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Ultra 3 Durability

qpid360

qpid360

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 23, 2009
589
150
Pasadena, CA
I owned the Ultra 1 for three years and despite it getting bumped around, it was still flawless.

I’ve had my Ultra 3 for two weeks and it hit the side of my sink and already left a mark on the finish.

Are these built to be less durable?
 
Did you switch to black? I've found the natural titanium is the same on both watches, in my experience. I don't baby either, didn't notice any defects on either.

But it's still titanium. It will scratch.
 
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No, I stayed with the natural titanium. I don’t baby them either, but just shocked how quickly this got nicked compared to my first one.
 
Ceramic (sink) beating titanium makes sense. Titanium is really kinda easy to scratch unless Apple uses some hardened grade 5 or the like (sounds like they don't).

In my experience if the finish is sand blasted you're out of luck - you'd need to have it re-blasted (sp?) to restore the look. If it's brushed however and the scratch can't be felt with the fingernail - a hard rubber eraser should do the job pretty well and make it vanish (mostly).
 
th0masp said:
Ceramic (sink) beating titanium makes sense. Titanium is really kinda easy to scratch unless Apple uses some hardened grade 5 or the like (sounds like they don't).

In my experience if the finish is sand blasted you're out of luck - you'd need to have it re-blasted (sp?) to restore the look. If it's brushed however and the scratch can't be felt with the fingernail - a hard rubber eraser should do the job pretty well and make it vanish (mostly).
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Apple uses grade 5.
 
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I had Gen 1 and have Gen 3.

I wear it for everything, even doing yard work, minor mechanic stuff, weightlifting. Never got a major ding scratch on anything. Yes it shows wear but any watch will it didn’t make the watch look bad. The finish and grade of Ti is the same.

The sharp edge of the bezel is about the only thing that shows wear…where you’re looking from 2” away.
 
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I bought my first Ultra (the newly released 3) in black. I lightly brushed it against a table at work (I had my hands under the table and when I pulled them out it slightly touched), and the upper edge with the sharp corner now has a slight scuff and looks rough (not smooth) with a few white (light) dots instead of black… I was quite disappointed. If this is the durability of the black one, maybe I should’ve gone for the natural finish. It’s just that I really didn’t like it—it looked too contrasting and too “bulky” in the lighter color.
 
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My Ultra 1 got only a few small scratches through all those years - Luckily nothing major. And nothing so far on my Ultra 3 black - kind of expecting the black finish to be maybe a tad more resistant than the natural one, but when it does get scratches it will show up more clearly
 
andrew86 said:
I bought my first Ultra (the newly released 3) in black. I lightly brushed it against a table at work (I had my hands under the table and when I pulled them out it slightly touched), and the upper edge with the sharp corner now has a slight scuff and looks rough (not smooth) with a few white (light) dots instead of black… I was quite disappointed. If this is the durability of the black one, maybe I should’ve gone for the natural finish. It’s just that I really didn’t like it—it looked too contrasting and too “bulky” in the lighter color.
Click to expand...
I had a black U2 and now have a black U3. After a year the U2 had some marks on the sharp edge of the bezel. With the U3 I have hit it hard on a number of things, including a huge scratch from an aluminum ladder. In every case, I rubbed the scratches out. So it can be that the material you hit it in transfers to the watch, and actually hasn’t damaged it.

I had a natural U1 and it still had scratches, but definitely hid them better.

As you can see, since I have had both finishes, I prefer the black and it may be tougher than you think.
 
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hgfjhbvytjdnb said:
I don't trust beliefs, I'd rather go with science - metallurgy in this case. 3d printed titanium has properties which make it less durable. Apple doesn't have magical powers which could to overcome that making it the same as forged titanium.
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Share the studies comparing the two watches finishes, would love to read up on it.
 
I have a black ultra 2 bi mistake the Natural is the way to go. I am not even hard on my watch and it is scratched to all get out.
 
qpid360 said:
I owned the Ultra 1 for three years and despite it getting bumped around, it was still flawless.

I’ve had my Ultra 3 for two weeks and it hit the side of my sink and already left a mark on the finish.

Are these built to be less durable?
Click to expand...
Just bad luck. They are durable but can still be damaged. The area surrounding the screen is most susceptible to scuffs and dents.
 
FWIW: I asked one of the AIs, ChatGPT, about this. It claimed the DLC (Diamond-Like Coating) on the black watches was harder (tougher) than the un-coated surface, but allowed as how if (when?) it is damaged it'd probably show up more than minor nicks and abrasions on the un-coated version.

I saw the black U3 at Costco a couple days ago. Sure did look sharp, I'll say that.
 
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