Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

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Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by rosstcorbett »

Hi everybody,

I hope you are all having a great weekend. I have a question regarding which metal is better for a dive watch.

I'm new to the forum so please excuse what I guess is a very newbie question but please bear with me as I am a complete beginner :)

I recently sold my C60 and purchased the C65 Trident Automatic which I love. It's stunning. However, I then recently found out about the new releases due May 1st.

I have just come across a spec sheet of the new watches on another website which includes the C60 Trident Elite 1000 LE which looks very exciting as I am missing the chunkier heavy feel of a C60.

It says it is made of Titanium Grade 2 which sounds great but when I googled it a lot came up about Titanium 2 scratching easier than the 316 stainless steel. Is this true in your experience? Would the 316 stainless steel not be better to use, especially with it being such an expensive watch?

The main reason I am so curious is I will have to sell my rather new and stunning C65 Trident Automatic to purchase it and trying to ensure I have covered all angles :)

Please excuse my very long message. Next time I will try to keep it more to the point :)

Regards,

Ross
Wearing: C60 Trident Pro 300 - Black
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Re: Stainless Steel V Aluminium Grade 2

Post by H0rati0 »

All things being equal (which they are not because both SS and Titanium can be finished/processed in many different ways) the advantage of Titanium over SS is that too a point, scratches "heal" because raw Titanium oxidises over quickly.

The other advantage (depending) is that Titanium is about half the weight of SS so horses for courses.

I would not be put off by Titanium per se, it all depends on the watch itself.
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by Chris375 »

Ross,

Also depending on how recently you purchased your C65 and its condition, do not forget the 60/60 guarantee which CWL offer.

Cheers,
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Re: Stainless Steel V Aluminium Grade 2

Post by rosstcorbett »

H0rati0 wrote: Sun Apr 28, 2019 7:05 pm All things being equal (which they are not because both SS and Titanium can be finished/processed in many different ways) the advantage of Titanium over SS is that too a point, scratches "heal" because raw Titanium oxidises over quickly.

The other advantage (depending) is that Titanium is about half the weight of SS so horses for courses.

I would not be put off by Titanium per se, it all depends on the watch itself.
Thank you :)
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by rosstcorbett »

Chris375 wrote: Sun Apr 28, 2019 7:27 pm Ross,

Also depending on how recently you purchased your C65 and its condition, do not forget the 60/60 guarantee which CWL offer.

Cheers,
Chris
Hi Chris,

I thought about that. The watch is perfect but the leather strap already shows plenty of wear even though I it hasn't been worn much so I'm assuming they won't accept it back.

Ross
Wearing: C60 Trident Pro 300 - Black
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by jtc »

My Pelagos has taken numerous knocks, but as its a matt titanium finish you don't really see the swirls etc unless you closely look for them. On my stainless steel watches any marks, in both brushed and polished surfaces, are much more obvious.
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Ross, you are correct. Watches returned under 60:60 must be in "unworn" condition.
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by McDaWisel »

I have done lots of research into this and own a couple of titanium watches. While I do dive, I chose the titanium models not because I would wear them diving, but because of a nickel allergy. I have a 100 euro dive computer that does that job infinitely better than a mechanical watch. :-) Grade 2 and Grade 5 are both used for watches.

Steel is very prone to corroding in water, specially in salty sea water. That’s why watch makers use stainless steel like 316L which is an alloy of steel and with a bunch of other materials like nickel and chromium. This makes it more resistant to corrosion (rusting) but not immune. Prolonged exposure to sea water will damage the watch over time. That’s why you see a lot of the serious diving watches not use Stainless Steel, but titanium.

Grade 2 Titanium is pure titanium and is not an alloy.
Positives: super light - I think about 50% lighter than SS. A huge positive for diving: completely immune to corrosion even in salty sea water. It also has the “self healing” properties mentioned above, so scratches become less visible, but the finish will not “heal” itself. So while it might not look scratched, the damaged area won’t look sand blasted or polished either. Here an example:

Image

Negatives: definitely softer than Stainless Steel and scratches easier. Some people don’t like the “lightness”. You mentioned you missed the chunkier feel. It probably won’t have that chunky feel. The watches I have look chunky but they disappear on the wrist.

Grade 5 Titanium is an alloy. I haven’t don’t lots of research on this. I know it’s supposed to be harder than stainless steel, while also being a lot lighter. But I am not sure about it’s corrosion resistance.

Next part is a semi-educated guess: I think good quality stainless steel should be able to cope with hobby diving for many years. Using grade 2 Titanium for a diving watch that is used by a recreational scuba diver is about as useful as having 1000m water resistance. It’s cool to have, but absolute overkill when diving to 15m to see a reef a short swim from the beach.

Hope that helps!
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

^^^Great post - thank you!
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by rosstcorbett »

McDaWisel wrote: Sun Apr 28, 2019 8:23 pm I have done lots of research into this and own a couple of titanium watches. While I do dive, I chose the titanium models not because I would wear them diving, but because of a nickel allergy. I have a 100 euro dive computer that does that job infinitely better than a mechanical watch. :-) Grade 2 and Grade 5 are both used for watches.

Steel is very prone to corroding in water, specially in salty sea water. That’s why watch makers use stainless steel like 316L which is an alloy of steel and with a bunch of other materials like nickel and chromium. This makes it more resistant to corrosion (rusting) but not immune. Prolonged exposure to sea water will damage the watch over time. That’s why you see a lot of the serious diving watches not use Stainless Steel, but titanium.

Grade 2 Titanium is pure titanium and is not an alloy.
Positives: super light - I think about 50% lighter than SS. A huge positive for diving: completely immune to corrosion even in salty sea water. It also has the “self healing” properties mentioned above, so scratches become less visible, but the finish will not “heal” itself. So while it might not look scratched, the damaged area won’t look sand blasted or polished either. Here an example:

Image

Negatives: definitely softer than Stainless Steel and scratches easier. Some people don’t like the “lightness”. You mentioned you missed the chunkier feel. It probably won’t have that chunky feel. The watches I have look chunky but they disappear on the wrist.

Grade 5 Titanium is an alloy. I haven’t don’t lots of research on this. I know it’s supposed to be harder than stainless steel, while also being a lot lighter. But I am not sure about it’s corrosion resistance.

Next part is a semi-educated guess: I think good quality stainless steel should be able to cope with hobby diving for many years. Using grade 2 Titanium for a diving watch that is used by a recreational scuba diver is about as useful as having 1000m water resistance. It’s cool to have, but absolute overkill when diving to 15m to see a reef a short swim from the beach.

Hope that helps!
Thank you so much. That is incredibly detailed and has certainly helped me understand.

I plan on using my watches in the sea, snorkelling and maybe the very occasional shallow dive and you have certainly put my mind to rest. I think just for now, I will stick with my C65 Trident Automatic and get a rubber strap for it.

Thank you again.
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by rosstcorbett »

P.S How much do you bet that will change though when I see the new releases!? :) :)
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by McDaWisel »

You're very welcome.
I know a few people that wear their steel Rolexes and Omegas in the sea regularly. One thing most of them do is rinse it under fresh cold water when they get back home (or to the beach bar :-)) Turn the bezel a few times under the cold water to get all the sand and salty water out. I am sure it will be fine.
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by rosstcorbett »

McDaWisel wrote: Sun Apr 28, 2019 9:33 pm You're very welcome.
I know a few people that wear their steel Rolexes and Omegas in the sea regularly. One thing most of them do is rinse it under fresh cold water when they get back home (or to the beach bar :-)) Turn the bezel a few times under the cold water to get all the sand and salty water out. I am sure it will be fine.
So just to confirm :), I should wear a rubber strap and even though the C65 Trident Automatic is not as deep going as the others, it will be fine for sea swimming, snorkelling and shallow dives?

You can tell this has been worrying me :)

Thanks again.

Ross
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by McDaWisel »

The most likely way you will damage your watch in water is not having the crown secured. Make sure the crown is pushed in / screwed down properly. I think the C65 is push down drown only, not a screw down, just make sure it doesn't open while in the water.

Leather can't take the water. Rubber bracelet and steel bracelets are fine. Not sure about the canvas / webbing stuff CW make.
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Re: Stainless Steel V Titanium Grade 2

Post by watchaholic »

That's a great writeup. I have tried on and wondered about titanium many times, but kinda steered away largely because of the price. Also, and this is the weird part, I missed the weight of the steel. They always feel too light for their size, and thus, somewhere in my misinformed subconscious, fragile. Something I'm sure I could become accustomed to with time.
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