Scratch Test Titanium, Stainless, Ceramic, Extra Hard Coated steel, Bronze Comparison Which is best?

[@jeremyrice3719]

Grade 5 titanium is definitely more scratch resistant than stainless steel. My Zenith Defy Skeleton is scratch free - even on the clasp. My wedding watch-8 yrs before I got into the hobby-was a ceramic Rado chronograph and to this day it has zero scratches. Ceramic is magic, but can crack if dropped.

[@davidperez8458]

i am very interested on a zenith defy classic. is this model a grade 5 titanium ?

[@canadianwatchmonkey3992]

In my opinion Stainless steel is best then bronze then titanium. Easily polished and or re brushed to as new condition. I am not interested in any case that has a coating or plating

[@135ipocketrocket2]

Brutal! Savage testing, and a test I've wanted to see, thank you. A video of various ways to fix or minimize scratches would be awesome. 👍

[@gregnatividad8345]

Damn, Chris you scratched a Tudor and a Hublot for this vid! But I love that you didn’t scratch your inox.

[@boldold]

On your Omega I'd try to use an eraser on the bezel, preferably one of those soft, sticky Staedtler ones or similar. More than often matte ceramic surfaces that looks scratched has just rubbed off some of the material it scratches against (even steel). The matte surface has a fine grain to it that is almost like sandpaper and the debris from the other material can be hard to get out. For me the eraser has worked as a charm many times on both matte ceramic cases and bezels.

[@MyWatchTherapy]

Great video. Really appreciate this. I just got a ceramic case omega and I keep hearing how it’s scratch proof then I hear a scratch resistant too afraid to find out. Thanks for doing it.

[@bruceleroy8063]

Steel is the best mix of hardness and toughness. Thanks for testing.

[@Taylod1]

Chris , I would have to disagree with with respect to titanium, my daily watch is a Casio oeanaus with it's treatment is excellent.

[@WatchChris]

Could be a different treatment however I also went to town on these things. I wasn't gentle. So with the super hard coating I'm sure it will last a lot longer

[@nateb69]

Where are the tungsten watches at? I wish more manufacturers used tungsten carbide!

[@lliameasterbrook6634]

You are a braver man than I - for science! This was useful. Thanks!

[@juniorjohnson5961]

Great to see these comparison Thanks Chris !

[@juniorjohnson5961]

It would be nice to see the difference between Domed & Double Domed Christal .

[@StardustLegacyFighter]

Fortunately for me, my Citizen Skyhawk is made out of PVD coated stainless steel, which I'm aware is far more scratch resistant than stainless steel, and even grade 5 titanium. I still remember back when I had the bracelet on and I accidentally hit my watch against my seat on a plane; I could instantly see a scratch, but then it automatically disappeared later on. I have it on a NATO strap nowadays, purely because it's much more comfortable for my hairy wrists.

[@watchlover8297]

I bought a Titanium Blancpain FF new in 2022 and it was scratched before I took it from the shop. They got me another, that was scratched so I got my money back. The reason I think G5 is softer than SS is that I looked at the watch with a loupe and it was covered in scratches. Something Ive not seen on my other watches. Ti oxidises so the scratches get covered up after a period. It is confusing as the Vickers value for Ti G5 is higher that 316L SS but many people say Ti is softer.

[@WatchChris]

Thanks for the comment

[@msbrownbeast]

Try doing the scratch test on a Citizen titanium case. They are coated with some kind of glass coating that is very much scratch-resistant.

[@red75v67]

Jeez. This actually made me feel slightly queasy. Interesting experiment mind you. I've found a huge difference between coated and raw titanium cases.

[@piotrszmidel]

Thats why I own only stainless steel watches,no titanium until grade 5,I have luck to catch some unexpected scratches.Also Im not into bronze as of patina

[@jdiluigi]

Better you doing this in the name of science than me doing in by accident and saying things that would make a sailor blush.

[@deanmachine8271]

Thoughts on ceramic watch for daily usage. I need something pretty tough. Caramic vs titanium?

[@ulifluhme]

DLC coating is done in various grades. I’m currently producing a watch in titanium with DLC coating and keep pushing the factory to do better. What’s the point of coating if it isn’t super tough? We started at 600HV but are now at 1200HV.

[@ulifluhme]

That Vesuviate looks like 200 HV. Useless if true but maybe they can correct me.

[@Zonediver]

Cool test - I've always wanted to know how stable the materials are against scratches 👍

[@Matys1975]

There are two grades of titanium used in watches: grade 2 and grade 5. Grade 2 is easier to scratch than steel but grade 5 is more scratch resistant than steel. You should have indicated what grade of titanium you were scratching

[@CCWBarrister]

Highly informative and a much-needed analysis! Thank you for the sacrifice, Chris! Would love to see how the tegimenting process of Sinn compares in this test, but who wants to test the theory on a $3K watch?! I have a limited version of the Sinn U1 with tegimented case and bracelet that I’ve had for a year. I wear it frequently. I cannot see a single scratch. So, perhaps we don’t need to test the Sinn?! Thanks, again, Chris. I appreciate your entertaining and high-quality videos very much. Be well.

[@choond]

Thanks! This answered a lot of questions 👍

[@thomasmathes5019]

Talking about taking one for the team! Thanks Chris, very informative (and painful to watch). I wonder how well these coated titanium materials hold up, like Citizen's 'super titanium' (not that I'm asking you to inflict more pain on your collection!). I've read that Citizen's coating does a somewhat better job than Seiko's does. I have a Seiko with their coated stainless steel, let's just say I'm not impressed with it's superposed scratch resistance compared to non-coated stainless. Regarding titanium, I have a 20 yr. old Seiko titanium and it scratches easily but a Certina I have not as easily; different alloys? The Certina doesn't advertise as coated material.

[@donaldhardgrove3620]

I'm curious how different brands of hard coatings compare to each other (the cannot be equal) I have a Zelos Mako 3 in titanium with Zelos's proprietary hard coating - claims 1200 on the vickers hardness scale - I've had the watch a few months, so far not a scratch - traska is another micro brand that claims to have a hard coating - and we can't forget sinn and Damasko - but those are not micro brands so you will pay dearly for the hard coating on them. In fact sinn doesn't put the hard coating on their entry level watches (sinn 556 will scratch like a cheap timex) you have to go up a few notches on their price levels to get the hard coating on sinn products. I'd like to know how the various brands compare and how long the "hard coating" will last? Great review! Please follow up with more scratch tests - maybe compare Sinn to Zelos and traska.

[@thomasmathes5019]

@@donaldhardgrove3620 I find it *really* hard to believe Zelos, a tiny company, has the chemists and metallurgists on hand to actually have a proprietary coating process. Same with Traska. Technologies like that take some $$ to develop and these small watch companies don't make anything, they farm out all of their manufacturing. They're a design, supply chain management and distribution/marketing company. It's similar to the semiconductor industry: lots of chip companies but only a few that actually manufacture the chips themselves, most of the chip companies use foundries and outside assembly houses for their manufacturing. I know that business all to well as I've been a chip designer in a few fabless semi companies over the last 17 years (and am presently employed by one). Zelos et. al. can claim "proprietary" but until they actually prove they have something the big boys don't have I for one am skeptical (and that's putting it politely and mildly).

[@dawidjasiak9646]

It was def painful to WATCH, i can hear them screaming in my head.

[@japd7897]

No gold or platinum Patek for the test?. No carbon composite Richard Mille?.

[@gregnatividad8345]

Chris, maybe if you can have a lume comparison with your Swiss luxury pieces? That would be nice, since you have a good collection. I remember a hublot, Hamilton and an omega I had had really unimpressive lume for the price

[@mrtd7908]

Had a ceramic watch by rado sea star I think great scratch resistance but the links can crack as mine did, rather have titanium very easily polished or stainless 904 or b6 standard 316l is just too easily scratched in every day use..

[@VVojtas10]

Amazing test! Thank you for doing it! Maybe some drop test next?

[@magnalengua4312]

Well done for doing this!

[@davidperez8458]

In your opinion What about grade 5 titanium ? And titanium grade 2 with DLC coating ? I will appreciate your comments Great review

[@WatchChris]

In my experience, grade five titanium is very scratch resistant. Grade two titanium with a coating is okay. Much better than titanium without a coating. However, it's not as good as grade five titanium long term

[@davidperez8458]

@@WatchChris thanks for your response =) Iam considering a grade 5 titanium for my collection but was unsure because I have heard that titanium was no good for scratches. You will say that is better that Stailessteel ?

[@Noypi54494]

My 20+year old daily beater watch Casio MR-G 7100BJ has zero scratches on case/bezel/bracelet and just a small ding on clasp. It's made entirely out of Titanium DLC.

[@StardustLegacyFighter]

Casio is the master of DLC.

[@Noypi54494]

@@StardustLegacyFighter YES indeed!!

[@Damon241k]

So how much impact can ceramic withstand?

[@aminreviews2311]

Chris: “Not that bad 🤷‍♂️” Me: 😱😱😱

[@TenNiepokorny]

Why some watches have stickers on the dial?

[@Aries0098]

I wish resin was included with the test.

[@gregalonzo747]

Good review. It was quite helpful. 👌

[@Billeh556]

Did you just scratch the crap out of the Tudor black bay bronze case AND bezel?!

[@zezem]

My Citizen titanium tough is exactly that. Had it about 20 years and it has lived a hard life. No real damage to speak of. Have a Citizen titanium diver that doesn't look much worse as well. Don't know what coating they use but it works.

[@Cville2347]

Chris, Where did you get the blue strap on the Victorinox?

[@WatchChris]

Hey that's actually the strap it came on direct from the manufacturer

[@Cville2347]

@@WatchChris Thanks

[@alexprendido2023]

Thanks for the video

[@tmt7912]

According the brand...try to the wellknown brand please

[@benseavers4047]

Jeeeez you just scratched your tudor Blackbay bronze case and Bezel for a test video...... Wow! Those 2 parts alone is probably ly £1000.

[@johnnyarsenault9124]

Sorry but l’ll never leave my watches next to you 😵‍💫, too 😱 afraid 😆. Ceramic coating is one of the hardest ( used in the military: special anodizing of aluminum, gives a dark mat black, harder than most metals).

[@checksix_TC]

It would be awesome if you could scratch up a beat up Rolex Submariner to see how 904L steel takes the abuse, or Sinn's submarine steel. Thanks for sacrificing your watches for this video. Not many you tubers will do that.

[@HRM.H]

This will be very hard but entertaining to watch. Thanks for sacrificing/risking the watches.

[@jdiluigi]

Also..... GRINDING SOUND..."I'm not messing around"

[@campshay19]

Censored the Hublot because he didn't want people to know he has one

[@jamesminshall4601]

Surely the Tudor and hublot are fakes

[@ooyginyardel4835]

This is so painful to watch.

[@callmedru]

Chrisrigeverything?

[@CACOPHONIE]

hahaha

[@nothere603]

Omg you sacrificed your Tudor 😢

[@ultimatedouchebag6760]

Thank you for this video brother.....i now know never to buy Bronze, Silver...and Titanium 2 watches. Next, would you hook me up with your sister?