Aluminium vs Stainless Steel

[44267547]

I'm guessing the Gold SS won't have a DLC, so it'll be prone to scratching like the reg SS. Will cape cod cloths remove scratches from Gold SS?

I Doubt it will have DLC, but it might have some type of protection, like PVD for example, which is physical vapor deposition unabbreviated. It’s the same type of coating that is used on the space gray stainless bands on the iPhone X.

And if it does use a PVD coating on the Gold stainless, then you cannot use a Cape Cod polishing cloth, as that will affect the PVD coating.

 

[musicpenguy]

What Rene Ritchie said is that the gold is that it is vapor coated - not entirely sure what that means.

 

[satchmo]

The key word in deciding between the two is: disposable.

You have disposable income to afford the higher priced SS.
You understand that these AW's are disposable and not heirloom timepieces.

 

[KarimLeVallois]

What Rene Ritchie said is that the gold is that it is vapor coated - not entirely sure what that means.

Stan Ng confirmed it’s PVD.

 

[musicpenguy]

Stan Ng confirmed it’s PVD.

And PVD protects it almost as good as DLC?

 

[ClaveMan]

Apple Store Specialist (floor sales person) said "Space Gray SS come back scratched up. Sapphires crack when dropped at just the right angle on hard surfaces. Aluminum watches have less case scratches and take much more effort to break the screen (scratching is another matter).

I bought the cheapest Space Gray aluminum Series 3 and a $12 Milanese Loop on Amazon. A little common sense helps. (I take the watch off to do home improvement projects or when hanging around concrete walls)

 

[JohnnyQuest]

I just really prefer the look of the SS, esp with a Milanese Loop band. Just looks more premium.

That being said, the prices really were a tough pill to swallow, because I didn't want to spend more for cellular, which I won't use. Ended up going for the Hermes edition since I was already spending a boatload.

 

[44267547]

And PVD protects it almost as good as DLC?

No, PVD does not offer the same protection as DLC does. DLC has more of a ‘hardness’ to protect the casing, where PVD is a thin layer against corrosion and minor scratches. DLC is more or less the protection level of a diamond in terms of scratch resistance. I believe DLC is also a much more extensive process to apply.

 

[mjr1000]

I've been wearing a SBSS S4 since launch. I love it. The look. The feel. The freedom of no screen protectors like I had on my S3 aluminum. But it's been a week and the price tag still irks me. Close to $900 with AppleCare. Even if I get 3 years out of it, it's still only 3 years. But $650 for the S4 aluminum is also a tough pill to swallow. My mind says that no way is the S4 aluminum worth that amount. The stainless might not be worth it either, but at least you get the look, feel, and durability of the premium materials whilst being robbed by Apple. I don't know. This whole cycle has turned me off with the pricing. $429 for the LTE S3 was just about right IMO. And I got $300 resale which also seemed pretty reasonable. Not sure if my comments constructively add anything to this thread or help with anyone's decision making process. But I am still considering trading my SBSS for a Nike+ aluminum and a (sigh) screen protector.

 

[musicpenguy]

I've been wearing a SBSS S4 since launch. I love it. The look. The feel. The freedom of no screen protectors like I had on my S3 aluminum. But it's been a week and the price tag still irks me. Close to $900 with AppleCare. Even if I get 3 years out of it, it's still only 3 years. But $650 for the S4 aluminum is also a tough pill to swallow. My mind says that no way is the S4 aluminum worth that amount. The stainless might not be worth it either, but at least you get the look, feel, and durability of the premium materials whilst being robbed by Apple. I don't know. This whole cycle has turned me off with the pricing. $429 for the LTE S4 was just about right IMO. And I got $300 resale which also seemed pretty reasonable. Not sure if my comments constructively add anything to this thread or help with anyone's decision making process. But I am still considering trading my SBSS for a Nike+ aluminum and a (sigh) screen protector.

Last year I was blown away with the pricing of the S3 - only $70 upgrade for LTE, a little price drop for the base prices too! I guess that was a fluke to get people to buy into trying LTE and being sold on it for the bigger S4 upgrade, which Apple got me to do. If we compare these prices to the Original to S2 pricing I think it is more in line, but I may be wrong, I do wish the S3 prices from last year were the new norm and that it was only $70 for LTE on the watch, hate that its now $100 which is harder for some to swallow.

 

[squirrrl]

If it's true that Apple is selling more devices this time around it's going to do little to incentivize them to lower their prices.

 

[madgalaxy]

I went with the aluminum this time around. Tried out LTE on my series 3 SS SB and did not find it useful to me. So I saved $342 (w/Tax) going with the GPS Aluminum this time around. I am actually enjoying the fact that it is lighter and the screen does seem brighter. On the flip side I am scared of scratches!

 

[newellj]

Yeah I agree, $220 is a pretty good jump just for SS and sapphire display... And I could put that savings towards a getting a series 6/7 instead of holding out for a series 7/8

That's the rub, for me. Resale value of the SS versions is only slightly greater than the aluminum. For a device I'll have for a year, maybe two, that's hard for me to justify. YMMV!

 

[newellj]

how bad is the ION glass on aluminum. Does it scratch that easily?

My wife and I just traded in our year-old S3 Sport watches. No scratches on either after a year of daily wear.

 

[mackie8]

I've been wearing a SBSS S4 since launch. I love it. The look. The feel. The freedom of no screen protectors like I had on my S3 aluminum. But it's been a week and the price tag still irks me. Close to $900 with AppleCare. Even if I get 3 years out of it, it's still only 3 years. But $650 for the S4 aluminum is also a tough pill to swallow. My mind says that no way is the S4 aluminum worth that amount. The stainless might not be worth it either, but at least you get the look, feel, and durability of the premium materials whilst being robbed by Apple. I don't know. This whole cycle has turned me off with the pricing. $429 for the LTE S3 was just about right IMO. And I got $300 resale which also seemed pretty reasonable. Not sure if my comments constructively add anything to this thread or help with anyone's decision making process. But I am still considering trading my SBSS for a Nike+ aluminum and a (sigh) screen protector.

same here....... while waiting for SS gold stock im still thinking of just settling with nike+ aluminum GPS model...
first of all i dont use LTE at all... so its like paying higher because of stainless and sapphire....
im considering getting applecare this time...

 

[The Game 161]

Think I’m settled on SS going forward. Just feels nicer to me and my past two aluminium watches both scratched too easily and my wife who has an aluminium has a scratch too. Wether it’s on the screen or casing i think it’s far easier to scratch than SS where since i got it i have had no issue

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I’ll only buy aluminium models and so far over the years they’ve held up really well for me. I like the finish, weight and level of durability you get. Sure you’ll get the odd scratch by the time the watch comes to the end of its life, but I can’t see the point in having a pristine paperweight after 3 years. I like that compared to my other watches I don’t have to baby the AW and can use it as a daily gadget without worrying that I’m damaging an expensive watch. I’d recommend the Nike series watches as in my opinion the faces are the best in the range. Enjoy.

 

[44267547]

I’ll only buy aluminium models and so far over the years they’ve held up really well for me. I like the finish, weight and level of durability you get. Sure you’ll get the odd scratch by the time the watch comes to the end of its life, but I can’t see the point in having a pristine paperweight after 3 years. I like that compared to my other watches I don’t have to baby the AW and can use it as a daily gadget without worrying that I’m damaging an expensive watch. I’d recommend the Nike series watches as in my opinion the faces are the best in the range. Enjoy.

If the aluminum Apple Watch was just slightly heavier, it would be the perfect buy for me. It’s extremely durable with the 7000 series aluminum, and it has some really nice casing finish color variants Apple has added over the years, I just like the weight of the stainless primarily, but It’s clear why the aluminum is the ‘go to’ Apple Watch for the price, and it all performs the same functionality.

 

[akash.nu]

I’ll only buy aluminium models and so far over the years they’ve held up really well for me. I like the finish, weight and level of durability you get. Sure you’ll get the odd scratch by the time the watch comes to the end of its life, but I can’t see the point in having a pristine paperweight after 3 years. I like that compared to my other watches I don’t have to baby the AW and can use it as a daily gadget without worrying that I’m damaging an expensive watch. I’d recommend the Nike series watches as in my opinion the faces are the best in the range. Enjoy.

Ditto.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

If the aluminum Apple Watch was just slightly heavier, it would be the perfect buy for me. It’s extremely durable with the 7000 series aluminum, and it has some really nice casing finish color variants Apple has added over the years, I just like the weight of the stainless primarily, but It’s clear why the aluminum is the ‘go to’ Apple Watch for the price, and it all performs the same functionality.

I used to love the feeling of a stainless mechanical and still do from time to time, but for me I like that the aluminium AW is light enough not to be noticeable. Particularly when running too. I bought the Nike version this time around as I think the faces are the best looking in the range. You’re right, I think most people buy the aluminium as it’s priced about right and especially for people who may be wearing it as their first ever watch. I know quite a few like that.

 

[UKBeast]

My previous s2 was aluminium version, I used it without any bumper or screen protection for about 2 and a half years time now i upgraded to s5 due to firmware upgrade failure s2 is bricked. There are no major or visible scratches on screen or the case apart from hair thin a few dents ,which is not visible unless you are looking at it with deep attention.

My opinion is that it is not worth to pay the difference for ss version since this will be not the rolex you will give away to your grandson.

This is not a real watch, this is a gadget you can use until apple stops upgrading your firmware in about 3 years or so..

 

[Lyn2012]

I tried both the SS and aluminium versions for my first AW S5. While I loved the look of the gold SS, I hated the weight of it on my wrist (especially with any kind of SS band) so ended up with SG aluminium that looks perfect after 6 months.

 

[44267547]

My previous s2 was aluminium version, I used it without any bumper or screen protection for about 2 and a half years time now i upgraded to s5 due to firmware upgrade failure s2 is bricked. There are no major or visible scratches on screen or the case apart from hair thin a few dents ,which is not visible unless you are looking at it with deep attention.

My opinion is that it is not worth to pay the difference for ss version since this will be not the rolex you will give away to your grandson.

This is not a real watch, this is a gadget you can use until apple stops upgrading your firmware in about 3 years or so..

Reference your last paragraph, even if Apple stops issuing softer updates for a specific model, doesn’t mean the watch ‘isn’t usable‘. There are still first GEN watches that are being used on the market right now that are not supported, they just don’t receive the latest updates, but are fully functional. I think that’s a testament to Apples hardware, as it can clearly last well over three years.

 

[The Game 161]

I used to love the feeling of a stainless mechanical and still do from time to time, but for me I like that the aluminium AW is light enough not to be noticeable. Particularly when running too. I bought the Nike version this time around as I think the faces are the best looking in the range. You’re right, I think most people buy the aluminium as it’s priced about right and especially for people who may be wearing it as their first ever watch. I know quite a few like that.

Agreed about nike watch faces AOD for one they look really good.

 

[jonnyb098]

Love my stainless steel Series 5 with Apple Link Bracelet. The more weight the better! But I’ve only worn traditional stainless watches for years so I am used to the weight so much that an aluminum Apple Watch feels like a toy.

I prefer the classier look of the SS plus it pairs with most bands much more than any other.