I don’t know why this topic got so little attention, but today I learnt from personal experience you can scratch the SS case and(!) sapphire crystal by its own band! No owning experience videos or comparison guides talk about it – seems like you can discover this only after the damage has been done.
That’s ridiculous Apple approved it for production. Tbh, I think they discovered it after releasing the product, like with iPhone 5 coating. Let’s look at the facts:
- You can damage a brand new product straight after opening the box just by letting a slight contact between the items.
- Knockoff bands are safer for your watch than the original you get in the box.
- I believe you can damage the watch to unwearable & unsellable condition just by throwing it into a backpack and travelling with it.
As a result, I believe there needs to be at least a warning message on the Graphite Milanese Loop box about the potential damage of using it. Though I understand no-one would buy it if it presumes you have to be extra careful every time you put on, take off, and charge the watch in order to preserve its functional state.
Thank God I got an S7 for half the price and the damage is only on the back crystal + several micro scratches on the case. Don’t want to imagine how pissed someone would be after paying almost 1000 EUR for an S9 and damaging it in such a non-intuitive way.
P.S. I forgot to mention 1 more thing:
One of the main selling points of an SS product is durability. The fact, that they include a band – an item that’s one of very few things that is capable of doing damage in everyday life – in the box, and it is always the closest thing to your watch is unbelievable.
This has been known for years. I read about it for years before myself owning an S6 SS and now an S9 SS. I have never gotten it with the Milanese Loop for this reason and have always opted for the black sport band. This is quite an issue of discussion on MacRumors forums.
Some people are fine with it because they can be super careful all the time. I personally know I can’t, that all it takes is being extra tired or sleepy one day to slip up. I think Apple should give you a discount for buying the SS without the Milanese, but we all know they’d never do that.
Graphite Watch and Graphite Milanese are PVD coated to prevent color from rubbing off and they can damage each other.
The Space Black is DLC coated and so was the Space Black Milanese loop and those could also scratch each other. This has been known since the Space Black Watch and matching Milanese were released back on the S3.
Raw SS micro scratches can be polished PVD/DLC cannot. Sapphire can scratch Sapphire. Diamond can scratch Diamond. Materials of the same hardness can scratch each other.