Space Black Milanese Coating Wearing

[Tehpsyc]

Just trying to poll the community and see what the experience has been. I recently decided to splurge on the official Milanese loop for the Apple Watch in space black. Previously I had one of the cheap knock offs from Amazon ($12) which looks pretty darn similar but quickly started to wear with the black finish coming off on the bottom surface where my wrist naturally rests on objects likely while typing. I liked the overall look so decided to grab the official one under the assumption that this was just a side effect of the cheaper manufacturing process and that the more expensive Apple version wouldn't have this issue.

Sadly after less than a week the same area is starting to show signs of wear and the black finish is coming off showing the uncoated stainless steal. I spoke to Apple who is gonna take a look and I suspect will offer an exchange. My question is, is this an issue others are experiencing? Did I get a defective band or is swapping just going to buy me another week before it too ends up in the same situation. I don't put any excess pressure in that area aside from resting my wrists while typing, I'm not exposing the watch to any particular harsh work conditions, so I'm not sure why its wearing so quickly, but for $150 I'm quite sad to see it already loosing its finish after 6 days of normal use.

Edit: Attaching a picture. Top band is the knock off and its area of wearing and below is the official band with it starting to wear. Almost just looks like areas of shine from the lighting but if I had a better camera you could more clearly see those areas are slightly flattened where the coating has worn off and are visible at more angles and not just lighting, at this point primarily affecting the first 2 rows of links on the official.

https://imgur.com/Oue2Ych

 

[DougFNJ]

Are you referring to the end of the strap where the magnet is, or on the strap section? (Hard to tell in the photos). If it's the magnet, unfortunately, I read thats normal. If it's in the strap section, it should not do that.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Just trying to poll the community and see what the experience has been. I recently decided to splurge on the official Milanese loop for the Apple Watch in space black. Previously I had one of the cheap knock offs from Amazon ($12) which looks pretty darn similar but quickly started to wear with the black finish coming off on the bottom surface where my wrist naturally rests on objects likely while typing. I liked the overall look so decided to grab the official one under the assumption that this was just a side effect of the cheaper manufacturing process and that the more expensive Apple version wouldn't have this issue.

Sadly after less than a week the same area is starting to show signs of wear and the black finish is coming off showing the uncoated stainless steal. I spoke to Apple who is gonna take a look and I suspect will offer an exchange. My question is, is this an issue others are experiencing? Did I get a defective band or is swapping just going to buy me another week before it too ends up in the same situation. I don't put any excess pressure in that area aside from resting my wrists while typing, I'm not exposing the watch to any particular harsh work conditions, so I'm not sure why its wearing so quickly, but for $150 I'm quite sad to see it already loosing its finish after 6 days of normal use.

Edit: Attaching a picture. Top band is the knock off and its area of wearing and below is the official band with it starting to wear. Almost just looks like areas of shine from the lighting but if I had a better camera you could more clearly see those areas are slightly flattened where the coating has worn off and are visible at more angles and not just lighting, at this point primarily affecting the first 2 rows of links on the official.

https://imgur.com/Oue2Ych

As with the black stainless steel link band, some members here have said they have no problem. However, some reviews on Apple's site say the coating can wear off from repeated friction in the same spot.

It seems like these bands are fine depending on usage and lifestyle – if you are going to spend a lot of time rubbing them against a surface, you might want to wear another band.