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Help Me Decide - SS or Ceramic?
- Thread starter StoneCold X
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Not to bad I wish but mine is original gen all the offers I got were $100 so I took it. Oh well
The main benefit of ceramic is durability, and the Watch is a device with an operational life of maybe three years.
Much as I love ceramic watches (had a Rado for years...) I wouldn’t buy a ceramic Apple Watch. The Space Black DLC hits the right balance of price, style and durability to be my preferred option. My launch-day SB Watch still looks perfect, and I’ve just replaced it with a Series 3 SB.
Much as I love ceramic watches (had a Rado for years...) I wouldn’t buy a ceramic Apple Watch. The Space Black DLC hits the right balance of price, style and durability to be my preferred option. My launch-day SB Watch still looks perfect, and I’ve just replaced it with a Series 3 SB.
You had the Series 0 SB? Any paint chips or scratches? Did you wear it up intil now or did you have the series 2 also? I just got the SB from owning the silver SS from launch and am just worried about sratching and paint chips.
Wore my S0 for over two years, every single day. The only marks on it were micro-scratches caused by the Space Black Milanese band which I switched to when it came out, and they were invisible in almost all conditions.
Recent photo attached, with the marks highlighted.
Attachments
If I could get a ceramic than that would be my choice. But I am not able to drop that $$ on a watch. Maybe someday. I'll stick w/the s/s and hope it lasts a couple years and move on to another. The resale value on the watches aren't great the older they get.
I had the SS series 1 and the SBSS series 2.
The SS was beautiful when it was new. But it ended up with a thousand micro-scratches and lost its lustre.
The SBSS was stunning when it was new. And it still is. Not a single mark on it.
I had a S2 42mm Ceramic and ordered both the S3 Hermes 42mm Ebene Deployment Buckle and 42mm Gray Ceramic. Loved both watches (prefer white to the gray color though) and in my opinion the Ceramic watches have very few bands that work well. I keep seeing the pictures on the Ceramic thread and think to myself that most of those combinations are hideous.
The other important factors for me are the Hermes watch faces and the SS has a thinner band around the watch face. The Ceramic versions have a slightly fatter border (looks worse). Ultimately I kept the 42mm Hermes S3 and couldn’t be happier.
The other important factors for me are the Hermes watch faces and the SS has a thinner band around the watch face. The Ceramic versions have a slightly fatter border (looks worse). Ultimately I kept the 42mm Hermes S3 and couldn’t be happier.
I can’t even tell really lol. I read about the Milanese loop before I bought it really had no choose as the sport band model was sold out so I bought a sport band. I read to be careful with the Milanese loop when handling it off your wrist so I have done so. Any suggestions?
Just dry to avoid the band wrapping round the frame, so don’t lie it flat on its back. Always rest the watch on it’s side and try to keep the strap away from the body, keeping the shape as if it was still on your wrist. Like this:
Very few, if ever, any complaints come from the space black chipping or scratching. Not saying that it can't happen, but it's extremely rare and I have never heard anything with chipping with the space black due to the diamond like carbon coating.
I didn't buy my ceramic based on resale. I'm really not sure why people are frantic about low resales.
You spend $1400 on a product that will be outdated in 12 to 18 months and fret about resale?
I don't know I will be happy to walk away with $650 for my 42 ceramic
The resale value does matter when you plan to sell the watch in a year or two in order to upgrade.
It's a consumer device that is holds little to no value due to obsolescence, especially after introducing a major enhance/features.
My expectation for resale is 45-55% of retail.
Is that too low?
I think there's pros and cons to each.
I personally started with alu in S0, to see what I thought of AW vs. my normal mechanical timepieces. I became enamored with the functionality and eventually only wore my AW. My Space Gray Alu case got a bit scratched in my time with it (IMO unsightly scratches, not characterful wear), so I decided I wanted something more likely to resist that damage. I prefer dark materials to bright, so SB SS or Gray Ceramic were my two choices.
I settled on SB SS: less $$, pairs with dressier bracelets/bands better (IMO), and the gap between the screen and the case appears smaller to me (ceramic has a more defined space/step).
However, now that I've had my SB SS for 2 days I may have reconsidered; it's much heavier and more unbalanced/top heavy on the wrist than the Alu (and, from memory, the ceramic). I commute on a bicycle, so immediately noticed the SB SS flopping around when riding vs the Alu case which seemed to just melt into my wrist and disappear. It's not the end of the world, but given that I exclusively cycle for a good 9 months a year, it's something I would consider more heavily next time 'round.
I don't notice the "flopping" as much when running, but I do feel the "presence" of the watch more when running or even while working in an office, much more in line with a very nice swiss mechanical. I would have thought this a pleasing thing, given my decades-long affection for mechanical watches... But ~2 years with an Alu Apple Watch retrained me to value invisibility over presence. I really wouldn't have predicted that!
Otherwise, very, very happy with the S3 upgrade over S0, and I really like the color of the SB SS, it has great character in varying light. The purported durability is a bonus, also.
I personally started with alu in S0, to see what I thought of AW vs. my normal mechanical timepieces. I became enamored with the functionality and eventually only wore my AW. My Space Gray Alu case got a bit scratched in my time with it (IMO unsightly scratches, not characterful wear), so I decided I wanted something more likely to resist that damage. I prefer dark materials to bright, so SB SS or Gray Ceramic were my two choices.
I settled on SB SS: less $$, pairs with dressier bracelets/bands better (IMO), and the gap between the screen and the case appears smaller to me (ceramic has a more defined space/step).
However, now that I've had my SB SS for 2 days I may have reconsidered; it's much heavier and more unbalanced/top heavy on the wrist than the Alu (and, from memory, the ceramic). I commute on a bicycle, so immediately noticed the SB SS flopping around when riding vs the Alu case which seemed to just melt into my wrist and disappear. It's not the end of the world, but given that I exclusively cycle for a good 9 months a year, it's something I would consider more heavily next time 'round.
I don't notice the "flopping" as much when running, but I do feel the "presence" of the watch more when running or even while working in an office, much more in line with a very nice swiss mechanical. I would have thought this a pleasing thing, given my decades-long affection for mechanical watches... But ~2 years with an Alu Apple Watch retrained me to value invisibility over presence. I really wouldn't have predicted that!
Otherwise, very, very happy with the S3 upgrade over S0, and I really like the color of the SB SS, it has great character in varying light. The purported durability is a bonus, also.
I agree with your sentiment regarding resale fixation. However, I have to observe .... "outdated in 12 to 18 months"? I got 31 months out of my S2 42 SS. The only reason I bought into the S3 is because I wanted to. I still have the S0 on a separate charger for alternate use and it still does everything the S3 does (if I have the phone with me, which I usually do). My wife passed her S0 on to our daughter.
To the larger thoughts about resale in this thread, sure, if you can sell it for something down the road, why not? Beats collecting dust in a drawer. OTOH, when it comes to buying these type of consumer electronics, I'd say the expectation should be zero resale value. These aren't mechanical watches. A millions things could happen to completely crater their worth over a couple of years time. To paraphrase a biker saying, 'Get one and wear it like you stole it' If you sell it for a few sheckles on the back side, great. If not, pass it on to a friend or family member or keep it for something different to wear from time to time. Either way, you'll get a couple of good years out of use out of it, which is the real point for getting it in the first place, right?
This. Why do you need a case that lasts for many years. It's not like a Rolex where it can increase in value.
Of course you make logical sense, but two two things screw with our feelings, at least mine
on resale value. We’re used to getting good resale on iPhones and I suppose, feel somewhat entitled to the same with AWs. Then Apple, at least, implicitly markets AWs as enduring like they are mechanical watches. There was even speculation that since Apple was charging $10k for gold, Apple would insert a new processor into the gold watch shell. Again, not saying it makes sense, that I, or we, lament the bad resale value.
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