Scratched watch face

The same happened with me! But in 4 days of use! The incredible is the apple don’t want to change my Apple Watch 5! Here in Brazil the people work in Apple Store are so rude! I’m going the justice powers for have help about this! It’s so expensive for have this quality!

Yup! Same here. I’ve had my watch for almost 3 months and just noticed today that I have a row of micro abrasions at the bottom and I’m really careful too! I used a microfiber cloth to clean it today for the first time and noticed it at the bottom. It was either from that or jacket use. That’s how careful I am with it and haven’t used it for exercising, etc., yet like what my SS 3 has gone through. It’s only in certain lighting but still disturbing. To put it in perspective, I also have the SS Series 3 for 2+ years and NO scratches on the display. I even cleaned it tonight with that same microfiber cloth! So probably from jacket or long sleeve shirt. Aside from the SS looking sharp, the durability is also another reason why I bought it after using Aluminum for Series 0 & 2. My series 2 had some light scratches, which was expected but also not that noticeable too and was so impressed with the Series 3, that without a question I went with Series 5 SS Black. I even sprung for the SS Black Hermès edition this time too. :/ I have done nothing different than I normally do. That Series 3 went through swimming in ocean, pool, hanging out at the beach, workouts, bike rides, light banging running into a wall, wearing a jacket (same jacket no less), etc. My series 5 has only been though a jacket and long-sweet shirts. :/ My SS did have micro abrasions on the SS which was to be expected but NOT on the display.

I have heard that the iPhone 11’s are also more susceptible to scratches than the X and XS but my 11 Pro doesn’t have a scratch on it at all after almost 4 months of use!! I almost didn’t believe that but now that it happened on my watch, I am wondering about that too. When I put the Series 3 next to the Series 5, I can see how the Series 3 may be more durable. There just seems something different in that that the Series 3 seems better quality. I’m not sure if it’s due to the allways on screen display and the coating or what but something does seem like the Series 5 is more susceptible.

Apparently can’t edit my post anymore, so apologies for the extra..

It can’t be from Microfiber cloth since I used it cleaning my iPad and iPhone tonight and no scratches. Also, it’s a row of them at the bottom, so it has to be from long sleeve or jacket. And we aren’t talking rough jacket either. Again, I wore the same jacket with my Series 3 all of last winter and into this winter until I got my Series 5.

I’ve had the exact same issue. It’s practically brand new. I’m not a very active person and I’m extremely careful with it because I’m so scared of scratches - still within a few days of purchase it was full of tiny scratches around the edges and middle of the screen. Very disappointing as I was assured it wouldn’t scratch easily and so I didn’t bother with a protector.

Check out the video by JerryRigEverything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EBgaxFfDA0 where he tests out the "sapphire" claim. In short, it scratches just as easily as regular glass so he thinks it is a sapphire / glass mixture. This is the same issue he had with the camera lens on the iPhone when they introduced sapphire. It scratched just as easily. He has a few videos where he attempts to scratch it alongside an actual sapphire watch which totally lives up to it's name.

Same problem with my Apple Watch-scratches on it for no reason I can imagine, and the watch is so beautiful that I would like to get the scratches buffed out of the face of the watch. Is that possible?

Since I posted here at the end of January about mine developing scratches after only a couple weeks of use, I can now say the scratches have disappeared! I’m thinking they were just in the screen coating and now after 4 months of daily use and rubbing/cleaning of the screen they’ve worn away. So I’m now quite happy with the sapphire’s scratch resistance. Anyone else found this?

I have been wearing the gen 1 watch for years and have zero scratches as I have a desk job. I have owned this series 5 for three weeks and it has scratches one of which is pretty deep. I am thinking it’s a simple as putting my hands in my pockets that is scratching the face

I also do have apple watch 4, in fact i bought it during july 2019 and it got scratched almost within a month. And since then it keeps scratching more and more.

Although i love it, and i am fully into apple products, really, when the time comes for it to be replaced i do not think i shall get an apple watch again.

Same thing happened to me, I had a Series 2 that was indestructible for 3 years, 2 week as ago I upgraded to the aluminum space gray 5 and within a few days had scratches. While I waited for my screen protector to arrive from Amazon, I got a deep scratch across the whole screen, almost impossible to ignore and incredibly annoying especially since I treat it like a Faberge Egg. I tried everything online: toothpaste, baking soda, nail enamel nothing worked. The one solution I could find that worked best: Invisible Shield HD Dry Screen protector $14 at Target. It’s a pain in the *** to apply (1 ct) so watch the video online at least 3 times, but it completely masked my scratch and that OCD feeling I get about that scar on the face. It goes on as a thin layer you almost don’t even realize it’s there, but if you put it on right its a lifesaver. Thankfully, I got it on my last day of my return/refund window, now I will keep the watch and shelf my tempered glass screen protector.

Same thing happened with me, already got micro scratches on my watch face. It's something that you have to look at everyday and hurts when you have paid so much money for a device. Its also completely unfair for apple to ask for a large fee to help you. Not sure how to get rid of it, guess have to learn to live with it.

I have two scratches on the screen of my Apple Watch 5, contacted Apple and they just said get a screen protector. Very disappointed, the screen is not up to ‘scratch’ lol. I have a ten year old Longines watch that has been put through its paces with no significant screen scratches. I suspect the Apple Watch screen is not particularly resilient, fess up

There is no “good” explanation, just excuses. It may be sapphire, but it sure scratches a lot more easily than the sapphire used on better “regular” watches, for reasons unexplained—either It is an inferior version of sapphire or there is a coating that scratches. What is the point of advertising “sapphire” if it scratches easily? The only reason I bought the stainless version was because of the perception that it would be more scratch resistant. It is not, and it is heavier to wear and more expensive. Not worth the extra $ in my opinion. I still like the watch, but feel mislead about the quality of the glass.

Same issue here, Apple watch serie 5 bought last december is full of scratches. In comparison, my 20 years old swiss watch with real sapphire glass has none...

I will definitely open a claim for quality issue as i am far from satisfied with the scratch resistance.

A lot of you are posting pictures of the aluminum model. Those don’t have sapphire, they have Ion-X Glass. It is not scratch resistant. If it seems to be scratching easier than an older aluminum model that you own/owned, perhaps something has changed, who knows.

To the OP and others who have stainless steel models scratching, are you absolutely sure it isn’t just the oleophobic coating? It scratches easily, but can be polished off. There are lots of posts about it on the internet. I’ve had the same happen to me with a couple, it always rubs off eventually. They should just leave that crap off from the get-go.. it’s pointless to use.