Wearing your Rolex in tough conditions?

[BraveBold]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

From 1953 . . .

LOL. 30 hours operating a pneumatic drill. Funny that 30 hours… same time as one of the key industry standards for power tool use on a burglary safe.

I now see who Tudor was marketing to back then…

[Easy Rhino]

If I owned a jeweled bezel watch like a Rolex Daytona Rainbow I would wear it like fine jewelry. But I don't.

I watched US Navy SEAL divers beat their well worn Rolex Submariners to death and back in the early 80s when we locked them in and out of our submerged nuclear attack submarine, and promptly fell in love with the Sub.

In the 20 years since my wife gifted my Sub on the occasion of our 25th wedding anniversary I have worn it around the world without fear or concern, and never took it off my wrist regardless of what physical tasks in which I was engaged. I worked in shipyards for decades and have done tons of wrenching on my cars (including my 1965 Corvette nearly full restoration), remodeled houses, kitchens, bathrooms, done concrete and tile work, etc., etc., etc. My wife would be confused if I didn't do so.

It's a tool watch darn it.

A Rolex SA was kind of horrified to hear how I abused my Sub but was at the same time curious to hear all of its adventures. Now that I'm older I'm not as hard on things (mostly my own body), but I treasure my Sub all the more because I wore it through all of my trials and challenges.

So now my Sub is quietly slipping into retirement and old age - but not without adventures to tell.

Last comment: I've seen lots of Rolex adverts showing Rolexes being used in all manner of physical activity, but I've never seen a Rolex advert touting the supremacy of pulling a rarely worn brand new sports watch out of a safe to wear once in a blue moon.

[Calatrava r]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

From 1953 . . .

Cool!

[Randelpink]

Originally Posted by Easy Rhino

It's a tool watch darn it.

Last comment: I've seen lots of Rolex adverts showing Rolexes being used in all manner of physical activity, but I've never seen a Rolex advert touting the supremacy of pulling a rarely worn brand new sports watch out of a safe to wear once in a blue moon.

Amen

[ecbkk]

this is what tudors and 5 digit rolexes are for.

the 6 digit rolexes with their butter soft 904L steel just cosplay as tool watches for businessmen/lawyers/consultants/6'5" finance cosplaying as adventurers and explorers or deep sea oil pipe welders.

For example, I always wear aviators sunglasses with the green lens when I wear a GMT2.

[East of Eden]

Originally Posted by mpkRolex

I don’t have a rough job but I have a Rolex for different occasions so yes I wear one 100% of the time (except in shower )


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Why not he shower? Good way to get them regularly cleaned

[Woodenbull62]

With the cost of a Rolex being what it is in 2025, I change it out to a beater Watch for beater-type work around the house.
I prefer to keep my 124060 looking sharp as long as I can!

[zabadoodly]

I do not wear my Rolex under tough conditions like gardening, maintenance work, car work or anything...

[GMT Aviator]

I have worn all my GMT’s on the flight deck for years. Airliner flight decks can be hard on a watch because you’re always inadvertently banging your watch against something because of the confined space. With my Rolex they’ve always held up well, the ceramic bezel watches keep their appearance better over the same length of time because the bezel doesn’t really scratch and I’ve never had one crack or shatter.
The older aluminium inserts on the 16710 held up well, but they will show slight dinks and scratches when knocked in that environment enough.
My first ‘quality’ Swiss watch was my Speedy Pro Moonwatch which I wore like 27 years ago. That didn’t hold up so well in the flight deck because the hesalite crystal and the bezel insert were always getting scrapped on something. The Rolex holds up much better in that regard.

[77T]

Do desks - and -
Door jambs count?

Or tile floors - and -
Pool coping count?

Those are the top 4 dangers, yes?

I do wear my watches around those hazards.


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[piratfisk]

Originally Posted by Hollie_Rollie

Ha. That’s an awesome picture!


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It's the local horology enthusiast meet-up... some in attendance are moo-nual wind purists while others want to milk their power reserve 'til they're udderly depleted.

[HONDABBQ]

-32 in central Canada today. Thats tough enough.

[genta]

Originally Posted by deeman54

How many of you wear your Rolex as a tool in harsh conditions. IE work, rugged adventures and or rough jobs.

Im a sailor and I’m seriously considering working my submariner as my work watch. I know it’s expensive but the sub today is built way better than those of the 90’s and they really used their watches back then. What’s your take?


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My daily beater, 228239:

[deeman54]

Originally Posted by genta

My daily beater, 228239:

Very cool. Literally

[rolph]

I think the Submariner is built to withstand tough environments, so it should handle the rigors of sailing without any issues.

[fozzyf18]

Everyone uses and views the purpose of their watches differently. I do not agree with the sentiment that Rolex is no longer a tool watch because of the price point. I have worn my GMT II in the cockpit of a fighter jet (requisite proof attached) and it has received the expected dings. I also have worn a TT Sub in the same environment for well over a decade prior.

In a tie in to the "why do I wear/own a Rolex" thread, the TT Sub was a wedding gift from my wife. It went everywhere I did for years and saw many tough conditions. I bought the GMT II because of the aviation history behind the model (how could you not want to emulate Chuck Yeager?). I used the GMT II every day to reference GMT time which was an absolute requirement in my line of work. I hacked it to GMT time at time.gov EVERY SINGLE DAY. It seems that that would be the very definition of the purpose of the watch. Yep, a G-Shock would have been much more "tool," but not nearly as elegant or nostalgic. And quite frankly, I don't care for digital displays unless I could play Pac-Man on them.

I freely admit that I will never dive my JC DSSD down to 12K', so owning that watch may very well be a "flex", but the Sub and GMT have both done their time in tough conditions that the OP asked about. And never have they failed me.

[rmagoo57]

Painting day. Cleaned up nicely in the shower!

[AF_Rob]

Other than sporting activities, I have one on.

[mac112]

I wear my watches carefully because I wouldn't like to see it scratch, Explorer 1 is my daily and I enjoy it.

[zengineer]

Originally Posted by Ohiorolex

This thread is turning into a flex...

They always do.

I have other watches that are infinitely better choices if I'm fairly certain it will get some sort of damage.

[zengineer]

Originally Posted by bombafra1

I don't know any miner affording Rolex

Any miner can afford a Rolex, they just can't afford the diamond tennis bracelets and Tudors you have to buy to be allowed to purchase a Rolex.

[Cassian739]

I'll chime in. I'm not afraid to wear my Rolex watches day-to-day. With that said, for me, I'm more cautious with something that I spent $10k (or more) on, and will avoid wearing them in "tough" conditions. To each their own of course. If I had a professional use: pilot, astronaut, diver, splunker, race car driver, etc., would be a different story. I do use the GMT function almost every day for work calls and when I travel, so I guess that's my "tool" watch functionality.

[Opifex]

Originally Posted by GMT Aviator

I have worn all my GMT’s on the flight deck for years. Airliner flight decks can be hard on a watch because you’re always inadvertently banging your watch against something because of the confined space. With my Rolex they’ve always held up well, the ceramic bezel watches keep their appearance better over the same length of time because the bezel doesn’t really scratch and I’ve never had one crack or shatter.
The older aluminium inserts on the 16710 held up well, but they will show slight dinks and scratches when knocked in that environment enough.
My first ‘quality’ Swiss watch was my Speedy Pro Moonwatch which I wore like 27 years ago. That didn’t hold up so well in the flight deck because the hesalite crystal and the bezel insert were always getting scrapped on something. The Rolex holds up much better in that regard.

I do the same work you do and wear an Explorer driving the 737. The entire flight deck is sharp metal and I’d say my watch has held up fairly well. No one knows what it is which is an added bonus. Now as for hitting my head on the overhead panel and getting scratched up that’s a different story.

Just as an aside: I fly for a legacy US carrier and have rarely seen a GMT worn by anyone up front. I see them more so on the wrists of passengers when I fly back across the big pond sitting in coach.