Rolex and Handgun Shooting

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Paul7

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If anybody here owns a Rolex, do you shoot with it, or with any other high end mechanical watch? Was wondering if the recoil shock would harm anything. I've seen Larry Vickers and others shooting on TV wearing a Rolex.

I posted this on the Rolex forum but some snowflake moderator took it down.
 
I have a mechanical watch. It doesn't have any precious metals or diamonds or anything. The movement is not a Rolex calibre but an ETA. It has not malfunctioned after shooting hot 357's in a scandium J frame. Those have a higher recoil velocity than 500 Magnums in an X frame. I've shot many thousands of rounds of 357 from a full-size revolver with the watch without issue. I can't imagine a popular handgun like a Glock causing a problem that way.
 
I have a mechanical watch. It doesn't have any precious metals or diamonds or anything. The movement is not a Rolex calibre but an ETA. It has not malfunctioned after shooting hot 357's in a scandium J frame. Those have a higher recoil velocity than 500 Magnums in an X frame. I've shot many thousands of rounds of 357 from a full-size revolver with the watch without issue. I can't imagine a popular handgun like a Glock causing a problem that way.

Thanks, ETA is a good movement, probably as good as the Rolex in house one.

No precious metal or diamond watches here. :)
 
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My Titanium IWC Aquatimer over the years has taken:
a gazillion 9mm Para round from dozens of different pistols
a couple thousand of really full house .357 Magnum rounds from my Manurhin MR73.
Maybe 100 rounds 45/70 in a friend's BFR revolver (I quit because I couldn't take more)
Not to mention boxes after boxes 45acp, 223rem and 6,5x55
Still the watch goes Tic Toc Tic Toc as precisely as on the first day.
 
Not high end, but I shoot with a Citizen watch on (I own 6 of them ranging from $150 to $1300 in price) and have never had a problem with any of them.
 
Don't have a Rolex but don't remember doing any shooting with my Tag Heuer, Hamilton or Breitling automatics. Usually wearing one of my Citizen Eco-Drives when I'm shooting.
 
I wear a Fortis "Official Cosmonaut" and it hasn't been affected by anything I've done. No one in my household owns a Rolex any longer.
 
People still wear watches?

Wearable devices tied to the cell phone abound and watches made a comeback because phones run out of juice with heavy use. Even mechanical and automatic watches have made a comeback and are becoming more popular (I quit wearing a watch for years until I started thinking about carrying a battery bank to recharge my phablet). Since the revival of the watch (even in the form of wearable devices) it can be important to wear what won't be impacted by the impact of shooting.
 
I have never given up wearing a watch and never will. I do not own a Rolex or anything close but I wear analog watches. Wenger Swiss Army and Casio Tough Solar are two that wear while shooting and every thing from .380s to light snubby .38s to hot .45 Colt loads has never affected my watches.
I would be surprised if a Rolex were affected. But, because of the cost of a Rolex I would probably contact them and ask their opinion on that.

https://gethuman.com/customer-service/Rolex
 
Wearable devices tied to the cell phone abound and watches made a comeback because phones run out of juice with heavy use.

Exactly, good luck on a week long hunting trip when your phone or quartz watch batteries run out.

Even mechanical and automatic watches have made a comeback and are becoming more popular

True, there are Rolex models with a several years long waiting list.
 
Well, if one ever watches "Antiques Roadshow", they would appreciate the high status (and resale value) of any Rolex. So if someone would offer a Rolex for appraisal, with the added note that it withstood years of handgun shooting, I would expect a higher appraisal than otherwise. Rolexes are built like tanks.
 
Funny because many of those expensive watches were designed for hard use, like commercial diving and such. But now they are so valuable people don't consider using them for their intended purposes. Like the guy that buys a 70k SUV then wont take it off road becuase its too expensive.
 
All modern mechanical wrist watches have built in shock resisting features.
These are good to some pretty high "G" forces and I've never had one come in for service that was damaged by any normal activity.
Usually where they failed was after being dropped on a concrete floor.

One possible failure is if the watch is getting excess oil on the hairspring, and a sudden shock causes the coils to stick together.
In that case the watch continues running but gains time drastically.

Electronic watches either have no moving parts or a very minimal gear train that's not affected by any amount of shock that a human could survive.

The natural shock resisting nature of the human hand, wrist, and arm provide an extensive shock resistance that prevents much of the shock of shooting a high caliber pistol from ever getting to the watch.
If you're not breaking your wrist, you're not harming the watch.
 
No Rolex here as my Casio G-SHOCK watches do an admirable job of continually working under all sorts of rough conditions and never miss a beat (well an electronic beat that is). My current Casio, a Model 3403 GD-350, is yet another tough cookie of a time piece and does it all at a fraction of the price of a Rolex. My only complaint is the wrist strap will wear out long before the watch mechanism will and I have yet to find any one who can replace them!
 
Timex, takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Just kidding, I don’t wear watches, I just keep the ones that have been given to me in the safe next to unused guns, I shake the Rolex from time to time just to see if it still works though.
 
People still wear watches?

Thats sooooo twentieth century. The wrist watch was invented for airplane pilots who didn't want to hassle with a proper timepiece.
It is. I was born in the 20th century but have probably gotten more watches in the last 10yrs than the 35yrs prior. I like being able to tell the time without digging my stupid phone out. In some circumstances, that would even be considered rude.
 
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