# Titanium



## DavidH (Feb 24, 2003)

I don't have a ti. watch, in fact I don't think I have ever touched any titanium!

I know, from what I have picked up on the WWW, that it is lighter and feels funny, and scratches easily.

The reason I bring this up is that I am looking at a watch that is available in stainless and titanium. It is a quite a brute and I hate high street jewellers

So your opinions or other facts on the pros and cons would be a help.

When I get enough info together about it and win the lottery I'll be able to make the right choice









Thanks


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## scottee (May 10, 2004)

Wouldn't mind some feedback from owners of titanium watches as there are quite a few nice ones out there.

As David says, titanium is lighter and stronger, but is it easy to polish scratches (or even sand and polish dings) out, or does this screw up the whole finish?


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## ollyming (May 12, 2004)

I have a handful of titanium watches (Omega SMP chrono, Sinn 142, couple of Citizens, Seiko) and love them all!

The main thing I like about titanium is the look of it. Although some steel finishes come close, none quite match the matt look of titanium. This I think is the main point you should consider when deciding between steel and titanium versions of a watch. In my experience titanium does scratch slightly more easily than steel, but I find that all my watches, no matter what they are made of, get a bit scratched through normal use but I think this makes them look 'lived in' and just adds to their appeal. As such, I've never tried to remove scratches so I don't know if they are any easier to remove from titanium than steel.

The other major difference as you correctly state is that titanium is much lighter than steel. If you're looking at big watches the differnce can be considerable but I don't really tend to notice once a watch is on the wrist.

Cheers, Olly


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## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

I've had 2 titanium watches. Great designs both of them but I couldn't get used to the lightness of the material, I agree that titanium looks good though. I didn't own the watches long enough to be able to comment on durability/scratch resistance, however I sold one of them to a friend who wears it day in day out and it's still in excellent condition. He works as a civil engineer so is often on building sites so I would say that it must be fairly scratch resistant - the watch is a Citizen 200m eco-drive. I think Citizen treat their titanium watches to make them scratch resistant (duratect or something like that).

Hope this helps


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

I have two titanium watches:



















I love the look and feel of titanium, but sometimes miss the heft of steel when handling a watch - steel ones just feel more substantial. But once on the wrist, the lightness of titanium is a definite advantage in my opinion. I've not tried polishing out any scratches so I don't know if this is easy or not. I haven't got any scratches on these two yet


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2004)

Definitely not a Titanium fan for the following reasons:

Feels too light when wearing, I like to feel the heft of a watch.

Looks like grey plastic.


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## willydale (Jun 1, 2003)

I purchased my first and only titanium watch, a PAM 69, because I liked the look of the finish and the lightness of the watch. I won't buy another titanium watch in that they DO scratch very, very easily. I understand there is a "hardened" titanium that is now available. It supposedly makes the surface less susceptable to scratching, a kind of case hardening. A good freind tells me that this is quite expensive and is only a nominal improvement. Regards, Bill


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## phlogistician (Jul 22, 2003)

I've got an Invicta 9302 in Ti, and I really like it. I like the finish, and although folks say it scratches more easily than steel, mine has only picked up one scratch in four years, and a a quick buffing sorted that out.

As for weight, well my Invicta is probably my heaviest watch, despite the Ti, because it's a fairly large divers style , 40mm across, (not inclusing crown) and 15mm deep, with a really chunky bracelet.


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## Manatee (Jul 4, 2004)

I have one titanium watch and the snap of it below shows that not all titanium cases have to be matt. This Citizen quartz GMT has a combination of brushed and polished finishes on the case and bracelet links.










It is Duratect hardened and I've had it for a few weeks and worn it for 3 short trips abroad and it has picked up no noticeable scratches, so the hardened finish may be a real benefit. It's also very comfortable to wear, possibly because the case is well shaped but I'm sure the low weight helps.


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## adrian (May 23, 2004)

Seiko Brightz are made in titanium with a special coating that confers scratch resistance and a polished finish.


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Had aseiko qtz ti and I didn't like it at all, it smelt and tasted funny! Honestly seemed to react with my skin different to steel. Also the bracelet felt tinny because it was so light.


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## DavidH (Feb 24, 2003)

Plenty of opinions now and thanks all. For now I think Ti is not for me .

Olly

How do you find the Sinn 142 compared to your SMP, in terms of build quality detail and finish. Would it stand shoulder to shoulder with the omega or be better or not so?

Thanks


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## bry1975 (Feb 6, 2004)

Yer,

The problem is the jewellery and watch industry use Ti commercially pure 1 or 2, this is great for the manufacturers because the material is a relatively soft material, won't really wear the tooling. Also I believe Ti comm. 1 or 2 has a slightly lower hardness than say a 316L or 904L

Please check www.matweb.com if you want to know more.

Really you buy Ti for its kool mattish grey look or for its excellent corrosion resistance.

Regards

Bryan


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## scottee (May 10, 2004)

Cheers for the info, guys.


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## scottee (May 10, 2004)

I think I read somewhere that titanium can become highly radioactive when bombarded with deuterons (what the hell is a deuteron?).









Still wouldn't put me off buying a nice titanium watch, though. Screw the chance of it becoming radioactive!!!


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## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

neil said:


> Feels too light when wearing, I like to feel the heft of a watch.


Exactly! It's a psychological thing, I don't care about saving weight and corrosion resistance I want to feel the "value"







How many of us have had a problem with weight or our watches corroding? Not many I'll bet


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## DavidH (Feb 24, 2003)

Quite true Mark, but I've had a few problems with the value corroding on my watches


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

For me its not how they look its how they feel .... I quite like the look and wouldnt mind the marking of the metal etc.


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## adrian (May 23, 2004)

Sometimes I find my SchwarzEtienne chrono too heavy. The bracelet is very solid and thick and I was thinking to change it for a leather strap. No money yet for this project and since I got my SMP it doesn't get wrist time anyway.


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## Nin (Jul 16, 2004)

I've got a Seiko Divers Autimatic in titanium (but no digital camera so I can't post a pic) It's marked up a bit, but then I'm very hard on my watches. It's just been serviced and lcleaned up very well.

I like Titanium cos its a bit lighter, and consequently the watch and bracelet are slightly less bulky on my bony wrist. I also like the slightly darker colour of the meatl, and the matt finish.

Unlike PG I've not tried tasting my watches, so can't comment on that. I guess its what you prefer the look and feel to be isn't it?

Nin


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## Nin (Jul 16, 2004)

Found it! the one with the black dial:

See it here ...

Nin


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## ollyming (May 12, 2004)

DavidH said:


> Plenty of opinions now and thanks all. For now I think Ti is not for me .
> 
> Olly
> 
> ...


 They are both great watches but purely on build quality and finish the Omega gets it in my opinion. It's mainly a tactile thing - the Omega just feels a heavier, more robust watch, though they weigh almost the same (Omega 134g, Sinn 122g). Partly this is down to the Omega bracelet ('Bond' style) being more substantial. I think the design with the polished and unpolished links looks slightly better also. Having said that, it's a close run thing and my girlfriend thinks the Sinn looks better overall so I guess a lot of it comes down to taste.

Cheers, Olly


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## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

I like my Ti watches very much. A few random 2p on the above:

The Duratect finish is the dogs danglies! I wear my Citizen 1000m as much as any of my watches and have dived it many times and it has proven to be _very_ durable - moreso than steel.

Ti is very hypoallergenic (some folks are sensitive to the nickel in stainless steel). There are no reported cases of allergic reactions among millions of Ti implants worldwide.

I like the light weight for big watches and field/beater watches. When I'm out in the woodline, I'm already carrying enough crap and don't need any extra weight on the end of my wrist. When in the office, I do enjoy the mass of a DOXA/IWC AT/DN on the wrist - feels great.

Ti is a good choice for divers due to it's resistance to corrosion.

Ti does seem to scratch more easily than steel, particularly the brushed finish Breitling employ. Ti builds up a very thin surface oxide that produces this relative inert-ness, but makes scratches more obvious. With time, the scratch will oxidize and be less obvious. This makes buffing out scratches easier than with steel.


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## metal_andy (Feb 20, 2004)

I agree with Colin, oxide layer on Ti does have a sort of self repairing mechanism as new oxide is formed in a scratch it becomes less obvious, I've seen this on a small ding on my SS20.









As a metallurgist I appreciate titanium for its quite advanced properties and also the tactile aspect of the material it feels like no other metal I've ever come across.

However polishing the stuff to look at it under a microscope is an absolute b*****d of a job as the surface of the material flows over itself hiding coarser scratches, you have to progessively etch the flowed layer away and polish over and over again. Still with patience the results are quite cool especially when you colour etch the structure to show the different phases.

A bit off topic but I hope it is of interest.


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## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

Perusal of ePrey today reminded me of another advantage of Ti: thieves are less likely to fake a Ti watch. I saw a SS Breitling Emergency on auction and there is no such animal (Ti and gold only).


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