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SS Space Black Coating Peeling

mr.anthonyramos said:
Hi all,

I have had my watch for about two weeks now and have noticed something interesting on the inside of the Black Link Band. I really doubt that this is normal and do you think Apple will issue me a replacement if I showed them the peeling?

It's strange that it only peels at a specific area of the link band. on both sides of the watch. I am imagining that these are stress points?

Thoughts anyone?

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Thats the reason I didn't order the black but instead the SS the Black anodize has to be done well no to many companies know how to do it well. I had this problems in my prevues place of job the some tooling that were sent to be anodize were pilling of. I would recommend you to return it to Apple for your sack and for Apple to do something about it.
 
AttilaTheHun said:
Thats the reason I didn't order the black but instead the SS the Black anodize has to be done well no to many companies know how to do it well. I had this problems in my prevues place of job the some tooling that were sent to be anodize were pilling of. I would recommend you to return it to Apple for your sack and for Apple to do something about it.
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This isn't like anodized aluminum at all. DLC uses the PVD process to bond the coating with the base metal (in this case 316L stainless steel).

A couple good articles on PVD and DLC here:

http://www.messinajewelers.com/blog/black-coating-watches-pvd-or-dlc/
http://www.watchpro.com/14911-exploding-the-science-behind-black-watches/
 
A quick update about my call with Apple this morning about my case of the "Peeling DLC Coating":

I was put in contact with a senior product specialist who asked me to send pictures. I did and he asked for more pictures with varying angles.

I was not entirely happy with the conversation. He did say, it will be a good chance that they will replace the link band but he needs to refer this case to the engineering department hence there is also a chance that the engineering department will tell me that since it is on isolated parts of the band, it could be damaged caused by the user hence will not be covered by warranty. He said that should it be a manufacturing defect, the entire band should have been damaged but it seems like a very specific area on the watch.

Which of course I argued if they were accusing me of making some crap up and I said I am a customer who has experienced something that should NOT have happened normally and they are using "possibilities" as a way to avoid responsibility which I, being a loyal Apple user, will not be pleased with.
 
I was just at the Apple store today, and noticed that the Black SS inside the display case had the same "peeling" you describe. You can see the DLC coating came off on the back of the links. Keep in mind these are not handled very often. Probably only once to put them in the case.
 
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Go to your local apple store and take pics of the display case units. I found one with the same problem.
 
NovemberWhiskey said:
I was just at the Apple store today, and noticed that the Black SS inside the display case had the same "peeling" you describe. You can see the DLC coating came off on the back of the links. Keep in mind these are not handled very often. Probably only once to put them in the case.
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Thank you for bringing this up! This would be a good case to bring up! Maybe I will check out the Apple Store later as well after work.

Glad to know that it isn't an isolated case proving my point that this is probably a manufacturing defect on the coating. So all watches will probably end up like this...meaning for me, a replacement would be useless...
 
mr.anthonyramos said:
Is it around the same area on the band? Like the third and forth links from the watch body? Or different parts?
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Sorry. That I don't remember. I just remembered your post vaguely from yesterday, and noticed the same thing in the display case. I didn't take note of where it was, except I know it was on the inside of the band (the part that makes contact with your wrist.

Next time I am there I will try to take pics for you if your local store does not show the same defect. But I don't know when I will be back. Let me know if you absolutely need it and I can make a special trip.
 
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NovemberWhiskey said:
Sorry. That I don't remember. I just remembered your post vaguely from yesterday, and noticed the same thing in the display case. I didn't take note of where it was, except I know it was on the inside of the band (the part that makes contact with your wrist.

Next time I am there I will try to take pics for you if your local store does not show the same defect. But I don't know when I will be back. Let me know if you absolutely need it and I can make a special trip.
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Thanks for offering. But I won't want to trouble you too much.

I take your word for it. And I will also visit an apple store and see if they have similar issues and then I can get in touch with the apple employee I spoke with this morning and tell him that this is not an isolated case.

Thanks again buddy!
 
NovemberWhiskey said:
Sorry. That I don't remember. I just remembered your post vaguely from yesterday, and noticed the same thing in the display case. I didn't take note of where it was, except I know it was on the inside of the band (the part that makes contact with your wrist.

Next time I am there I will try to take pics for you if your local store does not show the same defect. But I don't know when I will be back. Let me know if you absolutely need it and I can make a special trip.
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I just came back from the store and they didn't have a Space Black test unit. What a joke.

If you do get the chance, do take a quick picture of the watch? Maybe include the serial number of the watch in the picture.

I'm remember trying the watch in that store and now it's gone? Maybe they sent it back because the coating was peeling.

Sigh...
 
One thing I noticed about the link bracelet in the store was that tolerances between the links were extremely narrow. This makes for an extremely precise construction of the bracelet...no wobble between links, no loose spots.

But it also lends itself to problems when it comes to coatings. Even the tiniest metal burr between links will become larger when a coating is applied. When there's so little room for movement between the links, that newly coated larger burr will become a tiny chisel when it moves against another link.

This could be why you mostly see the chipping near the spaces between the links.

In order to facilitate mass production, Apple probably just DLC coated the same steel bracelets they use for the non-DLC version, but in reality they probably should have milled or cast the DLC version's parts several microns smaller to accommodate the DLC coating.

But what do I know? I'm no engineer.
 
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chrisperra said:
I had one come in today with a similar issue, and Apple had me replace it for the customer. My advice is to visit your local Apple Authorized Service Provider for Watch, and they should be able to get you taken care of.
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Umm. Might be a good idea to read a thread before posting? Two posts above yours, the OP said he's been to the Apple Store.

Edit: Also on post #18.
 
i have a black ss crappy 'fossil' watch that i paid 50 bucks for in an outlet near vegas in 2008... ZERO marks on it so far...

what a FAIL
 
chrisperra said:
I had one come in today with a similar issue, and Apple had me replace it for the customer. My advice is to visit your local Apple Authorized Service Provider for Watch, and they should be able to get you taken care of.
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Already been there. But like I mentioned earlier they told me to call AppleCare and is currently being "reviewed" by the engineering department.

NovemberWhiskey posted that he saw similar peeling on a display model. So I hope to use that to reinforce the fact that Apple might have an issue with thier coating process rather than this being an isolated case. And because of this, I am less hopefull even if they gave me a replacement because if what I mentioned is true then the replacement will also have the same wear after a week or two.
 
fischersd said:
Umm. Might be a good idea to read a thread before posting? Two posts above yours, the OP said he's been to the Apple Store.

Edit: Also on post #18.
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Would you have responded exactly like this in person? We can be more courteous than this and we should give people the benefit of the doubt more than we do, especially when they are trying to be helpful.
 
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jschu22 said:
Would you have responded exactly like this in person? We can be more courteous than this and we should give people the benefit of the doubt more than we do, especially when they are trying to be helpful.
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Etiquette's a little different in a face to face conversation than a topic thread on a board such as this. He's been a member here for several years, he should know by now that you should be up to speed on a thread before commenting, so you aren't repeating what others have already said. This thread's only two pages long; we're not talking about a considerable amount of effort to be current.
 
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After reading this thread, I inspected the underside of my SBSS link bracelet. I'm disappointed to have noticed the same phenomenon with mine. I've been wearing it for two weeks; have not banged it up against anything. The only things the underside of the band has been exposed to has been skin, non-workout daily perspiration, and one quick rinse-off with water.

I took pictures and a video this afternoon and contacted Apple. I need to bring it into a retail store for a physical inspection and to have the defect documented by an employee. At least I now have the issue verbally documented and on file with Apple.

With the (glacial) pace this particular model has rolled out, and given that Apple is not yet up-to-speed with having pre-orders delivered, I'm not realistically expecting to have a replacement band in my possession until July, at the earliest. But, fortunately, I have Apple Care Plus with the watch, so I won't have to surrender the defective band until I have a replacement in my possession. But I do expect to get a replacement band. This -- however minor in appearance -- should not be happening with a $500 band. And it makes me apprehensive about what I might notice after two more weeks, two months, and then several months down the road with daily use.

Finally, I have to say that I'm otherwise very, very pleased with this watch. Absolutely no buyer's remorse and no regrets about being an early adopter on this. This particular watch is a real joy and a pleasure to have.
 
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d8b17ee5 said:
View attachment 558551 After reading this thread, I inspected the underside of my SBSS link bracelet. I'm disappointed to have noticed the same phenomenon with mine. I've been wearing it for two weeks; have not banged it up against anything. The only things the underside of the band has been exposed to has been skin, non-workout daily perspiration, and one quick rinse-off with water.

I took pictures and a video this afternoon and contacted Apple. I need to bring it into a retail store for a physical inspection and to have the defect documented by an employee. At least I now have the issue verbally documented and on file with Apple.

With the (glacial) pace this particular model has rolled out, and given that Apple is not yet up-to-speed with having pre-orders delivered, I'm not realistically expecting to have a replacement band in my possession until July, at the earliest. But, fortunately, I have Apple Care Plus with the watch, so I won't have to surrender the defective band until I have a replacement in my possession. But I do expect to get a replacement band. This -- however minor in appearance -- should not be happening with a $500 band. And it makes me apprehensive about what I might notice after two more weeks, two months, and then several months down the road with daily use.

Finally, I have to say that I'm otherwise very, very pleased with this watch. Absolutely no buyer's remorse and no regrets about being an early adopter on this. This particular watch is a real joy and a pleasure to have.
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Thanks for sharing your picture. I think that it is unfortunate to hear news like this from others who have the same issue but also fortunate if we can send out these reports to Apple helping them realise that they might have an issue with their coating process and hopefully this will move them to do something about this.

I am hoping (yet also hoping not) to see a few more people take a look at their band after a week or two of use to see if there has been any rubbing off as well with the coating from the inside for us to make a case for Apple to possibly do something about this.

Do you could PM me your case number and I would be able to quote your case as well noting that I am not the only one experiencing this?
 
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This is incredibly disappointing. I wonder if a high rate of substandard DLC applications was why they were having trouble getting the SBSS watches out compared with other models...?

I'm fully confident they'll replace this for you without complaint, but you'll probably have to wait for it. Again. Which really doesn't seem fair. :( Sorry to see someone who waited so long for their Watch encounter something so disappointing, though I am hopeful this is a fairly isolated incident and only one or two faulty ones slipped the net and made it through to customers.
 
anez said:
This is incredibly disappointing. I wonder if a high rate of substandard DLC applications was why they were having trouble getting the SBSS watches out compared with other models...?

I'm fully confident they'll replace this for you without complaint, but you'll probably have to wait for it. Again. Which really doesn't seem fair. :( Sorry to see someone who waited so long for their Watch encounter something so disappointing, though I am hopeful this is a fairly isolated incident and only one or two faulty ones slipped the net and made it through to customers.
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You could be right but we will never know unless someone from Apple really confirms the reason behind the trouble of the release of the Space Black watch.

I really am hopeful being the first batch of people to receive this particular watch that this only affects us or maybe they'll fix it with the next batch.

I just got back from the second Apple Store here in HK and this one too didn't have any Space Black units for demo. How weird is that. They sent them back to be recoated perhaps?
 
I bet the Q.A. people are reading this forum...or the problem is endemic making Apple replacing the in store bands quickly...And handle customer complaints on a case by case basis...
 
An ultra-thin black coating on a silvery substrate wears through in a tiny spot... And you all are surprised, disappointed, shocked?

Black iPhone 5 anyone?

I have a friend who managed to dent the third link from the bottom on his two-day old link bracelet. Looks like hell, a circular dent smack in the middle of the link. But he's not blaming Apple for his negligence.
 
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