Aquanaut/5711 - scratch magnets?

[smg8]

Hi all,

How does the Aquanaut and Nautilus hold up being worn daily when it comes to scratches?

I am wearing my GMT Master as a daily at present as I can't cope with how easily my AP Royal Oak Chrono picks up scratches. It's not had much wrist time since the honeymoon period when I bought it in November due to living in fear of catching it when worn!

Kind of thinking of moving it on for one of the above, but would like to hear whether it will be out of the frying pan and into the fire. Has anyone had both an AP and Patek in stainless, and found one more durable than the other? Maybe I should just get over my scratch OCD but easier said than done

[tyler1980]

you are going to be disappointed if your benchmark is a ceramic bezel watch.

AP scratches less. The bezels are the same but the RO bracelet is brushed and the nautilus has raised polished bits so the AP shows less scratches. An aquanaut is going to be a better option with the strap.

[Tay821]

get an aqua...rubber can take a pounding

[smg8]

Originally Posted by Tay821

get an aqua...rubber can take a pounding

[AK797]

Bezel marks are my bugbear so ceramic is my best for a daily, bracelet and case marks don't bother me.

[nyc2la]

Originally Posted by AK797

Bezel marks are my bugbear so ceramic is my best for a daily, bracelet and case marks don't bother me.

Agree with this smart man.

[PatekSF]

If you’re OCD and get the watch, get a weekly therapist appointment. The scratches will drive you bonkers. I’m super careful and was not able to avoid a few “kisses” on my 5168 that I bought in 8/2017.

[tng11]

Owning a Aquanaut, Nautilus or Royal Oak is an exercise in learning to let go. I was (and still am) OCD about scratches, but after the initial one, you learn to live with it.

[smg8]

Originally Posted by AK797

Bezel marks are my bugbear so ceramic is my best for a daily, bracelet and case marks don't bother me.

Yeah it's the bezel that annoys me on the ROC! Bracelet is fine, it actually hides them quite well on the bracelet. But the bezel more than makes up for it

[Dewitte]

Embrace the scratches. That’s what I do. Shows a life well lived.

[.db]

I'm going on 4.5 years of 5712 ownership and have yet to scratch the bezel. I have a couple small scratches on the bracelet, but I'm ok with that. I'm careful, and 'wrist aware' but typically don't get lots of scratches or impacts to my watches.

[rabbithole88]

Here's mine as an example...

Most of the dings are from swimming too close to the rocks on the south coast of Capri

[andyol1966]

Nice dial,,,,what dings?

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by smg8

Kind of thinking of moving it on for one of the above, but would like to hear whether it will be out of the frying pan and into the fire. Has anyone had both an AP and Patek in stainless, and found one more durable than the other? Maybe I should just get over my scratch OCD but easier said than done

If you're ocd about scratches, and by daily beater you mean active physical activites and not desk jockey, then you already know the answer. For me, the 5167 durability was lackluster for scratches and dings (looked about the same or worse than rabbithole88's pic above), plus the lume fell out of the '1' on the dials' 10. When i was a desk jockey coder any Patek was fine, yet growing younger and far more active means Rolex was the choice with ceramic bezel. I beat the sh*t out of it and the Rolex just keeps working fine. Yesterday my muse and i went kiteboarding, no worries with a Rolex.

[smg8]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

If you're ocd about scratches, and by daily beater you mean active physical activites and not desk jockey, then you already know the answer. For me, the 5167 durability was lackluster for scratches and dings (looked about the same or worse than rabbithole88's pic above), plus the lume fell out of the '1' on the dials' 10. When i was a desk jockey coder any Patek was fine, yet growing younger and far more active means Rolex was the choice with ceramic bezel. I beat the sh*t out of it and the Rolex just keeps working fine. Yesterday my muse and i went kiteboarding, no worries with a Rolex.

Haha, Im at a desk all day but still manage to collect the odd scratch and dint. My GMT Master is my daily now as it withstands most things. The ceramic bezel is a god send!

[SpeedyTuomas]

I have had my 5712 for over a year now and if you wear it, it will scratch. It has been hard to accept it, but it is part of owning and using a watch. Your other option is to buy it and not use it.

[997.2TTS]

Originally Posted by speedytuomas

i have had my 5712 for over a year now and if you wear it, it will scratch. It has been hard to accept it, but it is part of owning and using a watch. Your other option is to buy it and not use it.

+1

[smg8]

Originally Posted by 997.2TTS

+1

Yeah cheers guys, coming round to the idea......

Will keep the GMT for scraping across my desk all day and stick to weekend/evening wear for anything else.....

Still fancy a change from the ROC so hopefully an incoming thread at some point

[SpeedyTuomas]

Originally Posted by smg8

Yeah cheers guys, coming round to the idea......

Will keep the GMT for scraping across my desk all day and stick to weekend/evening wear for anything else.....

Still fancy a change from the ROC so hopefully an incoming thread at some point

Yes, but even this does not prevent it from scratches - my biggest ones came from a seatbelt and from walking into a door handle.

If you look at used Nautilus watches that have been in use for at least some years, all of them seem to have scratches and dings on them..

I am not a specialist but I guess only a few polishes would already show?

[Peterandwatches]

Agree you with you guys - the scratches are part of the charm. You can always get a light polish or bezel replacement down the line too.

[PatekSF]

Originally Posted by Peterandwatches

Agree you with you guys - the scratches are part of the charm. You can always get a light polish or bezel replacement down the line too.

The bezel on the Aquanauts are not replaceable. It’s one, solid case. Polish is the only solution.

[Jay (Eire)]

For what it's work I've found the Nautilus much better than my old Royal Oak.

[subtona]

Nothing compared to AP

[smg8]

This may be a stupid question, but is there a limit to how often/how many times you can get a Patek bezel polished? For example, people talk of not wanting to over polish the Royal Oak bezel as it will lose its shape somewhat

[HorologyK]

They scratch. What is the big deal??!

[pam66]

the scratches on my watches come from the laptop and from lugging the watch around in airplanes, night flights lying down, touching somewhere and all that. 5711R looks a bit scratched already.

[kneedeep]

All you can do is be reasonably careful wearing them and even then you will hit them on things. If that really bugs you, they are probably not for you.

[Vetracer]

I wear my Aquanauts daily and although I’m a careful watch wearer, I accept that hairline swirls on the bezel will appear.

Dings on the other hand would annoy me but so far my Aquanauts have met the same challenges as my Submariners when it comes to durability.

[Ranger822]

If you wear it scratches, are inevitable. The question is are you really ready to wear an expensive watch? I recently purchased the 5726 - and was going to put a rubber strap on it . . . you know, to wear it all the time, like when I go run, swim, bike, workout, etc . . . then I got to thinking I have a 30K+ dream watch on my wrist. What the heck am I thinking? I might have a tumble or accident with it then what? I decided, owe it to myself to have two watches . . . a lesser "workout" watch and one for the rest of the time. So, maybe keep your "workout" watch in your gym bag or whatever - and swap out as needed. That should reduce the scratches and the unexpected.

[gaeleus]

Aquanaut, 5711 and APRO all are scratch magnets. My OCD doesn't allow me to enjoy them half as much as my Rolexes which hold up much better