Downsized 42mm to 38mm and loving it but....

[honglong1976]

I just traded my SS S0 42mm, nike band and some headphones for a Sports S3 LTE 38mm (which cost me just £20 + my traded watch, so I got a bargain). I am loving it. I originally replaced my traditional watch with the SS S0 and it's been great! The sapphire is really good and I wonder how the new non-sapphire will holds up? The 38mm is actually not as small as I thought and is lighter (great for sleep) and looks better on my wrist and less smart watchy (if that makes sense).

When my SS got a scratch I could buff it out. My Macbook pro is quite scratch resistant. How does the alu model take scratches? well or badly?

thanks for reading

 

[Mikael H]

It depends how much you pamper it. My series 0 has got a couple of dings in the case from where it has banged against stones, and some small but noticeable scratches in the glass from grinding against metal. Then again I’ve had a smart watch for a couple of years, that has stood up to getting banged against rocks and ground against metal, so all in all I’d say it holds up well to being used as an all day, every day timepiece.

 

[44267547]

How does the alu model take scratches? well or badly?

thanks for reading

The 7000 series aluminum does very well holding up against damage for the most part. The downside to the 7000 series aluminum, once you scratch it, it’s nearly permanent where you can’t remove any type of damage. As in comparison to the stainless Apple Watch, obviously you can remove the scratches for the most part with a polishing cloth. The other downside to the aluminum, is that it can be prone to chipping, so once you chip part of the anodized aluminum, it likely will worsen from that point forward. Not that that’s a common thing, but it’s something to keep in mind.

 

[Lennyvalentin]

How does the alu model take scratches?

Quite well in my personal experience. I barely have any marks on my watch at all and I've worn it pretty much all day every day wherever I go (except saunas and pools). Never worn any protective condoms over it or anything like that. Watch turns 3 in mid-july.

Anodized aluminium is quite hard, chemically same as sapphire (aluminium oxide), but different atomic structure. It's a ceramic rather than crystal compound. Anodization is just a surface treatment though, so dinging it with too much force will cause the softer alu underneath to give way, cracking the anodization layer. Still, like I said mine held up very well so no reason yours won't also.

 

[Precursor]

Quite well in my personal experience. I barely have any marks on my watch at all and I've worn it pretty much all day every day wherever I go (except saunas and pools). Never worn any protective condoms over it or anything like that. Watch turns 3 in mid-july.

Anodized aluminium is quite hard, chemically same as sapphire (aluminium oxide), but different atomic structure. It's a ceramic rather than crystal compound. Anodization is just a surface treatment though, so dinging it with too much force will cause the softer alu underneath to give way, cracking the anodization layer. Still, like I said mine held up very well so no reason yours won't also.

I concur. Aside from the shininess compared to the stainless steel, I've had not a single scratch on my S0,S2 and S4 aluminium Apple watches.