Why does iWatch override all iPhone sounds

Hello any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have had iPhone 6s/iPhone XR/iPhone 12pro all paired with the same iWatch series 3 while the particular phone was in service (not all at the same time). The thing that frustrates me to no end about pairing a phone with the watch is that the watch settings override the phone settings. I want to hear MY ringtone, I want to hear MY text tones I make for certain people so I can decide if I need to immediately look at the incoming message. Outside of putting the watch on airplane mode is there no other way around this? in airplane mode what's the point, then its just a $400.00 digital watch with cute faces that you have to charge every night. I think I have tried every variation of every setting I have found to get around this issue, please help.

Apple, please change this default. I would rather use my analog Timex than deal with not seeing/hearing/feeling the custom settings I made for my phone.