Titanium or SS?

[douglasf13]

Don't know if this may be true for Apple watch, but for Panerai watches their Titanium watches were less scratch resistant than SS, although much lighter.
I woul not purchase a titanium Apple watch until tested & proven.

Yeah, titanium tends to be softer than steel, but it depends on the grades being compared.
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I get your sentiment. But there is something to be said about a well made timepiece in high end materials. They are heirlooms and won't be outdated in a few years. My Omega was passed down to me, and it's beautiful. Apple Watches, like I said, if you have the money to burn, do it.. Apple will never make a polished aluminum, or it'd cannibalize their SS sales.

We really don’t know that at all. I inherited a beautiful gold pocket watch from 1906 that is worth relatively little these days, and I’m not exactly dusting off my grandfather’s old ebony cane and top hat for a night on the town wearing the watch.

Mechanical watch interest, which I’m certainly guilty of, is essentially just monied hipsterism, and we have no idea when that will fall out of vogue.

 

[xgman]

What is happening to the case around the crown? It looks like it has been scuffed up.

good catch, but I think it's just smear from people turning the dial.

by the way, the upgrade to SS or T etc has more importance to get the Sapphire than anything else. The difference after a year in the two is striking. If your careful the sapphire has no scratches and the other one looks like hell with a horrible haze and scratches.

 

[cardfan]

Don’t see the point to getting titanium. SS is fine. It’s more for the sapphire screen.

 

[deeddawg]

I inherited a beautiful gold pocket watch from 1906 that is worth relatively little these days, and I’m not exactly dusting off my grandfather’s old ebony cane and top hat for a night on the town wearing the watch.

Seems you've the perfect ensemble for a great game of Monopoly...

 

[noobinator]

Don’t see the point to getting titanium. SS is fine. It’s more for the sapphire screen.

It has a completely different look and feel than the SS. Some people just prefer the bushed look over the polished look. Simple as that.

 

[xgman]

The more I look at the pictures the more I think you can't go wrong. The Space Black SS or the SB T are both great. I'm leaning to the SBT for a change and something different. It kinda brings the watch back into the display, whereas the SS SB looks like one big rounded display. Again, both very nice looking.

 

[douglasf13]

It has a completely different look and feel than the SS. Some people just prefer the bushed look over the polished look. Simple as that.

I agree. I’ve been wanting brushed steel for a long time, so a little bummed they went titanium instead.

Of course, as has been mentioned, titanium is usually more scratch-prone than steel, so that could be an issue for some. I personally don’t care about scratches, but I just don’t want the warmer hue of titanium.

 

[arnoz]

Another question… I've always had an aluminum/sport version. I do use the Watch mostly for sport activities i.e. for a nice evening/event/etc, I wear an "old school" watch.
Titanium got me quite convinced, any opinions on using that one to run etc? From what I read, it seems to be the same weight as the SS but I've never held a SS on my wrist.

 

[noobinator]

Another question… I've always had an aluminum/sport version. I do use the Watch mostly for sport activities i.e. for a nice evening/event/etc, I wear an "old school" watch.
Titanium got me quite convinced, any opinions on using that one to run etc? From what I read, it seems to be the same weight as the SS but I've never held a SS on my wrist.

I ran with a SS model for years and never thought it was too heavy or anything. Maybe if I had tried an aluminum I'd feel differently. It's heavier but not too heavy for running in my opinion.

 

[xgman]

I don't understand why people worry about the weight of any of these Apple watches. An analog watch is way, way heavier than anything here. Especially men's sport watches, but even the larger woman's watches in style for the past few years. It's a non issue, even the heaviest Apple watch is very light weight in comparison.

 

[Fynd]

The Titanium comes with a 'free' sport band in the box, so if anyone was looking at buying an additional band with the new watch the price difference between SS and Ti gets a little closer.

 

[arnoz]

I don't understand why people worry about the weight of any of these Apple watches. An analog watch is way, way heavier than anything here. Especially men's sport watches, but even the larger woman's watches in style for the past few years. It's a non issue, even the heaviest Apple watch is very light weight in comparison.

Because I've never ran (or performed other sport activities) with a watch. Now it makes sense to do it, but I'm not keen on running for 20 or 40km with something that I feel "a lot" on my wrist.

 

[xgman]

some alternative views on Titanium I read:

Titanium is more expensive compared with stainless steel and is not as flashy. It is also stronger, lighter, and more scratch-resistant. Ceramic is more brittle once it gets broken but it is resilient against scratches.

.................

Titanium is different. Citizen was the first watch company to fashion a watch out of titanium in 1970, and several brands have since taken it upon themselves to machine titanium watches. Titanium is light, scratch-resistant, corrosion-resistant, durable, and hypoallergenic, but still, at present, more expensive to machine than stainless steel or aluminum. In short, the material offers all the traits one would want for a wearable item that accompanies you everywhere. When found in the watch world, it’s most often in dive and tool watches.

For these reasons, to my mind, of all the non-aluminum material choices for the Apple Watch, titanium makes the most sense, especially given the device’s general price range. And though it is a luxury material, it’ll fly much further under the radar compared to something like the original solid gold Apple Watch Edition.

Unfortunately, the premium Apple’s charging for titanium with the new Series 5 is still tough to recommend on the grounds of functionality alone. The new Apple Watch Edition Series 5 starts at $799 in titanium or $400 above the base Apple Watch. That means you could ruin your first Series 5 and buy another brand new model for the same amount of cash. It is still cheaper than the $1,299 baseline price for ceramic. Here’s hoping Apple’s vast production scale and influence can help bring down the cost of this useful super material in the future.

I still think the primary price difference and real reason to buy these starts with the Sapphire advantage.

 

[TJ82]

The Titanium comes with a 'free' sport band in the box, so if anyone was looking at buying an additional band with the new watch the price difference between SS and Ti gets a little closer.

Do you get to choose the colour of the extra band?

 

[deeddawg]

Another question… I've always had an aluminum/sport version. I do use the Watch mostly for sport activities i.e. for a nice evening/event/etc, I wear an "old school" watch.
Titanium got me quite convinced, any opinions on using that one to run etc? From what I read, it seems to be the same weight as the SS but I've never held a SS on my wrist.

I've run with the aluminum S2/S3 Nike+ versions as well as my stainless steel S4.

Yes if you try them out one vs the other you can tell there's a difference in weight.

It hasn't ever made a difference to me though.

BTW - check out the weight of a Garmin Fenix 6 - I've seen no reports of it causing runners to veer to one side from the weight.

 

[techno-Zen]

I love the look of these titanium versions but I feel like they will mark up/scratch more than SS without the ability to polish it out.

The Silver reminds me of a Delorian though which is neat

I was leaning on selling my SS Silver just for a cool materials change but I dunno.. Always on display is nice but it really is just a minor bump in every other functionality.

 

[44267547]

I don't understand why people worry about the weight of any of these Apple watches. An analog watch is way, way heavier than anything here. Especially men's sport watches, but even the larger woman's watches in style for the past few years. It's a non issue, even the heaviest Apple watch is very light weight in comparison.

But we’re talking about smart watches, not traditional watches. However , You adjust to the weight over time. But the aluminum is excellent for runners alike due to its lighter properties. I prefer the stainless alone for the sapphire display, that’s worth more to me over the weight of the stainless casing.

 

[techno-Zen]

But we’re talking about smart watches, not traditional watches. However , You adjust to the weight over time. But the aluminum is excellent for runners alike due to its lighter properties. I prefer the stainless alone for the sapphire display, that’s worth more to me over the weight of the stainless casing.

I will never own an Ion-X model for the rest of my days. Tested the waters and if you do anything outside of sitting on the couch it WILL scratch

 

[Pug72]

I love the look of these titanium versions but I feel like they will mark up/scratch more than SS without the ability to polish it out.

You can get titanium refinishing pads from Amazon. I bought one a little while back to remove a scratch on the bracelet clasp of a titanium watch I passed on to my Dad.

It's a bit more difficult to do than Cape Coding stainless steel as you have to take care to get the brushed finish angled correctly.

 

[parseckadet]

Don’t see the point to getting titanium. SS is fine. It’s more for the sapphire screen.

It's a different look, and to some people it's worth the cost.

The Titanium comes with a 'free' sport band in the box, so if anyone was looking at buying an additional band with the new watch the price difference between SS and Ti gets a little closer.

Yeah, this effectively makes the price difference only $50 when compared to the SS versions. Not too bad in my mind.

I agree. I’ve been wanting brushed steel for a long time, so a little bummed they went titanium instead.

Of course, as has been mentioned, titanium is usually more scratch-prone than steel, so that could be an issue for some. I personally don’t care about scratches, but I just don’t want the warmer hue of titanium.

I've been wanting a brushed metal look ever since the series 0. My TAG is brushed steel and that serves to hide scratches much better. Think about it. A scratch on a polished surface is glaringly obvious. On a brushed surface it blends right in since brushing it is really just scratching it in an organized way. However, now that I see it I'm not sure I like the contrast of the brushed metal case with the polished glass. I'm firmly on the fence. Not upgrading for at least two more years, so I have plenty of time to ponder.

I love the look of these titanium versions but I feel like they will mark up/scratch more than SS without the ability to polish it out.

The Silver reminds me of a Delorian though which is neat

I was leaning on selling my SS Silver just for a cool materials change but I dunno.. Always on display is nice but it really is just a minor bump in every other functionality.

I have a feeling it will actually hold up better than the polished steel watch.

 

[techno-Zen]

I'll definitely need to see them in person and see how macrumors users titanium watches hold up over time.

 

[vegastime]

Do you get to choose the colour of the extra band?

No, you get a darker grey with the space black. Lighter grey with the regular titanium.

 

[tim1000]

No, you get a darker grey with the space black. Lighter grey with the regular titanium.

How will white sport band look with regular titanium? Can’t tell on apple website.

 

[Pug72]

I prefer the way the SB SS blend into the glass.

 

[xgman]

I prefer the way the SB SS blend into the glass.

I do too, but this image looks quite sharp. Something about the matte leather against the black titanium.