Does Sapphire vs Ion even matter since they are covered by oleophobic coating?

[Kendo]

I noticed a lot of people want Stainless Steel due to the sapphire screen but since it is covered with oleophobic coating anyway (which will scratch easily), does it even matter if the material is sapphire or Ion?

 

[Lyn2012]

A good question. I like the weight of the aluminium watch but would prefer the tougher screen. I did consider the titanium, but decided it was too expensive and doesn’t look much different. I love the gold SS, but it felt far too heavy on my arm so ended up with SGALU.

 

[iamasmith]

Long after the oleophobic coating has worn off and it will (it did with my S3), the Sapphire provides a lot more scratch resistance than the X-Glass. The coating isn't imperitive, it provides some additional smear resistance and when it's gone you typically have a bit of an area in the middle of the screen that looks a little foggy when the display is off but a quick rub on the T-Shirt and it's gone.

 

[44267547]

I noticed a lot of people want Stainless Steel due to the sapphire screen but since it is covered with oleophobic coating anyway (which will scratch easily), does it even matter if the material is sapphire or Ion?

Ok, lets Break this down. The oleophobic coating is naturally organic, it’s meant to naturally wear off over the course of time through either touching or wiping the display. If the scratches are _minimal_ enough on the display, they should fade away. For the record, I’ve never had any scratches on my sapphire displays on the Apple Watch. Now, the Ion-X Glass from my standpoint is compete garbage.

 

[Ledgem]

Now, the Ion-X Glass from my standpoint is compete garbage.

That's pretty strong language. I've only had two Apple Watches, both of which were the aluminum variants, and I never saw a scratch on the screen. Because I traded in my first one I can't check for micro scratches now, but I did check those occasionally and never saw any. I've whacked the Watch against walls on occasion - probably only enough times to count on one hand, but it's happened - and there was never an issue.

When the Watch hardware seems to have stabilized a bit more such that I'm confident I'd keep the same Watch for 5+ years I'll go with stainless steel. Otherwise, I have no qualms about continuing to use the aluminum version. No doubt the stainless steel looks much nicer, but most of the time I only see the screen, anyway, and the band is the more prominent item that other people notice.

 

[44267547]

That's pretty strong language. I've only had two Apple Watches, both of which were the aluminum variants, and I never saw a scratch on the screen. Because I traded in my first one I can't check for micro scratches now, but I did check those occasionally and never saw any. I've whacked the Watch against walls on occasion - probably only enough times to count on one hand, but it's happened - and there was never an issue.

When the Watch hardware seems to have stabilized a bit more such that I'm confident I'd keep the same Watch for 5+ years I'll go with stainless steel. Otherwise, I have no qualms about continuing to use the aluminum version. No doubt the stainless steel looks much nicer, but most of the time I only see the screen, anyway, and the band is the more prominent item that other people notice.

Yeah, I have to stand by my comment, I think I the Ion-X glass is garbage. When the Apple Watch launched in 2015, I was extremely disappointed how easily it scratched (And no, I wasn’t particularly hard on the display, as a matter of fact, I was actually pretty cautious with it), but I get it, watches are meant to stay in perfect condition. But once I upgrade to the Sapphire, I quickly realized that extra $200 was worth every cent knowingly that I don’t have to see any scratches on the display. I understand everyone’s situation might be slightly different in terms of if they notice scratches, how did it scratch, etc. But I’m under the pretense that I like having things a certain way, and scratches annoy me, therefore the sapphire display resolved that.

 

[Strangedream]

(1) The oleophobic coating will wear off in time and (2) it's so thin that yes, scratches will likely go through it.
Unlike the DLC on a SBSS or SBTi, which is also a couple microns thick but made of carbon atoms, the oleophobic coating does not offer any additional scratch and scuff protection.

FYI, while Apple's sapphire crystal is better than Ion-X it's not as good as the standard sapphire crystal commonly used in watchmaking.

 

[LbSigman]

Yeah, I have to stand by my comment, I think I the Ion-X glass is garbage.

I agree. My wife's aluminum S4 screen looked like crap after a few weeks of her going to the gym 2-4 days a week. To her it doesn't bother her, but I couldn't live with it. I'm not super cautious with my SSSB S4, and despite the case having a few scratches, the saphire crystal is flawless.

My first experience with the Ion-X was with a S3 Al that I returned after a week and went with the SS model. Never again.

 

[techno-Zen]

I’ve straight up hit my sapphire glass on brick walls without a scratch. Perfect after 4 years on my series 0.

I had to buy a aluminum model last year due to the gov shutdown and the thing was a scratched up mess by the time I sold it. I bought a SS S4 and will never go ion-x again. Case scratches I don’t mind but the glass does. Worth the extra $$$

 

[Donstil-nl]

I had a scratch on my S2 SS screen, never bumped it hard, it’s just was there.
‘not in the coating also because I could feel it with a finger nail.

Thats why sapphire is not one of my reasons I buy the SS watch (titanium this year), I simply don’t like the look of the aluminium watch 😂