New titanium Milanese loop "polished" by the buckle

[Vesbis]

I just upgraded my old Series 8 to AWU 2, with natural titanium Milanese loop. I think the combination is great! I enjoy the bigger watch very much and the titanium Milanese loop feels great! It's lightweight and very comfortable.

While I'm very happy with the new purchase, there is one thing that is bugging my OCD. I was adjusting the buckle on the band for the first time and I did it very carefully. All seemed to work just fine, the buckle moved nicely. However, I noticed afterwards that moving the buckle "polished" a certain area on the band. Right in the middle. Hopefully you can see what I mean from the video. It's really hard to capture it on camera. You can certainly see the shinier area when the light hits on a right angle. When looking very closely, I can see that the area looks more shiny because the buckle has made some very small scratches. And the light hits those scratches on the otherwise matt finished band.

I wouldn't mind if I had bumbed the watch on to something and gotten some straches because of that, but this I find very annoying. It's a brand new, very expensive band and it got the marks while only adjusting the buckle as instructed. And I really made sure to properly open the latch before adjusting the buckle.

Am I the only one having this problem, have others experienced similar issue?

 

[Mr.Fox]

I just upgraded my old Series 8 to AWU 2, with natural titanium Milanese loop. I think the combination is great! I enjoy the bigger watch very much and the titanium Milanese loop feels great! It's lightweight and very comfortable.

While I'm very happy with the new purchase, there is one thing that is bugging my OCD. I was adjusting the buckle on the band for the first time and I did it very carefully. All seemed to work just fine, the buckle moved nicely. However, I noticed afterwards that moving the buckle "polished" a certain area on the band. Right in the middle. Hopefully you can see what I mean from the video. It's really hard to capture it on camera. You can certainly see the shinier area when the light hits on a right angle. When looking very closely, I can see that the area looks more shiny because the buckle has made some very small scratches. And the light hits those scratches on the otherwise matt finished band.

I wouldn't mind if I had bumbed the watch on to something and gotten some straches because of that, but this I find very annoying. It's a brand new, very expensive band and it got the marks while only adjusting the buckle as instructed. And I really made sure to properly open the latch before adjusting the buckle.

Am I the only one having this problem, have others experienced similar issue?

View attachment 2447877

The anodized coating is extremely low quality, that's what it is. So it's a defective batch. Expect negative feedback from other users. The anodizing process produces an incredibly tough oxide layer on the surface of titanium. This layer is much harder than the base titanium and provides excellent resistance to wear and corrosion and can't be scratched like this. You have to try.

 

[PaladinGuy]

My clasp was scratched in less than a week. I don’t think they used a good enough coating. My Nomad titanium band has a DLC coating and hasn’t ever scratched. Apple should not cheap out here.

I will probably be keeping mine, but I might eventually try to brush the buckle to make it easier to touch up.

 

[Vesbis]

I just called Apple and sent some pictures of the scratches to them. They said that those definitely do not look like normal wear and they will look what they can do in this situation. They promised to call me back tomorrow to present the options.

 

[Jackbequickly]

My clasp was scratched in less than a week. I don’t think they used a good enough coating. My Nomad titanium band has a DLC coating and hasn’t ever scratched. Apple should not cheap out here.

I will probably be keeping mine, but I might eventually try to brush the buckle to make it easier to touch up.

DLC coating add a good bit to the cost of the product. Not all are willing to pay the extra so Apple chose to go for quantity instead.

 

[PaladinGuy]

DLC coating add a good bit to the cost of the product. Not all are willing to pay the extra so Apple chose to go for quantity instead.

I understand your point, but Apple used to use true DLC coating on the Space Black Milanese Loop and the Space Black Steel Apple Watches. I don’t actually think it would cost them much with their scale of production. Nomad and others have to charge more because they have much lower sales volumes.

 

[Jackbequickly]

The DLC process takes time and is always going to demand a premium price. The result is worth it as my Series 7 Ti still looks as new after years of use.

 

[Vesbis]

Update: I got a new AWU2 + band from Apple. They don't exchange the band only. They go together if they are purchased together.

The new band seems to have better coating. Moving the clasp on it didn't cause any scratches this time. However, the new band is much, MUCH more stiff. And feels a bit thicker as well. The old one was much more flexible. Well, hopefully the stiffness will loosen up over time.

Seems that there is quite a lot of variation between the batches. Maybe it's because the titanium is apparently quite difficult material to work on.

 

[PaladinGuy]

Update: I got a new AWU2 + band from Apple. They don't exchange the band only. They go together if they are purchased together.

The new band seems to have better coating. Moving the clasp on it didn't cause any scratches this time. However, the new band is much, MUCH more stiff. And feels a bit thicker as well. The old one was much more flexible. Well, hopefully the stiffness will loosen up over time.

Seems that there is quite a lot of variation between the batches. Maybe it's because the titanium is apparently quite difficult material to work on.

Interesting