Slate vs. Natural Titanium?

[Chancha]

According to my personal visual check in Apple Store:

Jet Black is surprisingly reflective especially after some body oil getting on the surface, it is very hard to tell if it isn't the old SS JB
It is notably not the same coating finishing on the iPhone 7, and at least with the demo units I can't see it being scratched already (where the black Ti 16 Pros on the iPhone isle are scratched as hell)

Natural Ti is more than just slight tint, it obviously cannot pass as silver
Slate Ti is not as dark as SS JB, or even the S10 alu JB but they look very close if environment is low light
So they are really close in how dark they are; I was wearing my S7 SS graphite, its darkness sits right between natural and slate Ti
For anyone looking for a shinny / as bright as possible finish, you have to go for Hermes this year
By the way, all the in store Hermes new bands except the Grand H, are waste of time IMO lol. Just get a leather band through Hermes

The Ultra2 black has a rougher touch than natural Ti
Two demos units I saw both had small, white scratch marks. it is hard to tell if they are permanent but they are very visible
The new Ti Milanese for Ultra is very nice. It feels structurally sound but light weight, the cobra buckle is well made, it's a bit hard to put on and even harder to adjust but feels great when worn

 

[ukms]

I like dark watches when I’m in social or casual environments and want to be “stylish”, but for people who are in office, especially as they become more senior, I’ve never seen anyone wear anything other than a silver or silver/gold watch.

It’s like dress shoes vs sports shoes, 99% of office works (senior or who want to me senior), wouldn’t wear sneakers to a meeting.

(Im not referring to tech bros / startup people).

Given this, I’m disappointed Apple only has 1 suitable option every year!

Hermes is always an option

 

[GlambOne]

I like dark watches when I’m in social or casual environments and want to be “stylish”, but for people who are in office, especially as they become more senior, I’ve never seen anyone wear anything other than a silver or silver/gold watch.

It’s like dress shoes vs sports shoes, 99% of office works (senior or who want to me senior), wouldn’t wear sneakers to a meeting.

(Im not referring to tech bros / startup people).

Given this, I’m disappointed Apple only has 1 suitable option every year!

Awful take, but nonetheless - If you've become senior in a corp office environment then buy an Hermes watch.

 

[bluegt]

Hermes doesn’t really add an additional option. Hermes silver is indistinguishable from Natural titanium unless someone has them side by side (even then it’s very hard).

 

[4pp13]

One thing quickly noticeable about the governor of the Bank of England (which is a pretty senior, non tech bro/startup profession) is his not silver or gold Apple Watch.

 

[technoholic]

Slate arrived today, been living with it for half a day. Hated it out the box but thought it was just a case of getting used to it after Ultra 2 but no I really can’t stand the look, personally. It has more depth than the polished black but doesn’t have anything to make it classy looking, in my opinion of course. Picking up a natural tomorrow instead, which I was on the fence about anyway. Although at this stage I’m kind of missing my Ultra 2, the thinness of the 10 doesn’t really seem like the benefit I thought it would be, now I’m used to the ultra, I might just stick with it after all

Just got back from swapping the slate for natural. Much much happier. Had a look at the Hermés, but way too bright for me, the natural is absolutely perfect.

 

[Someirishguy]

I’m coming from a Graphite S9, so I ordered Slate, I ordered natural for my wife (to replace her SS S9) and I think I actually prefer the natural 😁 it looks smart and a little different, although the slate does also look nice.

I’m coming from a Graphite S8, which I think is as dark as I’d like it to be. One of the reasons I like the graphite one, was that the Melanese Loop doesn’t look too spangly. I find the silver SS Melanese loop is too sparkly for my taste. Did your wife get the natural Melanese Loop, if so, is it all sparkling like the silver SS version?

 

[dmccombs]

Hermes doesn’t really add an additional option. Hermes silver is indistinguishable from Natural titanium unless someone has them side by side (even then it’s very hard).

Is this speculation on your part, or did you see them both in person, in decent light?

 

[bluegt]

Is this speculation on your part, or did you see them both in person, in decent light?

I’ve seen both side-by-side. From a distance, they are indistinguishable.

Up close, the Natural Titanium (non-Hermes) had slightly more warm tone and was slightly darker. In contrast, the Hermes was slightly cooler and brighter - very much like the prior gen SS.

The difference is so subtle that they need to be side-by-side to tell IMO.

 

[technoholic]

I’ve seen both side-by-side. From a distance, they are indistinguishable.

Up close, the Natural Titanium (non-Hermes) had slightly more warm tone and was slightly darker. In contrast, the Hermes was slightly cooler and brighter - very much like the prior gen SS.

The difference is so subtle that they need to be side-by-side to tell IMO.

Completely different in my view having seen them today; they are very different, only similar in the sense that they are silvery shiny bits of metal

 

[bluegt]

Completely different in my view having seen them today; they are very different, only similar in the sense that they are silvery shiny bits of metal

Indeed… very different 🙄

https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/1flturc/_/lo65hn9

 

[technoholic]

As I said, completely different…in the flesh. But they are still two bits of shiny metal so they can only be SO different. But different enough to be obvious

 

[ukms]

I’m coming from a Graphite S8, which I think is as dark as I’d like it to be. One of the reasons I like the graphite one, was that the Melanese Loop doesn’t look too spangly. I find the silver SS Melanese loop is too sparkly for my taste. Did your wife get the natural Melanese Loop, if so, is it all sparkling like the silver SS version?

She hasn’t but now wants it 😂

 

[IamScotty]

Got the slate titanium looks great! More classy than I thought and less bling than natural definitely imo how Apple Watch should look like, a bit classy and bit sporty.

 

[ukms]

I like dark watches when I’m in social or casual environments and want to be “stylish”, but for people who are in office, especially as they become more senior, I’ve never seen anyone wear anything other than a silver or silver/gold watch.

It’s like dress shoes vs sports shoes, 99% of office works (senior or who want to me senior), wouldn’t wear sneakers to a meeting.

(Im not referring to tech bros / startup people).

Given this, I’m disappointed Apple only has 1 suitable option every year!

I’m not sure what sort of office you work in but with respect you seem a bit out of touch. There are some pretty powerful people out there who wear all finishes of AW.

 

[Peepo]

I just ordered 46mm slate natural with Milanese loop, coming from a S4 SS with Milanese. I wanted something a bit different. The natural also looked too yellowish - kinda nickel color and I didn’t really like (edit - looks different in reviews than apple pictures). Maybe I would change my mind (I did) if seen in person but even watching the videos seems a bit too shiny. I think both are good options and can’t really go wrong with either. Both slate and natural are neutral and will work with all bands.

Edit. Cancelled and ordered natural after more consideration.

 

[technoholic]

I just ordered 46mm slate with Milanese loop, coming from a S4 SS with Milanese. I wanted something a bit different and the natural looked too yellowish - kinda nickel color. Maybe I would change my mind if seen in person but I think both are good options and can’t really go wrong with either. Both slate and natural are neutral and will work with all bands.

That was the biggest problem I had with the slate, I have a lot of bands in multiple colours, mainly along the grey, rainforest, midnight, green/blue and neutral greys and black. Very few of them worked well with the slate, in my opinion, it just clashed. Against the natural they all work so far.

 

[Peepo]

That was the biggest problem I had with the slate, I have a lot of bands in multiple colours, mainly along the grey, rainforest, midnight, green/blue and neutral greys and black. Very few of them worked well with the slate, in my opinion, it just clashed. Against the natural they all work so far.

Actually I looked at more videos since then and I have to agree and changed my mind. I cancelled order and reordered the natural titanium 46mm with natural Milanese loop. I just wish Apple took more accurate photos for their website - the natural looks more like ss and slate is much blacker - but this is not what appears as shown as on site.

This video pretty much made me change my mind.

 

[bluegt]

I’m not sure what sort of office you work in but with respect you seem a bit out of touch. There are some pretty powerful people out there who wear all finishes of AW.

No need to take things personally. Nothing wrong with darker finishes - I wear them all the time.

However, to my point, feel free to look up the watches of the CEOs of Fortune 100 companies and tell me what percentage is black and what percentage is silver.

 

[technoholic]

Actually I looked at more videos since then and I have to agree and changed my mind. I cancelled order and reordered the natural titanium 46mm with natural Milanese loop. I just wish Apple took more accurate photos for their website - the natural looks more like ss and slate is much blacker - but this is not what appears as shown as on site.

This video pretty much made me change my mind.

Good choice! That was the only thing they didn’t have in store; the latest Milanese loops as I was keen to look at them to see if I wanted one, but definitely think natural is the right way for a variety of bands

 

[ukms]

No need to take things personally. Nothing wrong with darker finishes - I wear them all the time.

However, to my point, feel free to look up the watches of the CEOs of Fortune 100 companies and tell me what percentage is black and what percentage is silver.

Nothing taken personally, I don’t really need to look anything up, however I see what I see every day. Perhaps you can enlighten us about the CEO’s as you were the one telling us about ‘senior’ people (whatever Senior is) wearing silver, now it’s Fortune 100 CEO’s …. The reality is I would hazard a guess that not many CEO’s wear AW’s anyway so your point is mute.

 

[deeddawg]

I see what I see every day.

This is really what it boils down to, we each have our own work culture and what I see may be different from what others see. I’ve really not seen any trend with the C’s and Veeps I’ve worked with over the years.

We each need to do what works for our environment … but if my senior leadership cared more about my watch style than my ability to lead my teams and Get Sht Done, that’s not someplace I’d want to remain.

 

[Apple2GS]

Received the slate, it had a scratch on the side so I returned it. After seeing slate with a slate band, I prefer the watch with some contrast so ordered the natural titanium with slate milanese loop

 

[GucciGriffinIII]

Went with Natural Titanium with Nike Black/Blue Sport Loop.

 

[Peepo]

Here is a good video that compares the Natural to Slate Titanium.