I had the graphite series 6 for 2 years and decided to switch to silver SS 2 years ago. After a couple months the silver looked worse than my graphite did after 2 years. I’ve polished it with never dull and capecod clothes and it gets the smaller scratches out but deeper scratches I can’t seem to remove. It does look good for a short time after I polish it but I don’t have time to polish it every 1-2 months. I really regret not getting the graphite last time. Looking forward to going back to graphite for series 10. Even if the upgrades aren’t that major I will upgrade just to get rid of the silver.
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Excited to get rid of silver SS
- Thread starter mjpearce023
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To my understanding, even just a slight PVD coating in the graphite and gold versions, they already provide a substantially more durable surface than just bare silver. Then the space black / Ti / Hermes versions with DLC coating give an even more durable surface.
My graphite S7 still looks almost pristine, there may be micro scratches but they are pretty hard to see. In contrast, my old iPhone 7 in white with its silver SS frame, like you said no amount of polishing could get it back to looking new.
So yeah in the future whenever I buy Apple stuff with glossy metal I make sure to get colors that provide the extra coating.
My graphite S7 still looks almost pristine, there may be micro scratches but they are pretty hard to see. In contrast, my old iPhone 7 in white with its silver SS frame, like you said no amount of polishing could get it back to looking new.
So yeah in the future whenever I buy Apple stuff with glossy metal I make sure to get colors that provide the extra coating.
Just out of curiosity, what is scratching your SS watch? Do you own (and if so frequently wear) a Milanese loop watch band, a good looking accessory notorious for causing watch case scratches?
Yeah I was worried when it came out that the graphite wasn’t DLC coated but mine held up great. It would be nice if they offer a dlc coated watch this year that’s not heremes though.
It’s just from bumping against stuff. I have only used the Milanese loop a couple times and I’m extra careful with it to make sure it doesn’t touch the watch.
We have three Graphite watches in our household (two S7s, one S6) and they all look flawless after years of use.
I have my S6 gold stainless and it’s been flawless still for a few months already. I don’t even use a case on it at all; it’ll defeat the purpose of showing it’s shine ✨ and it will look ugly if the case gets gunky after workout 🏋️
I have a S7 graphite that while it has some surface level scratches on it, the case still looks pretty mint. Granted it’s not my everyday watch as I use my aluminum S9 for that. But it still looking great when I wear it. I’ve always considered going with SS, but I found a deal at the time on Amazon for a graphite S7 on the cheap and pulled the trigger. Haven’t regretted the decision.
I love the way SS looks. Such a classic watch and the micro-scratches look so beautiful to me. That said I’d go ceramic again if they offer it on the V10.
Tough decisions this year for me.
Tough decisions this year for me.
It will be interesting for sure. I saw one rumor that SS watches are gone for series 10 and they are going to use the polished titanium like what’s on the new 16 pros.
They'd favor using polished titanium instead of SS as a potential change to more expensive AWs, as they need to make those watches lighter in the main series (41mm/45mm), and that the Apple Watch Ultra phased out all Titanium Editions after the S7.
See, I'll never get a PVD-coated Apple Watch solely because deep scratches can't be removed without ruining the finish. By comparison, even deep gouges can be removed from the SS Apple Watch, which I posted about back in 2015, here.
For more durability though, I went with a titanium S7 Watch and polished it to a mirror finish. Looks like SS but is FAR more durable. I've only had to touch it up once in the past two years. I posted about that, here.
For more durability though, I went with a titanium S7 Watch and polished it to a mirror finish. Looks like SS but is FAR more durable. I've only had to touch it up once in the past two years. I posted about that, here.
I had a silver SS series 3, before a watch hiatus, then getting my Ultra. The silver definitely showed more scratches, but I thought it looked nice, experienced. My Ultra hasn't been scratched at all. On the other hand, I was wiping my windshield and it was scratched by the Ultra!
These aforementioned directions are surely only for regular stainless steel Apple Watch models only. Apple Watch wearers with space black, gold or graphite should stay away from these methods, the plating will rub right off and degrade all the PVD/DLCs from their Apple Watch.
Bring a polishing cloth in your Apple device charging bag or in your pocket, and polish down your Apple Watch once in a while every day and if it gets splashed with something. I do this all the time with my gold SS.
My plain aluminum holds up fine, it's the stupid glass that scratches too easily compared to the premium-bodied watches. I'm not paying $200+ or more for something that doesn't increase speed, memory, storage, or how long the watch will last, but I wish they just used the better glass on all the watches for a little more cost.