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One of my very favorite things to do is swim. But its not just swimming I enjoy, its anything having to do with the water, whether it's on the hot sands off the Atlantic coast, skiing on the ocean's surface or feverishly pounding Olympic-sized pools with breast stroke after breast stroke.

No matter what kind of water sporting events you enjoy'snorkeling, deep-sea diving, scuba diving, sailing or ocean dwelling'your best swimming companion could very well be the Croton 1650 Feet Dive Watch, primarily due to its amazing water resistance capacity.

To say that 1650 feet is deep is to state the blatantly obvious. In light of this, perhaps the best way to illustrate such a depth is by offering a record-breaking feat. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the deepest dive with scuba gear is 437 feet off the coast of the Bahamas. If you don't think this is deep, consider what Open Water Sport Diver Manual has to say about going deeper than 250 feet, saying ''the average diver is more or less useless and becomes a safety menace to himself and others.' In other words, the Croton 1650 can withstand what the human body cannot!

Some of the other impressive features of the Croton CA301062SSGY include the band, which is stainless steel with a diver's clasp and safety lock. This truly is a strong lock that's a bit difficult to latch into place and equally as difficult to take off. However, if you're a swimmer, this is exactly what you want (as anyone who has lost his or her watch while swimming will tell you).

Outside of the Croton 1650 Feet Dive Watch's water resistant capability that places it in the upper echelon of high-end watches (e.g. Tag Heuer), its sleek design is impressive as well. The luminous hands and number markings seem to harness light for a generous amount of time. What's lacking in this model, I find, is the sweeping second hand that I always look for in watches. However, because this model has a quartz movement, which traditionally keeps better time than automatics, it offsets the drawback of not having a sweeping second hand (the 'drawback''if it can be called that'being that I find sweeping second hands more pleasing to look at).

Another nice thing about this watch is the weight it has. At the rock bottom price of $170, I was expecting it to be on the lighter side, but the weight is considerable (not as much as other Ceylon watches I've tried, but at 5.9 ounces, it's enough weight to satisfy).

Some other features: a unidirectional rotating bezel with a luminous marker at the top of the bezel; the case material is stainless steel with a screw down case back (I like exhibition back's more, but considering it's the back of the watch, it's really a non-issue) with dimensions of 42 mm in diameter and half an inch in thickness.

The dial of the watch has a nice textured look to it, with a zigzag, vertical design. It's a nice embellishment of the dial because it gives it a dual color look when light reflects off it (i.e. the color of the face is black but if light hits it just right, it has a light grayish hue). The watch is also available with a white face.

Once again, this Croton watch is a great watch for the money and a watch that anyone would enjoy. However, its specs are geared for swimming enthusiasts, all of whom are sure to be impressed by its performance for many laps to come.