Comments:
I see Cartier just introduced the Santos in titanium, nice but
looks like it is over $11,000..Never had a titanium watch, is it really that
much more expensive? I know it is lighter and stronger than steel, but that
is where my knowledge (or lack of comes into play)) Interested in hearing
some opinions on titanium watches.
I owned a titanium Armin Strom that was quite large but wore very well because of its lightweight
Weight and durability are the main advantages of titanium, especially on a larger watch head or a bracelet model. My ROO 44 has titanium instead of steel for many components and compliments the carbon and ceramic lightness. I came very close to picking up a quartz GS GMT on bracelet , which wore extremely well for a 40mm, much lighter than my Rolex GMTs. Grade 5 titanium can be polished to a tremendous lustre, and it can be equally well brushed as steel. The colour is greyer, which has its appeal but is a matter of taste. The Cartier you showed caught my eye , certainly the price is higher, as most titanium are due to manufacturing demands, I gather. I’d go for the titanium Santos over the steel, for the novelty, durability and weight.
Love titanium, and it seems to be the direction many timepiece companies have been going for 'premium' level above stainless steel. Even Rolex(!).
Very durable, love the lightness, and am sure we'll be seeing more if them.
SJX wrote a good article featuring titanium.
You have to read in pretty far before they get to the discussion about Grade 2 Titanium but the whole article is interesting.
Long story short untreated titanium is not a very hard metal.
Interesting
The Cartier is grade 5. Wonder where that falls. Usually ti is not scratch resistant in my observation
Here's an AI search answer...
...which is kind of useless as it is contradictory, first saying steel is more scratch resistant in the copy, but less in the chart. Either way I would love to see this without a date...
I think there’s confusion of terminology 🤔
I believe the ti5 is harder to scratch but scuffs and swirls easier. If that makes sense 🤷♂️
Perhaps. But this is twice in one day when AI gave me wrong, confusing, or misleading info...
I thought this was a surprisingly rudimentary article from SJX and it sounded like from their podcast its just a book report from a Citizen visit. Grade 2 - Pureish - isn't that hard but neither is 24k gold or pure platinum, it's all about the alloy.
Grade 5 titanium which is the other common watch making alloy, which SJX didn't bother mentioning, is much harder than typical 904/316 stainless. Anything will scratch or catch swirls but compared to 904/316 scratches will be much shallower and the material is much less likely to dent or chip. It's a huge difference in real world wearing. SJX should have at least acknowledged Grade 5 since it is also very common and ideally considered mentioning other less common titanium alloys and hardening treatments. Sinn used to do a tegimented grade 5, crazy durable, and there have been other alloys used by IWC and JLC that were harder than grade 5 or lighter than grade 2.
Yes. It was primarily an article about Citizen.
I don't think it was meant to be a treatise on titanium.
I love polished titanium
I don’t mind the grey looking bead blasted stuff on tool watches but have a preference for polished TI that looks like SS. IE de Bethune
The most noticeable properties
Are lighter weight and lower thermal conductivity, meaning titanium feels less cold/hot against your skin when you put it on.
In my experience, titanium scratches more easily than steel. There are lots of micro brands offering Ti cases and bracelets at very competitive prices with decent finishing, I personally don't buy the more expensive to machine excuse. Ti can be polished to shine like steel but most of them tend to come as brushed or bead-blasted which is not for everybody.
Of all the properties I enjoy the lightness the most.
Unless you want something heavy on your wrist, titanium is great.
It's light, comfortable, and has some superior qualities to SS. Some makers do things with alloys or treatments that may increase hardness and scratch resistance, but I think Grade V is kind of the "316L" of the titanium watch application world. I am skeptical over any significant cost difference between steel or titanium for the same watch.
This is a nice watch!
I would have probably bought one if it had a chronometer certification. I believe as a basic sports watch it lags behind comparable Rolex and Omega offerings without chronometer certified precision.
Huge fan of titanium personally 👌🏻👍🏻
While the material is heavier (specific weight) it is so much stronger that a lot less of it is needed than steel, making titanium watches lighter and stronger than steel ones. It is also hypoallergenic, if that is a concern.
As said, very much in favor of it, as for the price, it has little to do with cost. Historically titanium was a tad more expensive to work on (made a difference when you made a submarine, like the Soviet Alfa class (nicknamed zolotaya riba (golden fish, as the combination of titanium hull and liquid metal cooled reactor made it excessively expensive)) but nowadays the actual difference in cost is probably on the order of 10-15 dollars, I recon. But that has long stopped coming into consideration for luxury brands 😉
I tried this model on, alongside the steel version.
I was almost set on a steel Santos when Cartier announced the Titanium. I had to see it in real life before making any decision!
While I was originally all in on the Titanium version, my thoughts are slowly shifting back to the steel.
The bead blasted titanium is probably a great finish that, together with the material itself, will prevent from the unavoidable hairlines on the polished steel bezel. I hated those hairlines on my steel watches (Rolex OP, Nautilus...) but I've learned to live with them as they seem to appear even if you wear your watch under the softest cashmere sweater. When it comes to "real" scratches, then it will certainly be a different story: my experience owning a Tudor FXD in brushed titanium is that the material will scratch. One can argue about the material hardness of steel VS. titanium but at the end of the day, both metals WILL scratch. With a bead blasted finish it will show even more, and where a polished steel bezel is easy to re-polish, refurbishing a bead-blasted watch with polished edges will be way more complicated.
While I don't think there is a bad choice here, that reason above (plus, in all honesty, the cost delta) makes me lean back toward the steel version.
Normally I'm not a big fan of Santos but the one in brushed Titanium is really good...
I suggest you try it out and not go by size on papers, currently there is only one case size that is a tad big given it is on a bracelet.
I'm sure, they'll do a mid-size in Titanium soon with-out a date window...personally I think it is worth the wait.
Best,
mahesh.,
One of the things I appreciate
most besides being light weight is the muted color (gray like) which flies under the radar in my opinion.
For me it would be a financial decision.
The titanium Santos is $11,500. An all steel Santos is $8650, a steel tank on bracelet is
$5900. For $14,550 a person could have 2 watches. At the end of the day I don't think
the weight difference between the steel and titanium versions is going to wear anyone out
by wearing the steel Santos all day. I really would like to have a tank, but after looking a bit
closer at the Santos I could be swayed to get the steel model on a strap. Time will tell.
When the watch has a larger case size, titanium makes it effortless throughout the day.
However, if you like the feeling (heft) of steel like I do, titanium lacks a certain x-factor. Also, I did get the opportunity to check out this new Santos Ti model in person over the weekend and was very underwhelmed. It's a diamond/bead-blasted watch so it looked dull and the darker coloring of Ti didn't help the cause. I like wearing Cartiers for a bit of understated shine. There are plenty of other options for a very muted sports watch out there that could also withstand more rigor.