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rpearlberg

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 22, 2010
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30
after 6 months I noticed my first visible scratch. Funny part is that I just bought my wife an Apple Watch and told her she didn't need a cover because mine hadn't scratched yet.

Is there anything I can do about the scratches or just learn to live with them??
 

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44267547

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Jul 12, 2016
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Unfortunately, if the display is scratched, it's permanent. Also, if the aluminum is scratched, it's also permanent. You can still purchase a screen protector which might hide the scratch depending on the severity and location of it, but will also help prevent future scratches as well. It's part of owning a Watch, scratches are inevitable.
 

SDColorado

macrumors 601
Nov 6, 2011
4,360
4,324
Highlands Ranch, CO
For the aluminum, try a little Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black metal finish. You can find it online or at a local gun shop. It's purpose is to touch up scratched and marred aluminum finishes on gun parts, but I have used it to touch up aluminum panniers on my motorcycle. It likely won't be a perfect match, put should lesson it. I haven't tried it on the space gray, but I find it generally isn't quite as black as my panniers, more a dark gray, so it may work well. Just dab it along the scratch with a q-tip or a cotton swab, wipe away the excess, leaving it in the scratch for awhile.
 

rpearlberg

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 22, 2010
669
30
For the aluminum, try a little Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black metal finish. You can find it online or at a local gun shop. It's purpose is to touch up scratched and marred aluminum finishes on gun parts, but I have used it to touch up aluminum panniers on my motorcycle. It likely won't be a perfect match, put should lesson it. I haven't tried it on the space gray, but I find it generally isn't quite as black as my panniers, more a dark gray, so it may work well. Just dab it along the scratch with a q-tip or a cotton swab, wipe away the excess, leaving it in the scratch for awhile.
Thanks. It's on the glass...
 
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44267547

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Yeah it's the curved part, so it wouldn't have helped...

The downside with the Ion-X Glass is once scratched, I have not heard of a way to remove the scratch as of yet. It's very similar to the iPhone display. It also depends how deep the scratch is. The oleophobic coating also can help prevent minor scratches. There likely won't be a remedy in this situation.
 
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SDColorado

macrumors 601
Nov 6, 2011
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The downside with the Ion-X Glass is once scratched, I have not heard of a way to remove the scratch as of yet. It's very similar to the iPhone display. It also depends how deep the scratch is. The oleophobic coating also can help prevent minor scratches. There likely won't be a remedy in this situation.

From what I understand the iPhone 6 and 6s use that same IonX glass of the watch. iPhone 7 I am not sure about. The camera lens covers are sapphire. But yeah, not much you can do with it once scratched.

Some of that Cerium Oxide Glass polish might work, but it also might make it look worse. Not sure it would be worth the risk to find out
 
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44267547

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From what I understand the iPhone 6 and 6s use that same IonX glass of the watch. iPhone 7 I am not sure about. The camera lens covers are sapphire. But yeah, not much you can do with it once scratched.

Some of that Cerium Oxide Glass polish might work, but it also might make it look worse. Not sure it would be worth the risk to find out

I believe you're correct about the Ion- X glass is the same material for the 6/6S.

When I first owned the Apple Watch Sport when it released, I was fairly careful with it. One day I was working in my garage and the Apple Watch brushed up against my grill with the cover on it. The display barely touched the grill cover and I thought nothing of it. Later on I looked at the display of the watch and I saw a scratch that went approximately half the length of the display. It wasn't a deep scratch, but I certainly could not remove it. I ended up selling the Sport model, then transitioned over to the stainless with the Sapphire display and still have zero scratches on the display until this day.

Perhaps the angle, the material, amount of force caused the display to scratch on the Sport model, where as some who own the Sport model have been surprisingly content with how their display has not scratched at all. So I guess its just a matter of how it happens. But I'm not a big fan of screen protectors either.
 

SDColorado

macrumors 601
Nov 6, 2011
4,360
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Highlands Ranch, CO
I have a Gen 1 sport model. It has actually held up pretty well, considering I have never had a screen protector or any kind of protective case on it. It has a small scuff on the lower edge of the the display, where I banged it on the frame of my motorcycle while working on it, but honestly after I hit it, I was really afraid I had broken the glass. There is also a couple of tiny knicks in the aluminum. Not bad considering the watch is basically lived in. I don't take it off for work or play.

I recently replaced it with a SBSS. I expect the saphire crystal will hold up better than the Ion-X for scratch resistance, but considering I pretty much have none on the Gen 1, will it hold up better overall? I am not sure.

Saphire, while more scratch resistant, is also less impact ressitant. It will shatter, where Ion-X has some give. I do wonder if the same hit I had on the Ion-X would have in fact broken the saphire on my Series 2? I don't plan to try to re-create the test to find out :)

I am sure most have seen comparison videos of this nature. I will be interested to see how the saphire holds up over the next 18 months vs how the Ion-X help up over the past 18 months :)
 
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44267547

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My scratch is a lot worse. I applied an ArmourSuit shield afterwards and it hid the scratch pretty well. Plus it's protected now.

View attachment 698575

That screen protector surprisingly concealed the scratch fairly well. Especially for how noticeable it is from your picture. Definitely something I would recommend in the future using ArmorSuit for A brand.
 
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Jeremy1999

macrumors newbie
Sep 24, 2018
1
0
Unfortunately, if the display is scratched, it's permanent. Also, if the aluminum is scratched, it's also permanent. You can still purchase a screen protector which might hide the scratch depending on the severity and location of it, but will also help prevent future scratches as well. It's part of owning a Watch, scratches are inevitable.
Yes I agree with you, I’m a series 3 owner and I taking care so muchh , but one day I’m drunk I hit it on the floor and i decorate it with scratches lmao. It is unavoidable to have scratches on the watch, either screen or the case itself
 

Ffosse

macrumors 68000
Nov 5, 2012
1,827
652
I haven't noticed any scratches on my aluminium version and it must be a year old by now. I hardly ever wear it, though.
 

dwoo

macrumors newbie
Dec 25, 2018
1
0
My scratch is a lot worse. I applied an ArmorSuit shield afterwards and it hid the scratch pretty well. Plus it's protected now.

View attachment 698575

Is that a liquid product you applied to the watch? I am not able to find it in ArmorSuit website. Would you please point me to the product you used? Thanks a million.

Dennis
 

Mary812

macrumors newbie
Dec 31, 2018
1
0
My scratch is a lot worse. I applied an ArmorSuit shield afterwards and it hid the scratch pretty well. Plus it's protected now.

View attachment 698575
[doublepost=1546266051][/doublepost]I bought this screen protector, it’s garbage & my scratch is similar to yours in the photo. It didn’t cover anything. To boot the watch looks different, look at the bands.
 

SDColorado

macrumors 601
Nov 6, 2011
4,360
4,324
Highlands Ranch, CO
[doublepost=1546266051][/doublepost]I bought this screen protector, it’s garbage & my scratch is similar to yours in the photo. It didn’t cover anything. To boot the watch looks different, look at the bands.

I don't know. I think the photos are legit. Many of us have multiple bands. If you follow the original thread here the photos are larger. You can still see the scratch in both the before and after (post 19), in the exact same position, but just barely in the after photo.

Perhaps the product has been changed in some significant way where it no longer works as well as it once had? Or maybe LaurieAnn just got lucky in her use case where it worked well for her? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
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bought this screen protector, it’s garbage & my scratch is similar to yours in the photo. It didn’t cover anything.

Perhaps your scratch on the display is deeper then with that other members was. If it’s more superficial, you can hide with a screen protector, but if it’s deeper into the glass, then obviously you are going to see it no matter what screen protector you’re using.
 

LaurieAnn

macrumors regular
Jul 6, 2011
215
85
[doublepost=1546266051][/doublepost]I bought this screen protector, it’s garbage & my scratch is similar to yours in the photo. It didn’t cover anything. To boot the watch looks different, look at the bands.
I own more than one band. I ended up giving the watch to my son and bought myself a stainless steel Apple Watch 3. The screen protector is still on my watch I gave my son but is starting to loosen up around the corners. Wetting it and pushing it back down, keeps it in place. Not too bad for having it on there over a year.
 
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