Durability of sapphire

[Gregintosh]

I have a series 10 Apple Watch, gold titanium edition.

I got a bunch of scratches on the display which is unusual because it’s supposed to be sapphire.

I’ve owned the original stainless steel, series 4 SS, and series 7 SS.

All those years I never had a single scratch on the displays.

So not sure if they screwed up the displays on series 10 or if they stopped using Sapphire.

Anyway, money isn’t a huge issue for me so was thinking to just get a series 11 titanium but would like to know if the sapphire screens improved or if there’s any known quality issues. Don’t wanna make the jump if I’ll just end up in the same place after a few months.

 

[SilentSpecter]

From what I understand from teardown and scratch-test videos made by JerryRigEverything (just search for it and maybe add Sapphire as a keyword also), Apple doesn’t use pure sapphire crystal like you’d find on high-end mechanical watches (Rolex, Omega, etc.). Instead, Apple uses a sapphire-glass composite. It’s significantly harder than standard Ion-X glass, but it’s not chemically or structurally identical to traditional watch sapphire.

 

[Chevyguy2021]

I’ll chime in. I have Apple Watch Ultra 2 that I bought used. Perfect screen. 6 months of usage with no screen protection, no issues. I use it at the gym and yard work and everywhere. Super impressed with no scratches. I do have one nick on the case of the watch but not the screen itself.

 

[Bichon]

From what I understand from teardown and scratch-test videos made by JerryRigEverything (just search for it and maybe add Sapphire as a keyword also), Apple doesn’t use pure sapphire crystal like you’d find on high-end mechanical watches (Rolex, Omega, etc.). Instead, Apple uses a sapphire-glass composite. It’s significantly harder than standard Ion-X glass, but it’s not chemically or structurally identical to traditional watch sapphire.

I think you are recalling the details of Jerry's videos wrong. If you really have a video where Jerry says that Apple is using a sapphire glass composite, please post a link to the video with a time code where he says so.

My recollection is that Apple's crystal is real lab-grown sapphire, and that Jerry even used an electronic testing tool and it passed. He did see some markings at mohs 6 and 7, with real scratches at 8, but I think what he was seeing is just damage to the oleophobic coating.

 

[jz0309]

I have a series 10 Apple Watch, gold titanium edition.

I got a bunch of scratches on the display which is unusual because it’s supposed to be sapphire.

I’ve owned the original stainless steel, series 4 SS, and series 7 SS.

All those years I never had a single scratch on the displays.

So not sure if they screwed up the displays on series 10 or if they stopped using Sapphire.

Anyway, money isn’t a huge issue for me so was thinking to just get a series 11 titanium but would like to know if the sapphire screens improved or if there’s any known quality issues. Don’t wanna make the jump if I’ll just end up in the same place after a few months.

are those real scratches or "scratches" in the oleophobic coating?

I've had some scratches on my S4SBSS, it happens, it's rare, but it does happen. Sapphire is not "scratch-free". There are some threads here in this forum, old(er) ones ...

 

[Gregintosh]

I’m not sure if they are real scratches or just in the coating, but the net result is that it doesn’t look good when I look at it in many common lighting situations.

If there is a way to fix or clean off the coating so it looks pristine again, that would be great. But if there isn’t, then it might as well be a scratch anyway.

All I know is that in the 10+ years I was using Apple watches before this one, I never had this issue. That’s what always kept me coming back to the premium version every time I upgraded.

I wonder if anybody compared the durability of the series 10 or 11 to prior generations and see if the quality went down. Maybe I just got extremely unlucky with these scratches, but if the durability indeed has been rumored to go down (or the quality of the coatings perhaps?), then I will probably just stick to the basic models from now on.

 

[jz0309]

I’m not sure if they are real scratches or just in the coating, but the net result is that it doesn’t look good when I look at it in many common lighting situations.

If there is a way to fix or clean off the coating so it looks pristine again, that would be great. But if there isn’t, then it might as well be a scratch anyway.

All I know is that in the 10+ years I was using Apple watches before this one, I never had this issue. That’s what always kept me coming back to the premium version every time I upgraded.

I wonder if anybody compared the durability of the series 10 or 11 to prior generations and see if the quality went down. Maybe I just got extremely unlucky with these scratches, but if the durability indeed has been rumored to go down, then I will probably just stick to the basic models from now on.

I e seen posts here where some people put a screen protector on a scratched one and it "disappeared", me personally wouldn't do that though.

Haven't paid close attention to the durability question as I have an Ultra with no issues.

 

[Gregintosh]

I e seen posts here where some people put a screen protector on a scratched one and it "disappeared", me personally wouldn't do that though.

Haven't paid close attention to the durability question as I have an Ultra with no issues.

Yeah, I definitely dont want a screen protector on mine. I have seen people do it, but to me the edges aren't so nice to the touch anymore and it loses the good feel.

Now that the regular versions have "2x scratch resistance" over previous generations, I think the next time I will save myself the extra $350. The only big benefit I would lose is having stainless steel link bands not matching with it anymore (and I use the gold one currently), but that's actually just going to save me another $400 on not buying the next link bands haha.

 

[throAU]

I’ll chime in. I have Apple Watch Ultra 2 that I bought used. Perfect screen. 6 months of usage with no screen protection, no issues. I use it at the gym and yard work and everywhere. Super impressed with no scratches. I do have one nick on the case of the watch but not the screen itself.

My ultra2 is still damage free, despite me having taken chunks out of walls with it.

 

[krezimax1975]

I also did a lot of things with my ultra 2 at work, in the gym and home repairs. Not a single scratch on the glass in a year. Ordinary Apple watches are usually all scratched in two months

 

[CloudChief]

My series 9 SS has a scratch on the screen that is definitely not in the oleophobic coating. Pretty disappointed as I got this specifically for the sapphire cover’s scratch resistance.

 

[fabianrain]

My daily driver is a Watch Ultra 1. I do everything with that watch (only trying to minimize salt water and soap exposure) and climbing is probably my most abusive activity for the watch.
I've got tiny micro scratches all over the screen (more like 'nano' scratches, they are nothing like the micro scratches on an iPhone) and one tiny nick on the glass as well. Both I can only notice in very bright sunlight (or a bright flashlight) and 99% of the time I am looking at a flawless screen. That tiny nick I can pinpoint in any lighting when I look at the watch closely from the side so even that tiny nick I can't notice in daily use.
I bought 2 years of Apple Care for it immediately after I hit something with it for the first time because I was scared. I am not scared anymore and didn't extend Apple Care last year. That flat screen and flat titanium screen border surrounding it is a truly great design. I started off using screen protectors but got rid of them after a month because they broke every time I even just lightly hit something with the watch.
Unlike the screen the titanium frame of my Watch Ultra 1 is pretty banged up and has got quite a few small dents and scratches that I can also see and notice in daily use.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Never had an issue with a sapphire Apple Watch. Not a scratch on any of the crystal.

Can't say the same for the metal but c'est la vie.

 

[Gregintosh]

Never had an issue with a sapphire Apple Watch. Not a scratch on any of the crystal.

Can't say the same for the metal but c'est la vie.

Interesting, maybe I did something I didn't notice with my watch that caused the scratches (maybe they are just on the coating), and that was a one off freak thing.

I am fine with scratches on the metal, all my watches had those. But that doesnt bother me too much, since its the screen I look at and the casing kind of fades into the background.

 

[the future]

I have had Watches from the very first one S0 up to the S10 that I have right now, all Steel or Titanium. The sapphire crystal quality never changed. I never had a scratch on any of them, but there were always rare user reports of scratches, which only makes sense because you can scratch the sapphire crystal if you have bad luck and get in contact with the wrong „opponent“ material. But the difference to the regular ionx glass is still night and day.