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AppleTLDR

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 3, 2015
103
195
United Kingdom
Do we know for sure that the Hermes models have no PVD coating? My understanding of titanium is it is closer to “natural“ than silver.

To be honest it's a bit of an educated guess. Unfortunately Apple doesn't state the coatings used on the various watches anymore on either the tech specs page or comparison page. Screenshot below 👇

That said we have some clues in that the Hermes bands including the new Hermes link bracelet are made of polished stainless steel. Apple said they made the silver case of Hermes series 10 to match the steel bands.

From Apple's press release on the series 10:

"Apple Watch Hermès is available in 42mm and 46mm sizes in silver titanium designed to match the stainless steel of previous generation"
 

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AppleTLDR

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 3, 2015
103
195
United Kingdom
I've just canceled my pre-order for the Natural Titanium I had for delivery next week.....not spending £800 on a watch that gets scratched that easily and cannot be buffed out.

Might look into the Ultra instead....🤔

Totally fair 👍 I'm gunna let my preorder arrive, try it on and make a decision. I might end up exchanging for an ultra 2 again.


I know this is about the titanium models only but I’m very curious how the jet black aluminum holds up. Irked me to see nobody discuss it on their one week reviews that I saw

Yeah I was surprised about that too. Especially with how prone the Jet Black iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were. Gorgeous devices but almost impossible to keep pristine.
 
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drew0020

macrumors 68020
Nov 10, 2006
2,368
1,281
I like my devices to stay in very good condition too, but most watches (not the screen if you get sapphire) will scratch eventually. In the traditional watch world it’s considered a patina.

All of my mechanical (much more $$ than Apple Watch), Series and Ultra 1/2 have some light scratches on them. My advice is to wear the watch and don’t worry about too much scratches.

Good luck and hope you enjoy your watches!
 

tommyboy9996

macrumors 6502
Aug 21, 2009
364
210
NJ - Ocean County
Totally fair 👍 I'm gunna let my preorder arrive, try it on and make a decision. I might end up exchanging for an ultra 2 again.




Yeah I was surprised about that too. Especially with how prone the Jet Black iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were. Gorgeous devices but almost impossible to keep pristine.
I was coming from Ultra 1 going to a 10 Slate titanium and now I’m second guessing it too. I had a stainless steel 6 that never scratched, Ultra 1 held up flawless too. I think I’m going to make a decision once I get it in. I may very well go to the black ultra 2.
 

Bako-MacAddict

macrumors 68010
Jun 7, 2012
2,002
1,414
California
I've just canceled my pre-order for the Natural Titanium I had for delivery next week.....not spending £800 on a watch that gets scratched that easily and cannot be buffed out.

Might look into the Ultra instead....🤔
I’m going to try it for 14 days , if I’m not satisfied, I’m going with the ultra 2 in black.
 

Spenny25

macrumors newbie
Mar 25, 2016
29
31
UK
I’m going to try it for 14 days , if I’m not satisfied, I’m going with the ultra 2 in black.
I've currently got a Series 7 SS which I have had for 3 years and it is spotless. My wife has the same which got a few surface marks, but these easily polished out with a Cape Cod cloth so it wasn't an issue. Didn't want to risk it after seeing it like that after only a week (although I suppose we don't know how rough he was with it during that time) so that's why I cancelled.

Managed to get a nice Ultra 2 in Ti from the Apple Refurb store, and for £120 less than the Series 10 I'd ordered, so Winner, winner
 
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nxt3

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2023
202
158
they definitely look like scratches, I have watched the video a few times and zoomed in and they are not finger prints.....if you check out the comments on the video he mentions that there are scratches on the titanium.

it's a shame as I had one ordered, and coming from a series 7 SS which you can polish these type of marks out.... I'm not so sure about getting it now
View attachment 2420114
This dude is clearly extra rough on his watches. Like another commenter said, I don't know of a single scenario where my watch would get this scratched up in a week. Did he roll around on a beach??

I've been wearing a resin Casio watch for a little over a year and no scratches on the plastic body; also have a iPhone 15 Pro (all Pros have PVD coatings) that I've been using case-less and it looks excellent.
 

SusieS

macrumors 6502
Sep 23, 2018
301
547
Just on a tangent to this…does anyone else get antsy when the YouTube influencers open their demo models outside, over concrete or stone surfaces? There are a couple that I won’t name but they’ve done it with the 10 and with previous models and I end up screaming at the TV. When I open a new device I do it in the middle of my bed, so if I fumble it (which has happened) there’s only a 5-inch fall onto a soft mattress. 😬😬😬
 

enrincon89

macrumors regular
Apr 30, 2014
138
50
I found a post earlier today
First use of my Series 10 slate titanium on my mountain bike. Had some grit under the arm and its marked the watch

I've had a Series 7 black titanium for 3 years and no marks what so ever and used 3 times a week on mountain and MX bikes.

Disappointed on the materials used as love the Series 10 and don't want a Ultra as too big View attachment 2424558


Below is my old Series 7 and still totally unmarked


View attachment 2424574
 

MrGimper

macrumors G3
Sep 22, 2012
9,060
13,010
Andover, UK
Well PVD is not new to Apple Watches. Previous (steel) gold Watches had this as well, and they held up just fine. Not as good as DLC coating, but still. Who knows how that reviewer tortured his demo model to make it look like that in just a few days.
PVD is worse than DLC and apple stealth-changed from DLC to PVD for black/graphite watches. My graphite SS has scratches and I’ve babied it.
 

MrGimper

macrumors G3
Sep 22, 2012
9,060
13,010
Andover, UK
Just on a tangent to this…does anyone else get antsy when the YouTube influencers open their demo models outside, over concrete or stone surfaces? There are a couple that I won’t name but they’ve done it with the 10 and with previous models and I end up screaming at the TV. When I open a new device I do it in the middle of my bed, so if I fumble it (which has happened) there’s only a 5-inch fall onto a soft mattress. 😬😬😬
I get anxious when they have iPads and phones face down on their desks and slide them around.
 

nxt3

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2023
202
158
PVD is worse than DLC and apple stealth-changed from DLC to PVD for black/graphite watches. My graphite SS has scratches and I’ve babied it.
Graphite SS has a PVD coating btw. Apple hasn’t offered a non-Hermes / non-Ultra watch with DLC. It’s always been PVD.
 
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MrGimper

macrumors G3
Sep 22, 2012
9,060
13,010
Andover, UK
Graphite SS has a PVD coating btw. Apple hasn’t offered a non-Hermes / non-Ultra watch with DLC. It’s always been PVD.
Yes the graphite has always been PVD, but the black hasn’t. I believe the first black SS watch was DLC but then the next version was PVD. Social media went nuts over it when the change was noticed on the specs on the apple site.
 

Apleeseed84

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2020
902
644
Out of curiosity do you own one of the Milanese loops in Graphite? If you do, how have you found the clasp portion to hold up? I found those to be an area that would scratch on the uncoated silver steel models. But could be refinished etc
They hold up, the magnet not so much, it keeps getting lose.
 

FrankySavvy

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2010
1,620
808
Long Island, NY
Just saw my natural titanium had a few micro scratches on the bottom case and decided to experiment with Cape Cod polishing cloth. Didn’t get it out completely but definitely got it out a little bit and didn’t discolor or affect the natural titanium finish.
 

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nxt3

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2023
202
158
Just saw my natural titanium had a few micro scratches on the bottom case and decided to experiment with Cape Cod polishing cloth. Didn’t get it out completely but definitely got it out a little bit and didn’t discolor or affect the natural titanium finish.
We appreciate you taking one for the team! You're a confident guy polishing a PVD coating.

Would you feel comfortable polishing other areas of the watch? This seems promising.
 

enrincon89

macrumors regular
Apr 30, 2014
138
50
Just saw my natural titanium had a few micro scratches on the bottom case and decided to experiment with Cape Cod polishing cloth. Didn’t get it out completely but definitely got it out a little bit and didn’t discolor or affect the natural titanium finish.
Does the polishing cloth gets black after rubbing the scratch ?
 

FrankySavvy

macrumors 68000
Mar 4, 2010
1,620
808
Long Island, NY
We appreciate you taking one for the team! You're a confident guy polishing a PVD coating.

Would you feel comfortable polishing other areas of the watch? This seems promising.
At this point I would, I am actually surprized that it wasn't able to remove that scratch, must have been pretty deep. Could have been on the watch when I received it because I don't know how it could have scratched that bad already.
 
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