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How to remove thin scratch from Sport screen?

F

felixen

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 13, 2009
884
113
yesterday I wore a long sleeve wool shirt all day long and was as always extremely cautious not to hit anything with my wrist. However when I checked my watch during the day I noticed a thin but long scratch running from top to bottom of the screen. I have the black sports watch. Obviously very poor quality since I have had many watches in my time, treated them all carefully, and only my Apple Watch gets a large scratch from practically nothing. Nice work, Apple.

Anyway, I spoke with Apple on the phone and they fully understood my frustration but didn't want to help (they wanted $285 for replacing the screen).

Does anyone in here have any tips for how to remove a not very deep scratch? I have tried applying toothpaste like some suggest but that didn't help much :(

I have always loved my Nixon Regent but haven't wanted to wear it since I got my Apple Watch 4 months ago. However, one slip up like this and it totally kills the "fashion" feel for me, and I feel like going back to my trusty Regent. So disappointed with Apple's quality assurance on this product
 
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Why didn't you go with the stainless steel version? The screen on the sport version will scratch eventually
 
First of all: op - next time you post something like this do yourself a favour and don't blame the watch for you damaging it, then you wont get the cavalry above coming in attacking you.

Secondly, is the scratch just in the oleophobic coating? Something like Polywatch will remove the oleophobic coating.
 
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JayLenochiniMac said:
Yet you have the Nixon Regent that lists for $1,200?
Click to expand...
Yup, but if each watch I purchase is $1200 then I'll soon have the stars as my ceiling. Plus I knew I would be buying a new Apple Watch every few years because they will bring updates. You don't do that with a traditional watch.

Brian Y said:
First of all: op - next time you post something like this do yourself a favour and don't blame the watch for you damaging it, then you wont get the cavalry above coming in attacking you.

Secondly, is the scratch just in the oleophobic coating? Something like Polywatch will remove the oleophobic coating.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll look into that. But I won't eat my words and I do blame the product for being of weaker quality than other watches. And I know I'm not the only one with this issue..
 
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felixen said:
Thanks, I'll look into that. But I won't eat my words and I do blame the product for being of weaker quality than other watches. And I know I'm not the only one with this issue..
Click to expand...

If the scratch is within the oleophobic coating then that's not indicative of a weaker quality. Traditional watches do not have this coating as there's no reason to touch their screens. As someone mentioned, this coating (along with any scratches) can be removed entirely and a number of members have done this. The SS models also have it so it'd be no different.
 
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JayLenochiniMac said:
If the scratch is within the oleophobic coating then that's not indicative of a weaker quality. Traditional watches do not have this coating as there's no reason to touch their screens. As someone mentioned, this coating (along with any scratches) can be removed entirely and a number of members have done this. The SS models also have it so it'd be no different.
Click to expand...
That's a good point. I hope you're right, will try for sure
 
felixen said:
lol you obviously didn't read my post
Click to expand...

I read it, and not seeing where there is a watch "quality problem". Quality assurance problems result in defects. You scratching your watch is not a defect. The fact that you don't recall "how" you scratched it doesn't mean that you didn't scratch it. I have scratched myself before and not realized how I did it, but looked down and I was bleeding. Or are you suggesting that your watch just spontaneously produced a scratch without you bumping it against something?

Were you not aware when you chose to buy the Sport of the Watch that it had a less scratch resistant display screen?
 
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convergent said:
Were you not aware when you chose to buy the Sport of the Watch that it had a less scratch resistant display screen?
Click to expand...

This is irrelevant if the scratch is within the oleophobic coating, for both the Sport and SS models have this coating. In fact, a few SS owners couldn't understand why their sapphire screens were scratching for this reason and one even returned their SS because of this. However, the good news is this coating (along with the scratches) can be removed entirely if one so desires.
 
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Toothpaste will round out the scratch depending on its depth - if it's in the top coating, it will be gone; if it's in the glass, it will become less visible.

Edit: Not gel toothpastes, those aren't abrasive enough.
 
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Woke the other day to discover a scratch on my 42mm SS watch....was devoed as the 3mm scratch looked deep and could feel it whilst running my finger over it....

Read some threads and took some scotchbrite to it and within 30 secs the scratch disappeared! Was astonished! Then took some 100% isopropyl to the whole screen and good as new!:):apple:
 
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thewhitetower said:
Woke the other day to discover a scratch on my 42mm SS watch....was devoed as the 3mm scratch looked deep and could feel it whilst running my finger over it....

Read some threads and took some scotchbrite to it and within 30 secs the scratch disappeared! Was astonished! Then took some 100% isopropyl to the whole screen and good as new!:):apple:
Click to expand...
Good to know!
 
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felixen said:
yesterday I wore a long sleeve wool shirt all day long and was as always extremely cautious not to hit anything with my wrist. However when I checked my watch during the day I noticed a thin but long scratch running from top to bottom of the screen. I have the black sports watch. Obviously very poor quality since I have had many watches in my time, treated them all carefully, and only my Apple Watch gets a large scratch from practically nothing. Nice work, Apple.

Anyway, I spoke with Apple on the phone and they fully understood my frustration but didn't want to help (they wanted $285 for replacing the screen).

Does anyone in here have any tips for how to remove a not very deep scratch? I have tried applying toothpaste like some suggest but that didn't help much :(

I have always loved my Nixon Regent but haven't wanted to wear it since I got my Apple Watch 4 months ago. However, one slip up like this and it totally kills the "fashion" feel for me, and I feel like going back to my trusty Regent. So disappointed with Apple's quality assurance on this product
Click to expand...

The Regent has a sapphire crystal, so of course the Apple Sport will scratch first.
 
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convergent said:
I read it, and not seeing where there is a watch "quality problem". Quality assurance problems result in defects. You scratching your watch is not a defect. The fact that you don't recall "how" you scratched it doesn't mean that you didn't scratch it. I have scratched myself before and not realized how I did it, but looked down and I was bleeding. Or are you suggesting that your watch just spontaneously produced a scratch without you bumping it against something?

Were you not aware when you chose to buy the Sport of the Watch that it had a less scratch resistant display screen?
Click to expand...

I was waiting for the "magical scratch out of nowhere" comment. I never said that. It's obvious something has happened - maybe I've had a little sand corn on the sleeve of my shirt, which in turn was covered in my jacket sleeve all day long. Where the quality part comes in is when something so minor can scratch up my watch, which practically makes it impossible to take good care of it. This is a watch that is designed to be worn on peoples wrist for every-day use and it is a fashion object. A quality item in this category simply should not scratch so easily.

Were you not aware when you chose to reply that sometimes you must first read through the lines to undertand a piece of text?
 
Mascots said:
Toothpaste will round out the scratch depending on its depth - if it's in the top coating, it will be gone; if it's in the glass, it will become less visible.

Edit: Not gel toothpastes, those aren't abrasive enough.
Click to expand...

I tried with 2 different kinds of toothpaste but unfortunately no luck. Hopefully it just hasn't been strong enough so I'll try another kind first before I place an order for that removal liquid to remove the oleophobic coating. Question though, how is the screen after the oleophobic coating has been removed? I read of a few people saying they iPhone's caught fingerprints much more easily after having removed it, and also that the screen was even worse in sunlight than usual. Any comments on that?
 
felixen said:
I tried with 2 different kinds of toothpaste but unfortunately no luck. Hopefully it just hasn't been strong enough so I'll try another kind first before I place an order for that removal liquid to remove the oleophobic coating. Question though, how is the screen after the oleophobic coating has been removed? I read of a few people saying they iPhone's caught fingerprints much more easily after having removed it, and also that the screen was even worse in sunlight than usual. Any comments on that?
Click to expand...
Have you ever used an iPhone or iPad that was a year or more old? If so it's oleophobic coating would be most likely worn off.

Also you can use isopropyl alcohol to remove it.
 
felixen said:
I was waiting for the "magical scratch out of nowhere" comment. I never said that. It's obvious something has happened - maybe I've had a little sand corn on the sleeve of my shirt, which in turn was covered in my jacket sleeve all day long. Where the quality part comes in is when something so minor can scratch up my watch, which practically makes it impossible to take good care of it. This is a watch that is designed to be worn on peoples wrist for every-day use and it is a fashion object. A quality item in this category simply should not scratch so easily.

Were you not aware when you chose to reply that sometimes you must first read through the lines to undertand a piece of text?
Click to expand...

I read through the "piece of text" and chose to reply because I disagreed with your statement. You said you were disappointed with Apple's "quality assurance". The implication you made was that due to this quality assurance problem, your watch has a scratch. Quality assurance is the process in manufacturing that checks to see that a product is manufactured according to the specifications that it was designed to, and ultimately leaves the factory defect free. I disagree that your watch has a defect. I believe that it was manufactured the way Apple intended and therefore not the result of a quality assurance problem. I could be wrong, but that is my opinion based on what you said.

You skirted by how the scratch got there. It was scratched by something. I gave an example that I have cut myself before and not known how I did it... but looked down and I was bleeding from my hand. Does my hand have a quality assurance problem? No, I was obviously careless and bumped into something that I didn't remember bumping into. I am not in the habit of intentionally throwing my hands into things, but in spite of being careful accidents do happen sometimes... and sometimes you don't remember having them.

Your explanation in your initial post implies that you are not at fault here. You scratched the watch... its not a quality assurance problem. That is my point.

Apple has a more scratch resistant version of the watch face. The fact that they have that option implies that the version you bought is not as scratch resistant as the other... otherwise why would they make two? I bought my AW used, and I've worn it as I have worn any other watch... bumped in to door jams a few times, worn it doing yard work, working on the car, etc.. Thus far its not gotten a scratch, but if it does then I will live with it... its a watch, not a museum piece. My understanding is that the sapphire crystal is prone to shattering if dropped, in trade for better scratch resistance. So there are always trade-offs.

Several folks have given you suggestions for how to reduce or remove the scratch ... same solutions you'd use if you got a scratch on any other watch face. I hope that one of those solutions will satisfactorily remove the scratch as I'm sure eventually I'll have a scratch and possibly be looking for a way to remove it.
 
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convergent said:
I read through the "piece of text" and chose to reply because I disagreed with your statement. You said you were disappointed with Apple's "quality assurance". The implication you made was that due to this quality assurance problem, your watch has a scratch. Quality assurance is the process in manufacturing that checks to see that a product is manufactured according to the specifications that it was designed to, and ultimately leaves the factory defect free. I disagree that your watch has a defect. I believe that it was manufactured the way Apple intended and therefore not the result of a quality assurance problem. I could be wrong, but that is my opinion based on what you said.

You skirted by how the scratch got there. It was scratched by something. I gave an example that I have cut myself before and not known how I did it... but looked down and I was bleeding from my hand. Does my hand have a quality assurance problem? No, I was obviously careless and bumped into something that I didn't remember bumping into. I am not in the habit of intentionally throwing my hands into things, but in spite of being careful accidents do happen sometimes... and sometimes you don't remember having them.

Your explanation in your initial post implies that you are not at fault here. You scratched the watch... its not a quality assurance problem. That is my point.

Apple has a more scratch resistant version of the watch face. The fact that they have that option implies that the version you bought is not as scratch resistant as the other... otherwise why would they make two? I bought my AW used, and I've worn it as I have worn any other watch... bumped in to door jams a few times, worn it doing yard work, working on the car, etc.. Thus far its not gotten a scratch, but if it does then I will live with it... its a watch, not a museum piece. My understanding is that the sapphire crystal is prone to shattering if dropped, in trade for better scratch resistance. So there are always trade-offs.

Several folks have given you suggestions for how to reduce or remove the scratch ... same solutions you'd use if you got a scratch on any other watch face. I hope that one of those solutions will satisfactorily remove the scratch as I'm sure eventually I'll have a scratch and possibly be looking for a way to remove it.
Click to expand...
Well said.
 
fabio.lordelo said:
Why didn't you go with the stainless steel version? The screen on the sport version will scratch eventually
Click to expand...

This is exactly I have Sapphire on all my watches... You should have went Stainless version if you were that worried about scratches.

If I knowingly bought a "Ion-X" instead of sapphire watch crystal and scratched it I wouldnt be suprised. Now, if I had scratched a sapphire crystal I WOULD be very suprised, as that hasn't happened in 20 years...

If it was that inportant to you, should have ponied up.
 
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eggersj said:
This is exactly I have Sapphire on all my watches... You should have went Stainless version if you were that worried about scratches.

If I knowingly bought a "Ion-X" instead of sapphire watch crystal and scratched it I wouldnt be suprised. Now, if I had scratched a sapphire crystal I WOULD be very suprised, as that hasn't happened in 20 years...

If it was that inportant to you, should have ponied up.
Click to expand...

This is actually irrelevant if the scratch is within the oleophobic coating, as the sapphire crystal on the SS models is also covered with this coating. While I personally don't have scratches within this coating on my SS, several SS owners have reported getting them.

However, deciding between ion-X vs. sapphire can make a huge difference when it comes to deeper scratches that penetrate the oleophobic coating.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
This is actually irrelevant if the scratch is within the oleophobic coating, as the sapphire crystal on the SS models is also covered with this coating. While I personally don't have scratches within this coating on my SS, several SS owners have reported getting them.

However, deciding between ion-X vs. sapphire can make a huge difference when it comes to deeper scratches that penetrate the oleophobic coating.
Click to expand...

Well he didn't provide a picture, so no one knows how deep the scratch is.
 
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