Titanium vs steel for watches- durability

[Roll the Lex]

I’m looking into getting a titanium watch, tried on the gs snowflake and omega po. Love the weight but I’ve got no idea about durability. I’ve read some people complain that titanium scratches, dings, and dents like no other and regret buying, using a titanium watch as a daily.

For reference I’ve owned a wg Rolex for 4yrs. Yes it scratched easier but I’ve had no regrets. I’m thinking the titanium will be more durable than gold.

And any other titanium watches I’m missing other than the gs and omega?


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[kunlun]

Everything scratches, with some few exceptions.

Wrist awareness is the best prevention for that.

[ap1]

42mm roo blue

[Fat_ninja]

Originally Posted by kunlun

Everything scratches, with some few exceptions.

Wrist awareness is the best prevention for that.

Like TPT...

[ajw45]

Titanium comes in different grades but grade 5 ti is much harder than 316 stainless though both can be treated (cryo, chem, etc) to increase those so it can depend. Also, I think there are some cheap watches using grade 2 ti (those are often coated or blasted since grade 2 doesn't polish well). My titanium watches have proved to scratch much less easily than stainless.

[Petroc Tremaine]

My beater is a Citizen titanium - Garage mechanicing, motorcycles, gardening etc. I can't see a mark on it apart from the strap.

[Roll the Lex]

Ok that’s good to hear- I heard a bunch of people complaining about ti watches on another forum. I know the omega is grade 5. So long as it’s not softer than 18k wg than I’m ok with it.

Any issues with swimming in a pool- ti reacting with chlorine water?


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[ajw45]

Originally Posted by Roll the Lex

Ok that’s good to hear- I heard a bunch of people complaining about ti watches on another forum. I know the omega is grade 5. So long as it’s not softer than 18k wg than I’m ok with it.

Any issues with swimming in a pool- ti reacting with chlorine water?


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Titanium is extremely corrosion resistant, magnetic, awesome. The specific watch and brand does matter though. For example, Rolex stainless is supposedly heat treated for enhanced hardness but to me it still scratches and swirls like paint. My titanium jlc resist small/fine scratches much better. That said, my tegimented stainless steel Sinn looks new, zero scratches, despite being my beater thanks to the chemical hardening process. So material matters but not all titanium and steel used by brands are the same.

[ts3]

I had an IWC GST Chrono in titanium. Its surface had a blasted matte finish and any minor scratch showed in a bad and shiny way on that matte surface. Unlike my stainless steel IWC Mark XV the titanium GST Chrono looked worse and worse the longer I had it. Naturally it doesn't make sense to polish the matte titanium surface but you can get it re-blasted at IWC if you want to get rid of the shiny stuff.

Had to go for that reason plus the rotor wobble of the Valjoux 7750 which I found annoying as well.

[mspeed76]

nearly all titanium watches use grade 2 which is pretty soft..

[csj]

Originally Posted by mspeed76

nearly all titanium watches use grade 2 which is pretty soft..

This is not true of higher quality brands.

[NyCSnEaK]

What grade does GS use?

[PJ S]

^
Grand Seiko’s is a proprietary titanium alloy, but it’d still be classified as a Grade 5 titanium alloy.
The Seiko titanium watches, with Dia-shield (and Citizen’s with Duratect, aka Super Titanium) are Grade 2, which is essentially commercially pure titanium.

[Jace]

Like all metals, there are pluses and minuses. I have had two titanium watches and they both have done wonderfully. Titanium marks up, or gets patina, differently than other watch metals. Not better or worse, just different.

Let me tell you a little story about titanium from when I was in my residency. We had a patient come in to the emergency room (A and E, for my British friends) who is going to his high school reunion and decided he wanted to put on his class ring. Unfortunately he had gained a little weight andwhile he could get the ring on he couldn’t get the ring off. It was made out of titanium. Normally, with a gold ring, we use a small ring cutter blade and bend the metal until it off it comes. In this instance, we literally had to call the fire department and then we spent 45 minutes cutting his ring off using a version of the jaws of life. Metals get very hot under the circumstances so while they were cutting, and remember you can’t simply bend titanium, we had to stand there with bags of Saline constantly pouring it on his hand until then cut both sides of the ring and could remove it like a clam.

Titanium is durable.


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[brandrea]

Pelagos

Here is a thread on the subject.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthre...=571223&page=2

[DGB]

All metal get scratched, even the mystical Tantalun will get scratches .


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[PJ S]

^
Tantalum is a dense material, like Platinum, but it’s not particularly hard.

[locutus49]

Tegimented steel like used with Sinn is supposed to be the most scratch-resistant. I don't know why more watchmakers don't use it.

[Subterranean]

Used to own a late 90s Seiko titanium watch for awhile.didnt like it..was too light and that made it feel cheap IMO.also it had a horrible dull grey patina to it.didnt hold shine.watch didn't grow on me.it was obviously a lower grade titanium model.not for me .had it for 5 years .never wore it .sold it

[L_S_SHOE]

Wore my Pam 351 every day for a year. It’s one of my favorite watches. Lightweight, relative to its size. Wears just as well, if not better, than my SS watches. Part of this may be due to the matte finish, which hides scratches very well. In any case, minor dings and scrapes have not been a problem.




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[Randy63]

Originally Posted by Petroc Tremaine

My beater is a Citizen titanium - Garage mechanicing, motorcycles, gardening etc. I can't see a mark on it apart from the strap.

Your watch uses Citizen's proprietary Duratect surface hardening treatment. This is an incredibly durable coating. It's highly resistant to scratches. Nothing like untreated titanium.

My son has a Duratect coated titanium Citizen. The abuse that thing has seen and hardly a scratch on it.


Randy

[ajw45]

Originally Posted by locutus49

Tegimented steel like used with Sinn is supposed to be the most scratch-resistant. I don't know why more watchmakers don't use it.

Just guessing but I bet the tegimenting process alters the finish so it isn't used all that often for aesthetic reasons. The Sinn tegiment process does darken the steel a bit (looks a little like titanium) and all the tegimented watches are matte blasted w or w/o pvd on top. I'm guessing the chemical surface treatment alters the finish so any brushing or polishing prior to tegimenting doesn't make it through the treatment well and you can't finish after tegimenting since not only is it way harder to finish but you risk cutting through the surface hardening. It's too bad though, tegimented Sinn is awesome.

[jenniferjanef]

I own a few titanium watches. The titanium used for the Tudor Pelagos is soft like butter. The lightest contact with any hard surface will give it deep scratches.

Titanium used by Richard Mille on the other hand I find it much tougher than steel!

I don’t know why but these are based on my own personal experience.

[L_S_SHOE]

Originally Posted by jenniferjanef

I own a few titanium watches. The titanium used for the Tudor Pelagos is soft like butter. The lightest contact with any hard surface will give it deep scratches.

Titanium used by Richard Mille on the other hand I find it much tougher than steel!

I don’t know why but these are based on my own personal experience.

The Pelagos is made from grade 2 titanium. Richard Mille and the Pam 351 both use grade 5.


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[csj]

Originally Posted by L_S_SHOE

The Pelagos is made from grade 2 titanium. Richard Mille and the Pam 351 both use grade 5.


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Interesting... I'm surprised Tudor uses grade 2 and not grade 5...

[L_S_SHOE]

Originally Posted by csj

Interesting... I'm surprised Tudor uses grade 2 and not grade 5...

There’s a pretty substantial price difference between the Tudor and the others. Not sure if that’s really an excuse though, since the Pelagos isn’t exactly cheap.


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[Tools]

Scratches have nothing to do with durability,

Titanium is used in jet engines because of it's light weight and heat resistance; you can't get more durable than that.

It is used in watches as a marketing gimmick. There is no practical reason to use titanium in the environment a watch encounters.

[L_S_SHOE]

Originally Posted by Tools

Scratches have nothing to do with durability,



Titanium is used in jet engines because of it's light weight and heat resistance; you can't get more durable than that.



It is used in watches as a marketing gimmick. There is no practical reason to use titanium in the environment a watch encounters.

Weight savings and high tensile strength (depth ratings) are good reasons. I’m guessing Rolex chose to use titanium for the Deepsea case back for this reason. Not to say the same couldn’t be achieved with steel, but it would probably require more and heavier material. I bought a titanium watch though, so I am bias.


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[PJ S]

Originally Posted by Tools

Scratches have nothing to do with durability,

Titanium is used in jet engines because of it's light weight and heat resistance; you can't get more durable than that.

It is used in watches as a marketing gimmick. There is no practical reason to use titanium in the environment a watch encounters.

Being hypoallergenic, lightweight, and offering superior sound transmission (for MRs), are all practical reasons for using the material.

Jet engine usage is restricted to the frontal section, the pre-combustion intake and compression stage. Far more heat and pressure resistant alloys are used in the business end.

[Tolex]

Originally Posted by Tools

Scratches have nothing to do with durability,

Titanium is used in jet engines because of it's light weight and heat resistance; you can't get more durable than that.

It is used in watches as a marketing gimmick. There is no practical reason to use titanium in the environment a watch encounters.

I'm very surprised, shocked even that you'd think there's no practical reason to use titanium in a watch.