There’s always one in every family — the person who beats the living crap out of his or her gear, whether on purpose or by accident. Maybe that's you or someone you’re shopping for, and if that person needs a watch you'll want to make sure it can really take a beating.
But this doesn’t mean that you should be buying a cheap, throwaway item — while this is certainly one course of action, many watches are built with durability in mind. Investing in a serious, rugged watch that will last for years is the best way to get true value for your money.
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Casio G-Shock GWM5610-1 Read More
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Sinn 556 A Read More
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Bertucci A-2T Read More
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Orient Mako II Read More
Here are rugged watches that run the gamut with respect to aesthetics, feature set and price.
Best Overall Rugged Watch
- Diameter: 43mm
- Movement: Ronda 515 HH6 quartz
- Water resistance: 200m
Luminox has been making watches for the U.S. Navy SEALs for years now, and the 3001 encapsulates much of what a special operator might look for in a watch. It features a Carbonox case, 300m of water resistance, black rubber strap, tritium tube illumination and an anti-reflective sapphire crystal.
Best Affordable Rugged Watch
- Diameter: 46.7mm
- Movement: Quartz
- Water resistance: 200m
Probably the best $100 you can spend in the watch world. The G-Shock 5600 series are classic “beater” watches — they're nearly impossible to destroy, and if you do manage to destroy one, you’re probably not going to be overly heartbroken. With its built-in alarm and stopwatch, this is a watch that’s meant to be put through its paces. Though the DW5600E is even more affordable (about half the price) we feel that models with Tough Solar such as the GWM5610 (reviewed here) are worth the upgrade and always recommended.
Best Upgrade Rugged Watch
- Diameter: 38.5mm
- Movement: Sellita SW200-1 automatic
- Water resistance: 200m
With their long history of producing utilitarian timepieces, Sinn has just about perfected the modern tool watch. The 556 A features a 38.5mm case, an automatic movement with date, a stainless steel bracelet, a screw-down crown and case back and water resistance down to 20 bar, meaning it’s ready for whatever life has to throw at it.
Bertucci A-2T
- Diameter: 40mm
- Movement: Quartz
- Water resistance: 100m
Based on classic military field watch designs and updated with modern proportions, a titanium case, hardened mineral crystal and a quartz movement, the 40mm Bertucci A-2T watch (reviewed here) is perfect for the field. And with its nylon slip-through strap and its 24-hour dial, we're sure it could go toe-t0-toe in terms of specs and design with an actual issued military watch.
Orient Mako II
- Diameter: 41mm
- Movement: Orient F6922 automatic
- Water resistance: 200m
It’s tough to argue with a dive watch that has an in-house automatic movement, unidirectional 120-click bezel, steel bracelet and 200m of water resistance for under or around only $200. Available with a few dial variants, this is a watch that punches way above its weight class and looks great in just about any environment — even when you're not out there beating it up.
Seiko 5 Sports
- Diameter: 42.5mm
- Movement: Seiko 4R36 automatic
- Water resistance: 100m
Building on the legacy of Seiko's popular, robust and once super affordable SKX007 dive watch — which is now discontinued and commanding higher prices — is the modern Seiko 5 Sports collection. The dive-style version might only be water-resistant to a still quite sufficient 100m (rather than the SKX's 200m), but it's more refined and comes in myriad variants, with more added seemingly by the day. With its automatic movement and legible day-date dial, you're going to love it on a NATO strap.
Citizen Eco-Drive Garrison
- Diameter: 42mm
- Movement: Citizen Ec0-Drive E101 solar-charging quartz
- Water resistance: 100m
The Garrison is powered by Citizen’s Eco-Drive technology, which charges via ambient light and doesn't require regular battery changes or service. Pair this with an ultra-tough, case made from not just titanium but the brand's Super Titanium, add in sapphire crystal and luminous hands and markers, and you’ve got a watch that should last just about forever.
Marathon Pilot's Navigator
- Diameter: 41mm
- Movement: ETA FØ6 quartz
- Water resistance: 60m
Developed at the request of Kelley Air Force Base for use by pilots and paratroopers, the Navigator is a tough-as-nails military watch. Featuring an asymmetric case, 12-hour bezel, quartz movement and tritium tubes for illumination in low-light conditions, this mil-spec timepiece arrives ready for anything.
Suunto Core Alpha
- Diameter: 49.5mm
- Movement: Quartz
- Water resistance: 30m
The Core Alpha is a serious outdoors watch for the serious outdoorsman. If its robust feature set wasn’t enough, you get hunting and fishing features including altimeter, barometer, compass, sunrise/sunset times, weather functions, storm alerts and more. It’s also water-resistant to 30m, suitable for freediving, so there’s no need to baby it.
Alsta Nautoscaph IV
- Diameter: 40mm
- Movement: Seiko NH35 automtaic
- Water resistance: 300m
While perhaps most famous as the watch actor Richard Dreyfuss wore in the movie Jaws, the Alsta Nautoscaph stands on its own as a robust skin diver, perfect for the water regardless of whether or not a shark attack is imminent. With an automatic Seiko NH35 movement and a case that’s waterproof down to 300m, the Nautoscaph II is pure 1960s looks with a 2020s feature set.
Damasko DK30
- Diameter: 39mm
- Movement: Damasko A26-1 automatic
- Water resistance: 200m
Damasko has been quietly making some of the best affordable tool watches out there, and their DK30, in particular, is an excellent modern example. Featuring a 39mm hardened submarine steel case, in-house movement and ultra-legible dial, the DK30 is the perfect everyday watch for the adventurer.
Mido Ocean Star 600 Chronometer
- Diameter: 43.5mm
- Movement: ETA C07.821 automatic
- Water resistance: 600m
While Mido may not be the first brand to come to mind when considering dive watches, their updated Ocean Star Diver 600 is proof that the brand can compete when it comes to timepieces meant for the water. Featuring a ceramic bezel insert, helium escape valve and a COSC-certified automatic movement with a silicon balance spring and 80 hours of power reserve, this 43.5mm diver is water-resistant down to 600m.
Bremont MB II
- Diameter: 43mm
- Movement: ETA 2836-2 automatic
- Water resistance: 100m
Originally designed in conjunction with English ejection seat manufacturer Martin Baker, Bremont's line of watches is clearly meant to withstand shocks that would cripple a typical watch movement. With its 43mm "Trip-Tick" case in titanium, Swiss automatic chronometer movement, anti-magnetic Faraday cage and anti-shock movement mount, the MB line offers some of the toughest watches available.
Rolex Submariner
- Diameter: 41mm
- Movement: Rolex 3230 automatic
- Water resistance: 300m
The prototypical dive watch, the Submariner was developed as a serious tool for professionals who made their living at sea (or at least spent lots of time scuba diving). The modern Sub may be a luxury product in the mind of the watch-buying public, but its robust construction and accuracy haven’t suffered at all since the model’s introduction back in 1953.
What Makes a Watch Rugged
Some of the characteristics you want to look for in a rugged watch might be obvious, like shock resistance, but others might be less so. Water resistance, materials, even design and more are all considerations when you want a watch that can take a licking and, like the old Timex slogan, keep on ticking.
To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.
Water Resistance
Water resistance is often almost a shorthand for durability. People never use 1,000m-plus water resistant watches as deep as they can go, but the extreme specs make it seem like it can take anything. For watches that'll be actually subject to rugged situations, we recommend at least 100m of water resistance.
Shock Resistance
Most modern watches offer a reasonable level of shock resistance. Some, however, do it better than others or take it a step further. Quartz watches, for example, are by their nature more robust thanks to fewer moving parts, and digital watches are more so for the same reason. If you want a particularly rough-and-tumble watch, you can seek out companies that make a special effort in that area or use special technology (see below).
Materials
Some materials are especially conducive to ruggedness. Your standard stainless steel is a very tough metal, and plastic like that used in G-Shock watches, for example, will protect a watch extremely well. Even more durability can be found in the likes of titanium and carbon, both of which are being used in more watches recently and both of which have the added benefit of being lightweight. Those are just the case materials we're talking about, and crystals (sapphire is always a good choice) and other parts are worth considering too.
Affordability
There are many high-end watches that are genuinely capable of accompanying you through Hell and back. But if you're looking for a watch specifically to rough up, that you know is going to get scratches and is actually at risk of being destroyed, we have to recommend a "beater" — that means a watch that you can beat up because 1) it's reliable and can take it, but also because 2) it's cheap and a ding in its metal won't result in your mental anguish and hundreds of dollars off of its value.
