Opinions on Protective film for watch/clasp?

[123Blueface]

Originally Posted by omar-rye

Because the phone becomes nearly or completely unusable if the screen shatters, which can easily happen if you don’t use a case, a screen protector, or both. Also, a phone isn’t safely strapped to your wrist and will eventually fall from your hands, a table, or your pockets. Hope that answers your question.

Totally agree with you.
I don’t use a screen protector as I love feel of OEM screen. I use a case solely for the reasons you describe. For some reason, my phones love to go flying from my hands when I least expect it. Without a case, I would be buying one every month.
That is so, so vastly different from a watch. Comparing the two is beyond silly.

[Spartacus]

It wreaks of financial and perception issues. Why do you care if there are micro scratches ? Because it will look old and less expensive? At the core of it, it’s always a money problem. Can’t afford to enjoy it. Instead it owns you, with worry and anxiety. Probably need to enter more affordable watches to avoid such stressful situations.

Having owned Rolexes for years now, and seeing 20 -30 year old pieces worn by friends and family, this fear and plastic protection blown way out of proportion.

[Dave O]

Originally Posted by Spartacus

It wreaks of financial and perception issues. Why do you care if there are micro scratches ? Because it will look old and less expensive? At the core of it, it’s always a money problem. Can’t afford to enjoy it. Instead it owns you, with worry and anxiety. Probably need to enter more affordable watches to avoid such stressful situations.

Having owned Rolexes for years now, and seeing 20 -30 year old pieces worn by friends and family, this fear and plastic protection blown way out of proportion.

Totally not the case, and it's people like you who have never tried it are blowing it out of proportion. Like I've said - you can't even tell it is there. And before I started using it, I had one gold clasp that was scratched beyond repair as the scratches were so deep.

Do I want my clasp to look good - yes! It's a scratch magnet! And I'm talking more than just micro scratches. And I enjoy it very much thank you. Just as much as I enjoy my cars which I wash frequently to keep them clean. Or washing my wood floors in my house to keep them looking nice. And my yard is impeccable. I want it to look nice. Does this mean I put plastic on my furniture? Absolutely not. Not even comparable to installing a little protection that can't even be seen.

You see, I'm the kind of guy that likes ALL of my things to look nice - not just my watches. Others may not go to these lengths in life, and that's fine. But it has NOTHING to do with financial issues. I like my stuff, all my stuff, to look nice.

[kritameth]

Originally Posted by Spartacus

It wreaks of financial and perception issues. Why do you care if there are micro scratches ? Because it will look old and less expensive? At the core of it, it’s always a money problem. Can’t afford to enjoy it. Instead it owns you, with worry and anxiety. Probably need to enter more affordable watches to avoid such stressful situations.

Having owned Rolexes for years now, and seeing 20 -30 year old pieces worn by friends and family, this fear and plastic protection blown way out of proportion.

Perhaps for some, perhaps even many, but certainly not all. I know people whose Rolex’s are the absolute bottom tier of their collection - their whole collection are well into the 7 figures - but they choose to sticker their Rolex’s. They are certainly in the minority, absolutely, but just a data point that it isn’t always finances-related; psychologically they may just prefer things to be as pristine as possible. I’m not a psychologist, but heck, maybe they grew up destitute and that’s no longer the case, but the mentality stuck, who knows. I don’t believe that’s a hard concept for anyone to grasp, even if you disagree with it personally. Again, similar to PPF on cars, etc. Unless you also believe people who PPF their Ferrari should probably drive a Golf? But what about those who PPF their Ferrari’s despite having Pagani’s and Koenigsegg’s? Because there are those out there that do exactly that…

[travisb]

Nope. Wear them.

[mailman]

Originally Posted by travisb

Nope. Wear them.

I agree

[Hollie_Rollie]

Absolutely not. Just enjoy the watch.

[thatswhatshesaid]

Originally Posted by NAUI1982

Do you all put your phone in a case or use a screen protector on it?

Explain the diff?

A phone isn't made is stainless steel or other metals and engineered to withstand a reasonable amount of stress. The crystal is sapphire for a reason, the bezels are ceramic for a reason. In most cases your Rolex is water proof to at least 150 meters.

A Rolex is made to be tough, to be used by an active person. Your phone is a delicate instrument, made to be treated as such.

[kritameth]

Originally Posted by thatswhatshesaid

A phone isn't made is stainless steel or other metals and engineered to withstand a reasonable amount of stress. The crystal is sapphire for a reason, the bezels are ceramic for a reason. In most cases your Rolex is water proof to at least 150 meters.

A Rolex is made to be tough, to be used by an active person. Your phone is a delicate instrument, made to be treated as such.

Most (all?) iPhones are now metal though… MOST Rolex’s are waterproof to 100m… Rolex’s are legally worn by all, active or otherwise… A phone is not a delicate instrument… everything ok bud?

[al7391z]

Originally Posted by Tools

Attachment 1451134

This brings back bad memories of growing up in an Italian household

[Harry-57]

Originally Posted by NAUI1982

you’ll put a screen protector and a case around your 1500 iPhone, but you won’t put a $100 protective film on your $15,000+ watch? It’s the best investment ever for your watch, and you CANT SEE IT! You’ll need a put it right up to your face, inches from your nose to see it.

I'm not telling anybody what they should or should not do with their property. Those who wish to use a film can do so. Those who don't, don't. However, I don't think this is a good analogy.

Phones need protecting from impacts, bumps and scrapes that can damage them and cause them to malfunction, lose performance or stop working. Protective film on cars prevents chips which if left unattended can cause premature deterioration of the clear coat and paint which will spread and cost money to repair. If a stainless steel or PM clasp gets scratched or dented, ir stops there. The watch won't rust, fall to bits or stop working.

That such a discussion can deteriorate into scoffing and insults being slung about is depressingly predictable.

[al7391z]

After turning 50, I let go of my OCD tendencies. Life is too short to care about a scratch on a watch. Just wear it is my opinion. But, if one prefers to protect their watches, have at it!

[KatGirl]

Originally Posted by omar-rye

Because the phone becomes nearly or completely unusable if the screen shatters, which can easily happen if you don’t use a case, a screen protector, or both. Also, a phone isn’t safely strapped to your wrist and will eventually fall from your hands, a table, or your pockets. Hope that answers your question.

That’s exactly right. I’ve dropped my iPhone a few times and it’s fine, because it’s protected. I don’t use a screen protector, just a case. I don’t worry about my watch clasps. For me, being that worried about scratches would take away some of the joy of this hobby.

Kat


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[Spartacus]

Originally Posted by kritameth

Perhaps for some, perhaps even many, but certainly not all. I know people whose Rolex’s are the absolute bottom tier of their collection - their whole collection are well into the 7 figures - but they choose to sticker their Rolex’s. They are certainly in the minority, absolutely, but just a data point that it isn’t always finances-related; psychologically they may just prefer things to be as pristine as possible. I’m not a psychologist, but heck, maybe they grew up destitute and that’s no longer the case, but the mentality stuck, who knows. I don’t believe that’s a hard concept for anyone to grasp, even if you disagree with it personally. Again, similar to PPF on cars, etc. Unless you also believe people who PPF their Ferrari should probably drive a Golf? But what about those who PPF their Ferrari’s despite having Pagani’s and Koenigsegg’s? Because there are those out there that do exactly that…

The car and iPhone analogy is off, here is why, do you wrap your wife’s handbag? Did you wrap her diamond ring? Rolex is luxury jewelry. Not an iPhone. Hey babe, nice Chanel purse, let’s wrap it to protect it ???

If you dig into the car analogy, it’s akin to buying a race car and never racing it. Why do you have a 400-500k car but it sits in the garage or at C&C never to be fully enjoyed. Because the owner can’t afford to fully enjoy it.

[ROlesorusLEX]

Originally Posted by kritameth

Most (all?) iPhones are now metal though… MOST Rolex’s are waterproof to 100m… Rolex’s are legally worn by all, active or otherwise… A phone is not a delicate instrument… everything ok bud?

A smartphone is not a delicate instrument?

In your hand you hold more processing power than ships that have gone to the moon, the bottom of the sea, and all points in between. It is around 5000x faster than the most powerful Cray supercomputers from just a couple decades ago, which were room-sized. It has transistors on its core with channel lengths measured in nanometers.

You have an extremely powerful camera often with some of the smallest and finest lenses produced.

You have enough memory to store thousands of high quality pictures and videos.

You can access all the world's information in a snap.

It is covered in glass that is around half a millimeter thick.

It allows you to make all the asinine comments you care to on the forums.

But if you drop it from 18", sometimes even with a case on, there's a $4B industry in the US waiting to take your money for repairs.

Sounds pretty sensitive to me.

By comparison, a steel Rolex just tells the time and has been used by people in all industries and human endeavors, even wars, for 100+ years. All it asks for is some oil every 10 years or so, and maybe a polish if you like.

In other words, there's a big difference. A Rolex is a robust precision instrument. A smartphone is a delicate marvel of technology.

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[WilsdorfNDavis]

Originally Posted by NAUI1982

Do you all put your phone in a case or use a screen protector on it?

Explain the diff?

I drop my phone on a regular basis; I've never dropped my watch.


I throw my phone into the cupholder in my car nearly everyday; I've never throw my watch into there.


My nephews regularly grab my phone and run around with it; they never run around with my watch.


See a pattern here?


That's the difference.

[KatGirl]

Originally Posted by thatswhatshesaid

I've never understood this. Life is so short and worrying about scratches on a watch, scratches that nobody but you will ever notice seems insane to me. Just my opinion and to each their own.

There is no wrong or right here, just different personality types. Some people are more chill, and don’t sweat the small stuff, and others are intense and require perfection.

Kat


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[marmite2005]

If you are concerned, Try clear nail varnish. Does the same protection job, clean and reapply once a month and costs nothing.

[Krash]

Originally Posted by NAUI1982

Do you all put your phone in a case or use a screen protector on it?

Explain the diff?

This is not going to be a popular response, but our phones are vitally important for most of us. We were just in Europe and our entire trip was stored on our phones. Plane reservations, itinerary, hotel information, etc. If we lost our phones, that would have been a disaster. I remember telling my wife, “we should have printed all this out before we left.” We also used our phones to get around. We used the Bolt app, which is just like Uber.

Also, mostly nobody has traditional land-line phones anymore. So our phones are the only way to communicate with the rest of the world. If you want to talk to your kids, you need your phone. Plus, you can’t call 911 with your Rolex.

Then there are things like banking, brokerage accounts, news and information, music and entertainment.

It seems odd for some to put protective film on a Rolex. But, at the same time, it seems incredibly irresponsible to not protect your phone.


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[Sandwich]

Kritameth is right. I’m based in Singapore and travel S.E.A rather extensively. Protective film on watches is a pretty common theme throughout.

There are many brands to pick from such as RX8 (supposedly one of the earliest brands out there), Legacy, Filmnaga, etc… just to name a few.

Some brands are better cut than the others, easier to apply, peel less easily etc.

If there’s one thing that’s good about them; and I may be over generalising; is that the condition of watches in the grey market in Singapore seem a good deal better than that in the states.

A lot of the watches in grey dealers are in immaculate condition. The occasional fully factory stickered Rolexes to worn but fully PPF’ed pieces and most of them do no need any polishing at all.

I was recommended by a friend to try out a brand called Legacy and had my BLRO stickered up the day I got it.

Pretty neat because they do stickers for every individual links of the jubilee bracelet. Brushed links get tapered matte stickers and the polished links get shiny stickers so they aren’t all that visible from the usual viewing distance unless you look hard.

Here’s a photo of my watch.

[Bozzie1982]

My watches grow old with me I couldn't be bothered worrying a few scratches or how they look, each to their own.

[frank gama]

Originally Posted by KatGirl

There is no wrong or right here, just different personality types. Some people are more chill, and don’t sweat the small stuff, and others are intense and require perfection.

Kat


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Absolutely spot on.

[123Blueface]

Originally Posted by Sandwich

Kritameth is right. I’m based in Singapore and travel S.E.A rather extensively. Protective film on watches is a pretty common theme throughout.

There are many brands to pick from such as RX8 (supposedly one of the earliest brands out there), Legacy, Filmnaga, etc… just to name a few.

Some brands are better cut than the others, easier to apply, peel less easily etc.

If there’s one thing that’s good about them; and I may be over generalising; is that the condition of watches in the grey market in Singapore seem a good deal better than that in the states.

A lot of the watches in grey dealers are in immaculate condition. The occasional fully factory stickered Rolexes to worn but fully PPF’ed pieces and most of them do no need any polishing at all.

I was recommended by a friend to try out a brand called Legacy and had my BLRO stickered up the day I got it.

Pretty neat because they do stickers for every individual links of the jubilee bracelet. Brushed links get tapered matte stickers and the polished links get shiny stickers so they aren’t all that visible from the usual viewing distance unless you look hard.

Here’s a photo of my watch.

How does it feel being owned by a watch you think you own?

[77T]

I'd suggest "live and let live"

Someone asks a fairly tame question and we get internecine warfare over a strip of plastic?

If a simple question triggers one into disrespectful discourse maybe time to log off for a while.


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[thatswhatshesaid]

Originally Posted by kritameth

Most (all?) iPhones are now metal though… MOST Rolex’s are waterproof to 100m… Rolex’s are legally worn by all, active or otherwise… A phone is not a delicate instrument… everything ok bud?

A phone is a very delicate instrument and you are comparing apples to oranges. And yes, everything is just fine. Thanks for asking.

[csaltphoto]

If I owned a 6 digit I would think about just one strip on that raised, polished portion of the clasp. It's a scratch magnet. I own a 5 digit though and really appreciate the textured and brushed finish on the clasp. Scratches are just a non issue.

[1259]

Originally Posted by Dave O

Totally not the case, and it's people like you who have never tried it are blowing it out of proportion. Like I've said - you can't even tell it is there. And before I started using it, I had one gold clasp that was scratched beyond repair as the scratches were so deep.

Do I want my clasp to look good - yes! It's a scratch magnet! And I'm talking more than just micro scratches. And I enjoy it very much thank you. Just as much as I enjoy my cars which I wash frequently to keep them clean. Or washing my wood floors in my house to keep them looking nice. And my yard is impeccable. I want it to look nice. Does this mean I put plastic on my furniture? Absolutely not. Not even comparable to installing a little protection that can't even be seen.

You see, I'm the kind of guy that likes ALL of my things to look nice - not just my watches. Others may not go to these lengths in life, and that's fine. But it has NOTHING to do with financial issues. I like my stuff, all my stuff, to look nice.

How often do you change the plastic?

[Dave O]

Originally Posted by 1259

How often do you change the plastic?

I've never had to. The seller says they last two years. But I started using these three years ago and haven't had to replace any yet. And I don't have any scratches or swirls on any of them, no peeling, nothing. Like the day I installed them. I have them (just the center strip and associated clips on the center strip) on my TT Datejust, TT GMT, PM Daytona and two SS Tudors with a polished T-fit clasp. That being said, to each their own.

[joe100]

That’s a great question! Let’s ask Reinhold Messner if he used protective film on his 1655 in Antarctica.

[B2 Stealth]

Wear the watch! Scars and scratches tell stories. I can't imagine military personnel in the Vietnam War putting protective film on their clasps as they slogged thru swamps and jungles or sat in cockpits of B52s or F4s. Robin Olds and David Hackworth would've been ashamed.