Scratches on Apple Watch Sport Screen

[Neo1975]

That’s very normal wear for an aluminum watch. Try an Armorshield protector on amazon. I don’t have my aluminum watch anymore, but when I did and I got some scratches on it, the armorshield covered them perfectly. If applied correctly, you shouldn’t even be able to notice it. Check out this photo from before I sold mine.
View attachment 724792

Thanks, that looks nice. Ordered a cheap copy from eBay. Will report back when fitted. Also saw a nice glass one with curved edges with full coverage, but I am concerned about the additional thickness.

 

[newellj]

It will be fine. Very fine abrasive compound, it works on Saphire and crystal glass, so why won’t it work ?

Very soft felt pad on a Dremmel. Just polishing really. I will try a normal glass faced watch first, and then give it a go.

Polishing scratches out of glass is fairly straightforward.

In 99.9% of cases, Dremel + abrasive = catastrophic damage. Your call, mate.

 

[SoN1NjA]

You will notice the coating removal. My GF scratched her S0 pretty badly, so we did the toothpaste trick to remove the coating entirely to reduce the noticeability of the scratch. The screen was terrible without the coating. Fingerprints were impossible to get rid of and it was extremely tacky. Removing the coating is the worst thing you can do. We ended up using AC+ to get a replacement for $69. Leaving the scratch would have been much better. But we knew we had the AC+ to try.

Thank you for mentioning this, I was considering removing the oleophobic coating on my steel watch models because it makes the faces appear scratched

But no thank you after what you said

For me, I can always tell if a phone is new or not by the oleophobic coating, it’s a much different feel

Although with the watch I figured as long as I carry a polishing cloth around it’ll keep the fingerprints at bay... you say this isn’t as easy as it sounds?

 

[Mlrollin91]

Thank you for mentioning this, I was considering removing the oleophobic coating on my steel watch models because it makes the faces appear scratched

But no thank you after what you said

For me, I can always tell if a phone is new or not by the oleophobic coating, it’s a much different feel

Although with the watch I figured as long as I carry a polishing cloth around it’ll keep the fingerprints at bay... you say this isn’t as easy as it sounds?

Unfortunately not. She attempted to use it for a week before she couldn’t take it anymore. In fairness she tends to have oily fingerprints, but it made it that much more difficult to remove because the fingerprints would smudge. She would keep a lint free cloth in her purse and it just didn’t work as well. You never really realize how important the coating is until it’s gone.

I always use screen protectors with oleophobic coatings so once it starts to wear thin I just put a new one on. That’s another reason why I also use a screen protector on my iPhone. Prevents unevenness of the coating. Obviously the bottom half of the phone gets way more usage.

 

[SoN1NjA]

Unfortunately not. She attempted to use it for a week before she couldn’t take it anymore. In fairness she tends to have oily fingerprints, but it made it that much more difficult to remove because the fingerprints would smudge. She would keep a lint free cloth in her purse and it just didn’t work as well. You never really realize how important the coating is until it’s gone.

I always use screen protectors with oleophobic coatings so once it starts to wear thin I just put a new one on. That’s another reason why I also use a screen protector on my iPhone. Prevents unevenness of the coating. Obviously the bottom half of the phone gets way more usage.

I always try to keep my watch polishing cloth on me, and I hate seeing fingerprints, so maybe this would do the opposite

It’s just so annoying to see swirls of oil that look like scratches on the face

Almost like polishing a door everyone will touch—beautiful when clean, if it is ever clean

 

[Mlrollin91]

I always try to keep my watch polishing cloth on me, and I hate seeing fingerprints, so maybe this would do the opposite

It’s just so annoying to see swirls of oil that look like scratches on the face

Almost like polishing a door everyone will touch—beautiful when clean, if it is ever clean

I get it, I'm the same exact way. I always keep a small cloth in my pocket for watch and phone. Fingerprints drive me insane, and so do scratches. Thats why I tried the screen protector route with my S0 for over a year, it was just a hassle. Eery 3-4 weeks I need a new one as they kept peeling.

 

[SoN1NjA]

I get it, I'm the same exact way. I always keep a small cloth in my pocket for watch and phone. Fingerprints drive me insane, and so do scratches. Thats why I tried the screen protector route with my S0 for over a year, it was just a hassle. Eery 3-4 weeks I need a new one as they kept peeling.

I cannot stand screen protectors, you can always see the lip around the screen and it drives me insane

Especially when they start to turn yellow because of oils

Also, I imagine whomever you’re buying those screen protectors from is happy, they are expensive!

 

[Mlrollin91]

I cannot stand screen protectors, you can always see the lip around the screen and it drives me insane

Especially when they start to turn yellow because of oils

Also, I imagine whomever you’re buying those screen protectors from is happy, they are expensive!

Luckily I found decent screen protectors for my iPhones from Anker. $5-$8 for a 2 pack. I get a good 2 months of use out of their coating.

The outline also bugs me, thats primarily why for the last 5 years I had a white phone. But this year, I went with the Space Grey because I wanted a change. And now, I have the lovely outline. But hey, it saves my coating. Its a lose/lose.

 

[SoN1NjA]

Luckily I found decent screen protectors for my iPhones from Anker. $5-$8 for a 2 pack. I get a good 2 months of use out of their coating.

The outline also bugs me, thats primarily why for the last 5 years I had a white phone. But this year, I went with the Space Grey because I wanted a change. And now, I have the lovely outline. But hey, it saves my coating. Its a lose/lose.

So you can’t see it on the white displays? Might have to go with an iPhone 8 in Silver, I hate to keep cracking phones because of my stupid choice of not wearing a case / screen protector

Recently cracked a device and felt horrible for it (not because of the ugly screen, because it’s annoying to break stuff and “get away with it”)

 

[Mlrollin91]

So you can’t see it on the white displays? Might have to go with an iPhone 8 in Silver, I hate to keep cracking phones because of my stupid choice of not wearing a case / screen protector

Recently cracked a device and felt horrible for it (not because of the ugly screen, because it’s annoying to break stuff and “get away with it”)

Its almost invisible on a white front. Its actually 10x more difficult to install because you cant see how you are lining it up.

My GF is in class right now, but tomorrow afternoon I can try to grab some photos of the screen protector on the white front so you can get a sense of it.

 

[SoN1NjA]

Its almost invisible on a white front. Its actually 10x more difficult to install because you cant see how you are lining it up.

My GF is in class right now, but tomorrow afternoon I can try to grab some photos of the screen protector on the white front so you can get a sense of it.

Yes please, can PM if you’d like—very interested because it’s quite disappointing to break phones

Thinking about rocking a 7 with a clear case or Apple white silicone case with screen protector

Will need to decide soon, X looks very nice, but I’d hate to crack it

 

[IvanEd747]

In 99.9% of cases, Dremel + abrasive = catastrophic damage. Your call, mate.

I agree. It’s very hard to get a feel for how you’re doing. The dremel itself weighs enough that fine work is hard, since you don’t get much feedback. A variable speed dremel is a must for these fine jobs too. If it’s an Apple Watch, and I had no practice with the power polishing technique I would do it by hand.

Edit:
To add to what I said, when you’re polishing with a dremel... everything happens so quickly that you can over polish without even realizing and then it’s too late. It’s just a lot of power on the tool. That’s why variable speed is a must.

 

[Neo1975]

In 99.9% of cases, Dremel + abrasive = catastrophic damage. Your call, mate.

Have you tried it ?
[doublepost=1507702665][/doublepost]

I agree. It’s very hard to get a feel for how you’re doing. The dremel itself weighs enough that fine work is hard, since you don’t get much feedback. A variable speed dremel is a must for these fine jobs too. If it’s an Apple Watch, and I had no practice with the power polishing technique I would do it by hand.

Edit:
To add to what I said, when you’re polishing with a dremel... everything happens so quickly that you can over polish without even realizing and then it’s too late. It’s just a lot of power on the tool. That’s why variable speed is a must.

It is variable speed. Soft felt pad on a low speed, might try by hand first.

I might buy a replacement screen for £15 and test it first.

 

[newellj]

I agree. It’s very hard to get a feel for how you’re doing. The dremel itself weighs enough that fine work is hard, since you don’t get much feedback. A variable speed dremel is a must for these fine jobs too. If it’s an Apple Watch, and I had no practice with the power polishing technique I would do it by hand.

Edit:
To add to what I said, when you’re polishing with a dremel... everything happens so quickly that you can over polish without even realizing and then it’s too late. It’s just a lot of power on the tool. That’s why variable speed is a must.

Polishing is a high-level skill. Polishing with a Dremel in most cases is like trying to mow the lawn with a chainsaw stuck on full throttle. Micromesh pads like the ones linked below, used carefully and skillfully, are big enough to avoid a wavy or burnt out finish and it's hard to beat the slow speed possible with those pads.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H6EC4C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Newtons Apple]

You’ll probably end up removing the oliopathic coating on the glass during this process.

Probably? There is no doubt it will. Likely does not matter at this point.

 

[broadbean]

I don't think you should do it, O.P. But if you did, please post it on YouTube!

 

[newellj]

Probably? There is no doubt it will. Likely does not matter at this point.

As will the Micromesh pads I mentioned. Heck, even very fine polish like Simichrome applied carefully by hand will do the same.

 

[44267547]

I would really like to see the thread starter post before-and-after pictures of their methods. Hopefully we have some sort of follow up for feedback what they actually plan on doing.

 

[ZipZap]

I always try to keep my watch polishing cloth on me, and I hate seeing fingerprints, so maybe this would do the opposite

It’s just so annoying to see swirls of oil that look like scratches on the face

Almost like polishing a door everyone will touch—beautiful when clean, if it is ever clean

I presume you are not using a compound watch polishing cloth?

 

[SoN1NjA]

I presume you are not using a compound watch polishing cloth?

Nope, I'm using the ones you seen in the Apple Store (navy blue, soft) the exact ones, although I they have the newer ones which are only larger