Swiss watchmaker Rado has been obsessing over highly scratch resistant watches for over 40 years, and now it looks like they have truly outdone themselves with the Rado V10K. The name “V10K” comes from 10,000 Vickers. Vickers are a measurement of hardness and resistance, and 10,000 is the top of the scale — achieved only by diamonds, and now, by the Rado V10K.

Some of the materials that go into the Rado V10K are fairly standard: titanium caseback and clasp (extremely strong and lightweight), sapphire crystal, and a rubber strap (available in black, orange, red, and blue). The rest of the watch, however, is decidedly non-standard. Using a furnace capable of recreating the atmospheric pressure of Jupiter, Rado actually coats the case of the V10K with synthetic diamonds. If diamonds are the hardest substance in the world, the only way to build a truly scratch-proof watch is to actually use diamonds to coat it.

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No matter how many watches a body might have, if you’re the watch wearing type, you have a favorite, the one watch that is the fallback not matter the circumstance. This is mine. I was looking for a watch for all seasons, and this one was the best fit. I wanted an analog, with an alarm, luminous marking, and at least 100m water resistance. It had to be suitable for my professional environments, which can be diverse and a little surreal to many folks in corporate America. Yes, it is quartz, but the only mechanical watch that makes the grade on these requirements is the Panerai 98, and I had not heard of them at the time I bought this one, could not afford them then, can’t really afford them now, and is rather too big for me (although the ease of reading that dial as the eyes age…) The chronograph and titanium were secondary considerations, but I’ve come to appreciate the titanium for the light weight and relatively slim profile it allows. The titanium and sapphire crystal have proven extremely durable despite my cavalier attitude about what activities I engage in while wearing it.

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Without a doubt, the Rolex Sea-Dweller is one of my favorite watches of all time. It represents everything I look for in a watch of this sort: simplicity, quality, functionality, and stark beauty.

The Sea-Dweller is one of the less common Rolex sport models. While the Submariner is produced in several combinations of materials and colors, there is only one Sea-Dweller. It is only available in all stainless steel, and only with a black dial and black bezel. Rolex designed the Sea-Dweller purely as a dive tool — not a fashion accessory.

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