Hello all iwc-friends
Wanted to see if someone else got scratches on their Ceratanium watches?
I got my TopGun Ceratanium in august but have already managed to get some
really bad scratches on the case wich get's the raw material to shine bright.
Thought this material would be more resistant than the Ceramics TopGun but it
looks like the oposit.
Any one else that got the same experience with Ceratanium?
I have experience with the ceramic ref. 3705 and the Ceratanium Hodinkee,
which I have used only short time yet.
I have the following experience with ceramics:
If there are blows or chafing with metal, it is possible that abrasion of the
metal can be seen on the ceramic.
The ceramic has NO scratches, but the application of metal etc.
With an eraser, etc. it is possible to remove those traces again. I have a
similar view of that issure with Ceratanium ?!
Try it, report on it and good luck ......
Hi PJ,
Sorry to hear that mate. Id love to see a pic of how deep the scratch was to
show the raw titanium
underneath. I believed the Ceratanium was the long awaited answer to the DLC
downside and hearing what youve described is a little disheartening.
Regards
That's terrible- and looks more noticeable than a regular scratch on stainless
steel...
Outch that looks terrible.
on the SSIH 2019 i talked to the IWC representative that showed the ceratanium
on the novelties booth.
When i asked him about the possibility to repair deep scratches or impacts on
the case, the answer was that it needs to be recoated. Or the obvious other
thing is to replace the case middle part.
That must have been a real hard hit, since the material is hard like ceramics.
br
Cromagnonman
Hello
Unfortunately my ceratanium watch also as a scratch after 2 months... anyone experience if it can be re coated and at what cost? Will go to the dealer this weekend...
THX
Hello. What did IWC do about the scratches on your watch? I'm close to getting a TG 41 in ceratanium but this thread concerns me! Thanks
Was there any solution to these scratches?
Ouch ouch ouch.
I cannot estimate the cost of re-coating, but it is likely to be an unhappily large number (i.e. not hundreds).
A stainless steel case is easy to scratch, but easy to polish out.
I would guess that a large scratch on a sand-blasted titanium case would also require extensive re-finishing?
Yep- these fancy new materials seem to be more trouble than they are worth. Nice for marketing, not so practical in real life- a common story these days sadly.
Ceratanium does not have a coating, so cannot be re-coated.
"The metallic Ceratanium® hue emerges on the surface of the material while the components are fired in a kiln."
It is the firirng of the material in a kiln that produces this black color. I am not sure that there is an economical way to re-surface and re-fire ceratanium. It may well be less costly to replace the case.
Hello
My watch got fully replaced as they could trace back a production error for the batch fabricated early 2024 (my watch was part of that batch). I also understand that the watch inside and out should be fully black so no scratches should appear. I purchased the watch in the official paris boutique during a holiday, but it was replaced through the local and official dealer in antwerp (belgium) afterwards.
Anyway, I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate the iwc and the local official dealer for their top notch customer service and honesty! You can imagine I was quite concerned by the issue after purchasing this special watch. Fortunately, It was a very smooth and transparant process. Therefore I would recommend buying iwc watches throughout official dealerships if possible.
Extremely happy with my topgun cerratanium watch...
Planning to buy the iwc spitfire 326805 next and wouldn't do it, if the response on my topgun cerratanium issue proved to be negative. Looking forward to visiting the local dealer again.
Hope this answers your questions and offers some guidance for others as well
Thank you very much for the thorough reply. I expected IWC to sort it out for you, so that's reassuring. I got mine this weekend. It's second hand, two years old and the ceratanium is flawless. The colour and matt texture is pretty unique and very pleased with it.
I don't love the strap it comes with. It's good, I just don't really like rubber against my skin. Popped into the IWC boutique to inquire about a ceratanium bracelet. £8-9k! Hmm. Does look good on the Perpetual big pilot but it's a crazy price for non precious metal.
It's leather on the inside, perfect fit
Great to read that it turned out so well for you!
One fact, however, stands to be corrected:
" I also understand that the watch inside and out should be fully black so no scratches should appear."
This is not correct. Ceratanium is a material with a titanium alloy in its core and a black ceramic transformation layer on top. So theoretically, although extremely difficult, it is possible to scratch the black layer and reveal the silver titanium alloy below.
The only material that is black inside and out is black ceramic.
