: Do you have any information on the grade of SS
: that IS actually used in Omega watches?? The
: difference in weight between an SS Seamaster
: and a titanium one is literally enough to
: feel with your bare hands, and in a
: comparison of stength to weight ratio
: titanium is clearly better. They didn't make
: the SR-71 out of SS, did they?? The highest
: grade racing blocks on sailboats are also
: titanium rather than SS. I also think that
: the durability of titanium is reflected in
: the fact that it's a bitch to machine and
: work with, and just the intransigence of the
: metal itself makes it prohibitive for anyone
: to come out with fake watches made out of
: titanium.
Materials selection usually involves a combination of properties and may not be what it first appears. The SR71 requires high stiffness to weight and creep resistance at high wing surface temperatures at supersonic speeds. The high temperature is why titanium is used instead of aluminum. Stainless is too heavy to be an airframe material. Is that bad in a watch or is it more like gold? Its not clear to me how I can enjoy stiffness/weight and creep resistance at room temperature on my wrist.
Titanium is hard to machine because it has low thermal conductivity which causes the tool to weld to the work piece. That's not durability, just inconvenience.
Fake watches aren't titanium because they'll use something cheaper. What does that show about titanium properties? Its expensive because its very reactive and therefore difficult to produce. What does that say about wonderful properties?
No question that titanium has great corrosion resistance for marine applications. Extending that use to knives is questionable. How can something that scratches easily be hard and hold an edge?
If you like your ti watch, that's great. I may get one myself. I don't agree with inferring some sort of global wonderfulness based on use in a particular area. Like the machining example, there are other issues involved.
