How is your screen holding up (non-sapphire)?

[ajm222]

I've had one Apple Watch - the Series 2 in stainless steel with the sapphire crystal. After five years I did end up with some scratches, and the screen started delaminating. But I beat the hell out of it over the last couple years. For several years I was extremely careful with it and the screen stayed perfect.

I am getting a 7 and was considering putting a screen protector on it because I am very OCD. But I may just go naked because I might replace it with an 8 if there are big upgrades. Anyway, just curious how those of you without the sapphire crystals feel your screen is holding up.

I am particularly interested in hearing from super OCD folks like myself that look really closely in various lighting to see if there are hairline scratches and stuff like that. I know some people either have bad vision or don't care enough to look closely and will often say 'my screen is perfect' and then you find out it's actually covered in marks.

Thanks

 

[Itinj24]

I've had one Apple Watch - the Series 2 in stainless steel with the sapphire crystal. After five years I did end up with some scratches, and the screen started delaminating. But I beat the hell out of it over the last couple years. For several years I was extremely careful with it and the screen stayed perfect.

I am getting a 7 and was considering putting a screen protector on it because I am very OCD. But I may just go naked because I might replace it with an 8 if there are big upgrades. Anyway, just curious how those of you without the sapphire crystals feel your screen is holding up.

I am particularly interested in hearing from super OCD folks like myself that look really closely in various lighting to see if there are hairline scratches and stuff like that. I know some people either have bad vision or don't care enough to look closely and will often say 'my screen is perfect' and then you find out it's actually covered in marks.

Thanks

If even the tiniest scratches bother you, stay away from the IonX screen. My first Watch, an S4, was aluminum and never again will I buy aluminum because of the screen. You’d have to baby the crap out of it to keep it looking good.

 

[Howard2k]

I have an aluminium SE with Ion glass. No scratches at around 9 months. I do use a plastic screen protector. $50 on Amazon will be a lifetime supply.

 

[MayfairMissy]

I've only once bought an aluminum version with non-sapphire glas. I scratched it immediately and also ended up with an additional very deep scratch on the edge after only lightly hitting it against a wall after two weeks of use. I sold it on Ebay, mentioning the scratches of course and showing pictures of them. From then on I've only bought the stainless steel ones with sapphire glass. No scratches at all.

 

[ajm222]

thanks, all. really didn't feel like dropping $800 or so this go-round given i may upgrade again in a year or two if they add a number of sensors, so the non-sapphire was of course the only option. and i do love the look of the new green aluminum. guess i will make sure to have a screen protector of some kind ready to go when it arrives. i suppose it's ultimately only a $220 difference in price though. i guess it's mainly the screen. the aluminum appears to hold up nicely. though you can't polish it.

 

[MayfairMissy]

thanks, all. really didn't feel like dropping $800 or so this go-round given i may upgrade again in a year or two if they add a number of sensors, so the non-sapphire was of course the only option. and i do love the look of the new green aluminum. guess i will make sure to have a screen protector of some kind ready to go when it arrives. i suppose it's ultimately only a $220 difference in price though. i guess it's mainly the screen. the aluminum appears to hold up nicely. though you can't polish it.

The stainless steel models have quite a good resell value. If you upgrade again next year, you can sell it on for a good price. I'm always amazed by how much people spend on a used watch.

 

[darthbane2k]

The stainless steel models have quite a good resell value. If you upgrade again next year, you can sell it on for a good price. I'm always amazed by how much people spend on a used watch.

The stainless steel models have a terrible resell value! They go for just as cheap as the aluminium watches on the used market. Not sure why you claim the opposite.

 

[ajm222]

The stainless steel models have quite a good resell value. If you upgrade again next year, you can sell it on for a good price. I'm always amazed by how much people spend on a used watch.

Very true. Having been into watches years ago and buying and selling them a lot, it was usually very easy to sell stuff for a very good price. And always surprising. But then again I was also often the one buying used from someone else Just fun trying out new styles and then flipping them. But I’ve gotten lazy and feel my days of private sales are probably over. Not sure about trade-in options in a year. But regardless, that green aluminum really has me excited. If I do a trade-in, I may actually make out better with a cheaper model anyway. Not sure. But ultimately if I upgrade in a year or two it’ll be a gift to myself around the holidays so not too worried about it. I’ll ultimately be getting the 45mm green gps+cellular for $180 before taxes etc if they give me the full value for me trade-in, so I feel I can’t go wrong there.

 

[ajm222]

The stainless steel models have a terrible resell value! They go for just as cheap as the aluminium watches on the used market. Not sure why you claim the opposite.

if true, that would definitely solidify my choice. maybe AW is different from mechanical watches I used to buy and sell. certainly a somewhat different market.

 

[shakopeemn]

I've had one Apple Watch - the Series 2 in stainless steel with the sapphire crystal. After five years I did end up with some scratches, and the screen started delaminating. But I beat the hell out of it over the last couple years. For several years I was extremely careful with it and the screen stayed perfect.

I am getting a 7 and was considering putting a screen protector on it because I am very OCD. But I may just go naked because I might replace it with an 8 if there are big upgrades. Anyway, just curious how those of you without the sapphire crystals feel your screen is holding up.

I am particularly interested in hearing from super OCD folks like myself that look really closely in various lighting to see if there are hairline scratches and stuff like that. I know some people either have bad vision or don't care enough to look closely and will often say 'my screen is perfect' and then you find out it's actually covered in marks.

Thanks

I've owned a couple of aluminums with the most recent the 5. I've never had any issues with the face scratching. I do baby my watch though. I'll take it off when doing knuckle buster work in the garage or sticking my hand into a tight area. Given that, there are still times when I'll bump it on this or that and have a moment...

I think it all comes down to the individual. When I was younger this face may not have stood a chance on staying scratch free!

I choose to upgrade and keep current vs. 'investing' in a stainless streel technology. Stainless or not, it's a black rectangle on our wrists. Not exactly jewelry with stainless or metal bands.

 

[darthbane2k]

if true, that would definitely solidify my choice. maybe AW is different from mechanical watches I used to buy and sell. certainly a somewhat different market.

That doesn't take away from what the SS models have to offer though. They look and feel more like jewellery and are better suited to dressy occasions than the Alu models. However you are correct - these aren't traditional timepieces and do not retain any value at all.

 

[ajm222]

That doesn't take away from what the SS models have to offer though. They look and feel more like jewellery and are better suited to dressy occasions than the Alu models. However you are correct - these aren't traditional timepieces and do not retain any value at all.

right. that's why I personally think I'm going to switch it up and get the aluminum now as I've had the SS for many years. interested in a change. and then i'll know if next year or the year after i want to upgrade back to SS for the sapphire screen and steel for something i plan to hold onto quite a bit longer. i really was hoping the 7 would include some of the new sensors like blood sugar monitoring, temperature, etc. I would still wait, but my series 2 is a mess now. screen delaminating, slow as heck, and hasn't been able to take any software updates in ages. i do actually love the matte appearance of the aluminum and the weight, especially now that the watches are getting so large. and who knows, they may eventually switch to sapphire on every model. frankly surprised they haven't yet done this, and expect some day they will. i also don't have any occasion to wear anything fancy.

 

[VinceLP]

Series 2 aluminum (not saphire i guess) bought right after release :

At the right angle and lighting conditions... a few scratches.
Most of the time i don't even see them.

I use my watch all the time (when moving furnitures, at the beach, ...)

 

[ajm222]

Series 2 aluminum (not saphire i guess) bought right after release :
View attachment 1873623
View attachment 1873620


At the right angle and lighting conditions... a few scratches.
Most of the time i don't even see them.

I use my watch all the time (when moving furnitures, at the beach, ...)

Wow, looks good after all this time! And you don’t baby it! Not bad at all. Also, realistically this is an activity watch and anything used regularly will get scuffed and scratched. I get that. Though I will say that my sapphire screen stayed perfect until I really started abusing it. My mother’s aluminum screen looks pretty bad but she wears hers very loosely and doesn’t really take care of it. I’ll probably slap a screen protector on mine, at least at first.

Thanks for the pics!

 

[MayfairMissy]

The stainless steel models have a terrible resell value! They go for just as cheap as the aluminium watches on the used market. Not sure why you claim the opposite.

It depends of course. I sell my quite young watches in prestine condition with unworn bands because I upgrade every year. The last two years I had the Hermes edition. I was amazed by the amount of money I still got for them on the German Ebay site.

 

[darthbane2k]

It depends of course. I sell my quite young watches in prestine condition with unworn bands because I upgrade every year. The last two years I had the Hermes edition. I was amazed by the amount of money I still got for them on the German Ebay site.

Thats probably more to do with the Hermes band than anything else.

 

[Itinj24]

It depends of course. I sell my quite young watches in prestine condition with unworn bands because I upgrade every year. The last two years I had the Hermes edition. I was amazed by the amount of money I still got for them on the German Ebay site.

Yeah, the Hermes Watch has great resale value. Standard SS, not so much. I upgrade yearly and one of the reasons I went with Hermes this year after seeing how much my wife is able to sell her previous Hermes watches for. Space Black exclusivity is the other reason. Otherwise I don’t care much for the Hermes bands but they are buttery soft.

 

[MayfairMissy]

Yeah, the Hermes Watch has great resale value. Standard SS, not so much. I upgrade yearly and one of the reasons I went with Hermes this year after seeing how much my wife is able to sell her previous Hermes watches for. Space Black exclusivity is the other reason. Otherwise I don’t care much for the Hermes bands but they are buttery soft.

Same here. I like wearing other bands more. ?

 

[Wags]

Probably on another thread but who has tried the screen protectors. Like or hate?

 

[Howard2k]

Probably on another thread but who has tried the screen protectors. Like or hate?

I use a stick on plastic ones. Like. Sometimes they only last for 3 days, sometimes 3 weeks - that's the only annoyance.

 

[orbitalpunk]

Ocd here. Certified by my therapist. And i use these film protectors for the past 2 years with my s5 and s7. They are dry on application and only bubble if you hit the face hard. They give you several replacements. They never lift up on their own, at least for me, and go on perfectly smooth. Ive had them last for months looking perfect until i bang it on something. and their cheap. Here is a close up photo of my watch face with it on.

 

[ajm222]

Looks good! Perhaps I'll grab those to start. I had an Armorsuit screen protector on my last watch as well as on the body, and it literally lasted years. Waiting for them to release the full body protection for the 7.