How well does the Royal Oak hold up to daily wear?

[ExplorerI]

Curious about experiences people have had daily wearing the RO. Does the bracelet finishing still look good after a few years? Looking at the 25860st.

[rtanjaya]

depends on your daily activities... if you have an office job as compared to a workman, surely it will not pose too much problem

i've a few scratches at the buckle and very slight ding/scratch at the bezel while playing with my kids

generally it will hold up well! periodically changing to a strap would help ease your concern

[jts278]

Office worker here who wears his royal oaks at the office and at the pool/gym. Overall I think the brushed finishing hides scratches well and shows less wear than any Rolex with a PCL oyster bracelet. Worst damage I’ve done to a RO bracelet was when I tried to smack a mosquito and ended up smacking my macbook ��. The mac got a dent and the bracelet came away with a few scratches that aren’t even very visible.

[aldyrifqi]

my daily wear is my 38 ROC 26315st, for 1 year wearing it every day to the office, shopping, chilling in toilet for couple hours everyday and even swimming. it hold up very very well. but when I'm sitting in front of the computer and working I like to take off my watch and put it on the watch stan, so far no dent only small small tiny light scratch.. the key is to wear it carefully

[ButtButt]

Originally Posted by aldyrifqi

chilling in toilet for couple hours everyday

What?

[Uros]

Originally Posted by ButtButt

What?

:):):) we need answer!

On the topic you have to be careful and always aware of the watch. Bezel is a scratch magnet for sure. Option as noted to put it off the wrist when sitting at the table would help a lot.


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[Jmaguire17]

Lol

[Shmoopy]

double post

[Shmoopy]

Originally Posted by ButtButt

What?

Between the original post, your reply and screen name, as well as his post in the "What AP are you wearing thread" I am quite amused

[supernova]

I feel while wearing my RO, need much more wrist awareness than wearing my Rolex. ROs just don't look good beat up imo.

Saying that, I wear my 15500 most days for past 2+ years and still looks great and keeps great time.

[LUDA]

Originally Posted by supernova

I feel while wearing my RO, need much more wrist awareness than wearing my Rolex. ROs just don't look good beat up imo.

Saying that, I wear my 15500 most days for past 2+ years and still looks great and keeps great time.

+1 on this.

I don't mind the scratches and dings on my Daytona, but on a Royal Oak... it hurts. Specially on the bezel.

Also with how the brushed surfaces are done it looks like the scratches are way more visible than on other brushed watches.

[neal.jy]

You’ll need to have a bit of wrist awareness but otherwise should be fine. I daily my RO and have gone swimming and snorkeling with it; I have a few light scratches on the bracelet, but nothing visible from more than a foot away. The worst scratch I got was when we first brought our new puppy home and she was squirming so much she almost fell.. so I went to catch her and her hind leg scratched the bracelet.

[macrowatch]

The real issue are the sharp edges. Even a small hit on wood can distort the edge and mirror finish.

All said, perfectly fine to wear daily, no reason not to. Just have them replace the bezel if you ever care about a minty fresh look. As everyone else has said, a little wrist awareness goes a long way.

[mspeed76]

lets be honest here. its an absolute scratch magnet.

if scratches bother you, an all stainless steel watch with finely finished surfaces/edges wont make you happy

[messikens]

Originally Posted by mspeed76

lets be honest here. its an absolute scratch magnet.

if scratches bother you, an all stainless steel watch with finely finished surfaces/edges wont make you happy

[APhound]

You have to say f it or you’ll never wear it. First couple scratches hurt and are noticeable but then it’s less painful. They’re very delicate, not nearly as robust/ tough as a Rolex. It’s the small scuffs you think prob didn’t show up and then it makes a huge blemish.
Only let AP do the “refinishing,” no one else can match the brushing. Just got one back and $500 later looks brand new again.. so it will have to stay in the packaging



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[aldyrifqi]

Originally Posted by arbees319

You have to say f it or you’ll never wear it. First couple scratches hurt and are noticeable but then it’s less painful. They’re very delicate, not nearly as robust/ tough as a Rolex. It’s the small scuffs you think prob didn’t show up and then it makes a huge blemish.
Only let AP do the “refinishing,” no one else can match the brushing. Just got one back and $500 later looks brand new again.. so it will have to stay in the packaging



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can you show us more detail pic after polishing?

[APhound]

Ya I’ll be out of town til Wednesday and will take some detail shots then
. I have this to hold you over.. but it came back flawless- like brand new. I’m friends with a very good local watchmaker for Patek and Rolex and he didn’t want to touch it- that’s why I said let ap do it and I’m glad I did. I had put a big scuff on it that really bugged me and wanted him to get it off. Honestly I barely bumped it into a metal door, I would t have even checked it if I had been wearing a Rolex..


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[Vivalas]

After an illness a few years ago, I have a slight balance issue, which is hard to explain, but in short I’m fine 95% of the time, but I’m clumsy 5% of the time. I’ll randomly lose balance and walk into a door for example.

So because of that I need to be careful as I’ve banged my watches in the past. I wear my RO daily and don’t worry about it. Life’s too short to overthink things like this. Wear you watch and enjoy :-)

[CactusTreeFiddy]

Originally Posted by Vivalas

After an illness a few years ago, I have a slight balance issue, which is hard to explain, but in short I’m fine 95% of the time, but I’m clumsy 5% of the time. I’ll randomly lose balance and walk into a door for example.

So because of that I need to be careful as I’ve banged my watches in the past. I wear my RO daily and don’t worry about it. Life’s too short to overthink things like this. Wear you watch and enjoy :-)

Have you got pics of what yours looks like now?

[Vivalas]

Originally Posted by CactusTreeFiddy

Have you got pics of what yours looks like now?

My incoming thread from a few weeks ago which I also put my other RO in.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=863357

[Willyjo]

Wear it, scratch it, enjoy it


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[ExplorerI]

Thanks for the responses. I’ve worn an explorer almost daily for 8 years and never worried about it and it shows but I’d try to be more careful with the RO I suppose.

[csquared317]

I found this pic from a long time ago. Still looks pretty good beat up lol.

[huncho]

hard to get good pics but here's mine. i've had it for almost 3 years and i don't think you'd be able to tell it's used. meanwhile my two tone rolex looked like it was worn for 1 year after the first day. APs are not the scratch magnets people make them out to be, i think a rolex with PCL is by far the worst there. you'll see new scratches from just breathing on it lol. pic with flash on just shows smudges

[ExplorerI]

Originally Posted by huncho

hard to get good pics but here's mine. i've had it for almost 3 years and i don't think you'd be able to tell it's used. meanwhile my two tone rolex looked like it was worn for 1 year after the first day. APs are not the scratch magnets people make them out to be, i think a rolex with PCL is by far the worst there. you'll see new scratches from just breathing on it lol. pic with flash on just shows smudges

Wow yeah still looks great. Yeah I had one with pcl and got rid of it. Just didnt like looking at the bracelet.

[Vince_76]

Originally Posted by huncho

hard to get good pics but here's mine. i've had it for almost 3 years and i don't think you'd be able to tell it's used. meanwhile my two tone rolex looked like it was worn for 1 year after the first day. APs are not the scratch magnets people make them out to be, i think a rolex with PCL is by far the worst there. you'll see new scratches from just breathing on it lol. pic with flash on just shows smudges

Yeah, PCLs scratch easier than any other finish I’ve come across. Particularly in PM.

Your 15450 looks great. I assume you’re wearing it and it has scratched, but probably very minor and hard to tell via pics?

[huncho]

Originally Posted by Vince_76

Yeah, PCLs scratch easier than any other finish I’ve come across. Particularly in PM.

Your 15450 looks great. I assume you’re wearing it and it has scratched, but probably very minor and hard to tell via pics?

i wear it cautiously but also i work in an office so it doesn't see any crazy action and yeah, i'm sure there are some but they're all minor. i can only find maybe 3 scratches if i look really closely under some kind of light and usually i notice these things right away. it's weird because every rolex i've had has been scratched by sleeves of sweatshirts or jackets but nothing here. would be curious to see how others are holding up

[CactusTreeFiddy]

If you really don't want to load of visible scratches all over your watch, then the RO holds up absolutely terribly. It's pretty undeniable

Your options are to wear it under clothing at all times, babying it perpetually whatever you're doing, or simply embracing the scratches themselves

[trackingtime]

the good thing about AP case and bracelet finishing, is that you can't tell the most minor scratches unless under very strong direct light.

its quite robust except for the crown, the stem can be quite "soft" and seem to break off easily.