I figure we have a Seiko sub forum now, and a wide appreciation of other brands. So why not break the last taboo with an Apple Watch WRUW...

Because when you’re in the gym or working on a car or generally risking your watch getting beat up, sometimes an Apple Watch is just the tool for the job.

Heres my third gen Apple Watch Edition ceramic on white rubber, still not a mark on this thing thanks to the ceramic case, light weight, and curved case that turns heavy hits into glancing blows.

 

It’s extremely hard to. Ceramic tends to crack on corners or edges or where it receives a strong direct hit, that’s why corners edges and flat surfaces of watches like lugs, bezels, edges of cases and ridges tend to be the parts that chip and crack most frequently, same for sapphire crystals. The entire ceramic case has a curve of some kind to it and coupled with being very light compared to a mechanical watch it deflects hits rather than taking them head on. Having said that, even when it has taken the odd direct hit I keep thinking its damaged but it turns out to be paint / metal / concrete transfer onto the watch and after wiping it away the ceramic is undamaged.

Apple are really, really good with materials, likely better than most watch companies, and its that combined with the shape and weight that keeps it in such good condition.

 

The battery isn’t what it used to be anymore but wearing my vintage Mk0 Apple Watch in PVD on full link bracelet today. This bracelet is still superb even 6 years later after a lot of wear, exceptional finish and build quality, far above most in the Swiss watch industry even today (and definitely nicer than anything Rolex made pre-2001).

 

Mate I’m not even kidding if you handle the Apple link bracelet it feels more like AP made it than Apple, the fit and finish (and thinness) is on the Royal Oak Jumbo kind of level. They’re not cheap either at $550 but the quality makes it a bargain. The 93150 bracelet by contrast is a stamped, rattle prone piece of tin. Now the Daytona bracelet onwards is another story but I actually think the Apple link is still better than any bracelet I currently own.

Nobody is going to pretend Apple are a watch manufacturer like Rolex but when it comes to materials and machining prowess they know their stuff and have an economy of scale the Swiss could only dream of having.

 

That isn’t the point of it though, mine is now approaching 6 years and still works and can be serviced, the heads are interchangeable so I can keep using my relatively expensive bracelet on future Apple watches and they’re a cheap enough product that it doesn’t bother me that it has a service life. For the money it costs it does a great deal and brings functionality like the ability to listen to music and take calls with my AirPods without a phone on me. It’s not challenging a mechanical Seiko, its challenging a quartz Fossil and bringing a much bigger feature set and higher level of quality at a similar price point which isn’t a bad thing, and its helping making watches relevant to another generation which I also look upon as being really favorable. In the same way that something like a quartz TAG Heuer F1 chronograph was a stepping stone for me to a good mechanical watch these could serve as a gateway drug for many more young people.