Tough and Broken Rolex Watches

Rolex are known for being tough. Here are some images that show the extremes.

All images are posted with permission

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These are some photos of a Daytona that wasd ropped and hit a tile floor. It's been said that the safest place for a Rolex is on one's wrist. Although sapphire is one of the hardest substances next to diamond, when it breaks it shatters into miniscule pieces that can fall into the movement. A crystal break of this magnitude will reqire a complete service of the watch in order to insure the removal of all the crystal fragments.

This stainless Daytona was broken while mountain biking. Although the owner was wearing his Rolex, the crystals are not as robust as the rest of the watch.

This DateJust was just services by Rolex RSC New York when it hit the bathroom floor. The watch has to go back to Rolex for a new crystal. Hopefully the watch will not require a full service.

I found these images on www.r-l-x.de showing a brokern SeaDweller Band. It has been known that the weakest link in Oyster bands is the first link. Apparently, there is a springbar that holds the bracelet to the Solid End Link (SEL). The Google translated version in English is here.

This SeaDweller images has floated around the Internet these last few years. Legend has it that this SD survived a motorcycle accident.

asalles06 from Brazil wanted to end all the questions regarding whether “can I take a shower with my Rolex” , “can I wear my Rolex in a hot tub”, or “if it is cold outside can I wear my Rolex”… posts.

In his post on TimeZone he took his 16710 and did the following:

First, he put it in a class of water and froze it for 8 hours. it spent 8 hours; this is how it looked like afterwards.

To thaw out his 16710, he then put it in a pot of boiling water for a 10 minute boil.

Nine hours aftet removing the watch from boiling water, asalles06 indicated that the watch still kept perfect time.

This is something I would not recommend to test the toughness of your watch, but this demonstration certainly illustrates the ruggedness of Rolex watches.

Hannes posted these images to WatchTalk Forums of a Lady DateJust going through a washing machine.

The top four images show the damage after the washing machine, and the bottom four images show how the watch was restored.

The red arrow on the after pictures shows one place that could not be restored.

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This image is of a Rolex GMTII-C (116710) after it flew out of a bag stored in a locker. The watch landed on a tile floor. Other than the dent on the side of the case, the watch works as if it were still new.

This Explorer I (Model 14270) has been a daily user for ten years, and has seen as good as everything. It's been on the user's wrist when his children were born, when he did heavy renovation on his house, although he stopped wearing it while painting or working with cement as it is difficult to clean it, whilst training, on vacation, in the office.

In general, this Rolex owner is very careful with his watches, but he does enjoy wearing them, and does NOT hesitate keeping them on his wrist. It is a great feeling having the same watch on one's wrist whilst rebuilding a house during the weekend as one is wearing during the board meeting the following Monday...

The bottom photo shows a dent on the side of the case, but is still holding strong.

This image was found on a one of the Rolex boards. Photo origin unknown. Nonetheless, be sure to keep the crown snug, and certainly tighten it when going underwater.

Moose589 on WatchUSeek Forums put his SeaDweller in the Dishwasher. He was curious to find out what happens to a Rolex when put through the full cycle in a dishwasher. His dishwasher is a new Kitchen Aid, it takes water from the hot water heater, it then boils it internally, and washes the dishes with the boiling water. It also has a heat cycle that dries the dishes at about 200 degrees. Moose589 took his Dweller, put it in the dishwasher on pot scrub, heavy duty, heat dry cycle. He opened the dishwasher during the wash cycle, checked the temp with an infrared thermometer, it was well over 200 degrees. Moose 589 then opened it during the dry cycle to check out the steam. After a complete cycle, he took the watch out, which was almost to hot to hold, and rinsed it with cold water. Dried it off, and put it on his wrist. How's it running? Perfectly. There is no doubt in Moose589's that any modern dive watch would survive this.

This is an image from www.r-l-x.de of a broken crystal in a Anniversary Milgauss. It has been rumored that the early Anniversary Milgauss crystals had durability issues, but those rumors can be equally without merit.

Umkarton indicated that he snapped this image with a webcam and a mirror as the watch face lettering isbackwards. Umkarton did not elaborate how the crystal broke.

This is a classic post on TimeZone from Jacob Hagert who allowed me to repost this story about his friend's Submariner.

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The serial number indicates that this watch is from 67/68 and was given to the owner on his 18th birthday as a new-old stock watch.

Jacob's friend works as a Skipper on small coast ships. In 1995 he lost this Submariner while doing some engine work. About one year later the watch was found lying in old spill oil & diesel under the engine!! The watch had a "sailor" service at once using soap & autosol. The cleaned-up Sub went back on the wrist the very same day working fine.


The watch in all its glory	Notice the left over weld an collapsed end link

Who says traditional Oyster bracelets are not strong. The amount of stretch is well within reason considering the life this watch has had.

Notice the benefits of an acrylic crystal. Although you cannot buff out a ding like this, this photo clearly illustrates the benefits of acrylic as a sapphire crystal would have shattered.

The left photo shows another healthy crystal ding. The photo on the right shows how worn the bezel ring has become, but still very usable by "sailors fingers."

The watch has been serviced twice after all these
years. The last visit was Rolex, Coopenhagen. As the scans show, it´s been a while since it has visited an RSC.

When this watch was initially lost, the owner purchased a 14060 to replace the lost Submariner. Upon finding his trusty Submariner, he put it on instantly as the bracelet on the 14060 still "felt stiff." Apparently, it takes years to break in a Submariner, movement, bracelet and all.