Plus a bonus video in which Casio subjects their own G-Shock watch to some "torture tests"...    • G-Shock Challenge The Limit | DW-5600  

There seems to be some confusion about how to interpret the water resistance ratings of lower-priced watches like most Casio watches. If a watch is rated as Water Resistant to 50 meters does that mean you can actually put the watch 50 meters underwater without causing damage? And what kind of watch is actually suitable to use in a SCUBA diving situation? What I've found is that watch manufacturers are very conservative about the water resistance claims for the watches they make. And people who specifically purchase expensive watches for underwater use (including SCUBA diving) are often very reluctant to admit that any other kind of watch can be used under any amount of water.

So let's talk about this. My bottom line is this: If I have a watch which is rated for 50 meters of water resistance then I don't worry about it at all. I will wear it while I'm getting wet. I will wear it while I swim in a pool, a lake or the ocean. I've been wearing Casio watches for over 35 years and I've never had one fail because I used it while swimming (and I should mention that I do not SCUBA dive). In the past three years I've purchased dozens of watches and most of them are G-Shocks, rated for 200 meters of water resistance. I REALLY don't worry about them. And, unless you are doing some professional-type diving, I don't think you should worry about them either. I'm disappointed when I learn that people who own G-Shock watches are afraid to take them into the water because they've been told that nothing short of a professional-level diving watch will withstand any submersion. Sigh.