I had the same marks as yours I tried all sorts to get the marks off but nothing. And I realised I had a cape cod polishing cloth from my old stainless steel version from a few years ago, I was very hesitant to use it I just went over the casing lightly for a few goes and all my marks have disappeared and no gold colouring has come off either. As I say if you do go this route be very careful to just do it lightly.
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Why I am going from gold back to aliminum (discoloration issue)
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Do you have a gold stainless steel watch or black? I would have thought the Cape Cod cloth would take the gold color off, because I remember the discussion about it on this site indicated it was abrasive, so I’m glad to hear it worked for your watch. Be on the lookout for the discoloration to come back. I can’t be sure, but when I inspected the watch one last time before packing it up for trade in, I thought I could see the roots of discoloration starting to take hold again.
I’m so happy to be back with black aluminum again. The look is crisp and stealthy and there are no more fingerprints to deal with! Of course I miss the solid feel of a sapphire crystal and back. I’m pretty sure the back cover for the sensors is the Ion-X Glass. It says so on the case and it feels like glass. But I appreciate the lightness of the watch for fitness wear.
Ive got the gold series 4 stainless, but waiting for the new graphite one to arrive. I thought it would of took the gold off but honestly it didnt i only did it lightly. I wanted to get the discolouration off as i thought trying to sell it like that it would put people off. But i think the discolouration is due to soap residue or hand cream as it is only on the one side. I have been debating getting an aluminium one but i don’t think i could trust myself damaging it. At least you shouldn’t have anymore discolouration issues now.
I agree it’s probably soap residue or hand cream. Mine is slightly marked on both sides, but worse toward the side that gets hit with soap and water. My Series 2 aluminum that’s shown in the pictures has been worn through everything and despite being my “stunt double watch” has no marks or damage at all, until just a couple of days ago when my gold Milanese band’s connector took a nick of aluminum out of the inside of the area where the band connectors are. So fortunately the nick won’t be visible unless there are no bands in place. But that’s the first time it sustained damage. I hope my new Nike Sport aluminum watch proves to be just as tough and lucky, but we shall have to wait and see.
That graphite color is gorgeous. Good luck with it!
First thing I thought was you should have brought it to Apple store at the 8 month mark, when you first noticed it. Well, glad at least you polished most of the marks out. When I bought my series 4 stainless steel space black, I was tempted to buy the gold SS because it looked so nice. Reason I went with space black was because it looked like one piece of glass, and I figured it would match everything. Only thing I regret was not getting the 44mm. The finish on mine is good so far after 2 years, but I don’t wear it everyday. Maybe I should start doing that, I bought a sport solo loop for it, and they are my favorite bands from Apple now. My watch doesn’t slip on my wrist anymore.