TLDR version: the SS is the goods; if you can afford the upgrade, do it.
OK, now for my long-winded exposition:
A bit of background - I'm a huge watch nerd; been "collecting" pieces for years and eventually went up the quality and price scale until I hit, what I would consider, a respectable middle-of-the-road collection (Omega, Ball, Kobold, Sinn, Seiko, etc.). Not Rolex-level stuff, but respectable, nonetheless. As is often the case, my interest in watches started to wain and I sold off most of my collection; settling on more affordable mechanicals and G-Shocks.
I'm also a gadget nerd, so when the S0 was announced, my interest was piqued. But, still having a number of watches in my rotation, I didn't see me sticking with only one daily wearer like a smart watch. After all, the benefit, as I saw/see to wearing a smart watch, would be minimized if you only wore it sparingly or as part of a larger watch rotation. But, I was certainly intrigued by the S0 and its integration with the iPhone. However, I initially passed for reasons outlined above.
A few months later, on a whim, I picked up Series 0 Sport at my local Best Buy. I was instantly hooked by the functionality of the Apple Watch, but wasn't 100% sold on the overall look and feel of the device - flimsy, almost toy-like and a square case?! C'mon! But, it grew on me for many reasons - ease of use, the amount if info it provided, the absolute dream of how easy it is to switch out straps, etc., etc., etc.
So, I held onto the S0 until the S1/S2 were announced. The S0 was perfectly fine for my use, but a little bump in processing power wouldn't be bad, right? So I caved and picked up a S1 Sport, you know, just to try it out. Hanging on to both for a while, I really got used to the ecosystem of Apple Watch and iPhone and fully benefited from the advanced functionality. But, me being who I am, I got bored and sold everything (I tend to go a bit overboard with accessories and the like, so I had invested in a ton of straps, chargers, and other various Apple Watch-related things). I pulled the old collection out of the watch box and left the AW in my rear view mirror.
Then, the damned S3 was announced. Fast? Check. Good amount of storage? Check. Water proof/resistance? Check. LTE? Check (although not very important to me, at least now). So, again, a quick trip to the local Best Buy had me setting up a S3 non-LTE Sport. Up until then, I had never considered the SS models at all, as I surmised, and my track record would indicate, that these Apple Watches were somewhat disposable, as we all know how quickly technology advances - next year, the best Apple Watch would be announced, and the next best one the year after, and so on and so on. So, it seemed silly to me to drop a good chunk of change when the watch would be "old" and/or "obsolete" in a year or so.
I was happy to be back with the Apple Watch and quickly moved my other watches back into the watch box. I was happy with the S3 non-LTE, I really was. Then, I got a small scratch on the screen, which was only visible in direct, and I mean DIRECT light, like a flashlight. In other words, I never saw the scratch unless I was looking for it and even then I had to get out a flashlight so I could go, "yep, there's a scratch there, crap." It bothered me to the point where I started to think "replacement" or "upgrade" or "you NEED a new watch"....
I contemplated another aluminum model and was close to pulling the trigger on one until I thought, "hmmmm, maybe a stainless steel one this time?" After all, coming from the world of middle-of-the-road mechanical pieces which were mostly, it not all constructed of stainless steel, I would know what to expect. Plus, if the reason I was "upgrading" was because of a scratch on the screen, wouldn't it make sense to get a better, more durable screen, like sapphire?
So, I set in motion plans to upgrade to the SB SS version and boy, am I happy I did! Everything is just superior to the aluminum models - better weight, sapphire crystal, DLC, etc. I was a bit worried about the extra weight, but in reality, I find the SS to actually sit better on my wrist because of the weight. If not tightened down pretty snuggly, the aluminum AWs would float around on my wrist, requiring me to adjust the watch multiple times a day. With the SS version, the watch just stays put. I'm not a flashy dude, so I was a bit concerned that the polished SS would look a little too "blingy" (do the kids still say that?), but to my delight, the watch looks stunning - as many have mentioned before, the screen and case blend together in such a way that the watch looks like one, solid piece on the wrist. I also find that straps tend to look better against the deep black of the SBSS vs. the almost-purple-ish color of the Space Grey, but that's just a personal observation.
All of this is to say, as a huge proponent of the aluminum versions of the AW, I was perfectly happy sporting the Sport models. But, I am very pleasantly surprised at how much I'm liking the stainless version, even more than I expected to be. I believe it's a worthy upgrade, overall.
