The toughest watch brand

Well...G-Shock.

Or Vostok if you go analog

Definitely G-Shock. abut in mechanical watches it’s a little more difficult because there isn’t hard large-scale data and there hasn’t been widespread multi-sample testing done that I’ve ever seen. 
 

In my personal experience with the many brands I’ve owned it’s Rolex. But that’s just my anecdotal experience and is done with too small a sample size. 
 

I’ve owned around 25 of so mechanical watches over the past decade. 4 have been Rolex, with zero failures, even after being subjected to things like mountain biking, road cycling, drops on hardwood floors (Exp II), chopping firewood, sauna visits… basically a bunch of stuff people say I shouldn’t subject my watches to. 
 

In contrast, of the 6 ETA movements I’ve owned, they’ve all had movement failures. And with Omega, it’s been 1 out of 3 (caused by another drop on the floor). 
 

But none of that says much, because they weren’t all subject to identical conditions. 
 

But based on all my experiences and those of my friends, I can’t help but feel it’s Rolex (of the brands I’ve owned).  

Gshock obviously 

Well I guess G shock would be most people's goto for this one but I can't agree less. They are tough movent modules I guess but being plastic or synthetic case and band material I would not trust that over steel and so depends on what exactly your looking for tough wise I guess .

interesting!

g shocks hands down

G shock

but Sinn is up there 

As far as tough analog watches and iso compliant diver should be tough enough. I could probably drive a nail with mine but I'm not going to. 

Cheapest tough watch: timex Ironman

Better drop tested tough watch: G shock heart gb1000

Less scratched tough watch: Tudor BB

Tough watch to last several life times: Omega seamaster

Sea Dweller and Planet Ocean

Fossil can withstand withering sarcasm. Try that with a G-Shock.

I put a Marathon GSAR through it’s passes when I was training with the US Army.  The quartzs verson is a tank.  It performed without fail in suba, airborne, winter and jungle warfare schools.  

I was just about to write this! Marathon quartz all the way. 

Obvs G shock and Vostok but also Scurfa, quite a few Citizens and as mentioned Marathon..

Drop a glass and steel phone (iPhone plus) and a plastic phone, and see which one breaks first

Doxa 

Yeah I understand that but there's more to it than being clumsy and dropping stuff. For it to be tough it's got to put up with wear and tear, for that I prefer steel. Many of the rubber/ synthetic my straps I have had are no longer with me because they broke. Non of my metal ones have done that not even the cheap folded link junk ones.

I'd vote for a Sinn mission timer.

Everyone is saying G Shock and I beg to differ. I deal in used lower end watches. A vast majority of used G Shocks that I get are broken. The plastic outer shell is usually broken or cracked around the buttons. Then the buttons in the broken area usually don't work. I think over time the plastic becomes brittle and breaks easily. I have had them break by just taking the screws out of the shell to clean them. This outer shell also serves as waterproofing. With them being broke, not so waterproof. That's why the buttons fail. 

 The toughest watches in my opinion are Rolex, Sector, Bianci Professional Commando, Swiss Army Maverick or Timex Ironman. 

G shocked if there's another 😳 

Certina, tough watch at every price points. Well, except super duper expensive price points. 

Edit: this one cost me 200$ on the gray market.

The G Shock has the Guinness book of records for being run over by a 25 ton truck, and still ticking. It's unmatched in toughness. 

I find the Victorinox INOX quite tough, especially when placing the protective bezel on top of it! On the other hand I haven't been on top of and under a mountain with it yet, so who am I to say 🙂

I have many of the watches mentioned here and one standout has been my Luminox Navy Seal.  I’ve had it about a decade and it’s been beat to hell (Shows it but keeps going).

Is this watches of the brand or the brand itself? 

I think for actual watches, it has to be G-Shock. They have been designed from the beginning to be tough. 

Brand itself, it has to be Rolex, right? 

Economy in the crapper? Nearly everyone still wants that Rollie. Plus with them being independent, they don't have to be weighed down by multiple sister brands that don't perform as well. Yes, there's Tudor, but it's doing pretty well on its own. 

For total toughness I go with Victorinox (which may be tougher than G-Shock). 

In a time capsule, sure. If the question was “what watch lasts the longest” I would definitely not pick a plastic one. But the question was which one can I take a hammer to and will be the last one working. If I was a construction worker, or did yard work for a living, and was going to wear a watch that I didn’t want to break, I can’t think of a steel watch I would trust more then A G-shock

G-shock hands down 😉

Armitron beyond any doubt, all of the durability of Casio watches and none of the respect.

G-shock no doubt..