Ceramic or tungsten. Both materials tend to be very reflective and I tend to avoid that, however if you do not mind the whole bling factor, then either one is fine.

 

Ceramic can be brittle though - stories abound of people giving ceramic bracelets an accidental thump against a hard object and having links shatter.

 

Ceramic is an excellent material for being nearly impervious to scratches, but I am not into a very shiny, glossy surface finish, or the light weight, as I like a watch with a good weight to it.

The Tegiment technology by Sinn is OUTSTANDING! They offer tegimenting on both the silver, raw submarine steel, as well as the PVD matte black coated finishes. I own a Sinn U2 EZM with the tegimented-PVD black coating and it is nothing short of freakish how impervious to scratches it is. Much more so than any other "regular" steel PVD watch I've seen. The watch is about 4 years old, gets frequent use, and literally looks identical to the day I bought it. For a watch with a matte black coating on it, I am absolutely both amazed and impressed. I'd imagine the plain silver finish would be even more indestructible. I cannot say enough good things about Sinn's tegimenting process.

Just as a frame of reference, standard stainless watch cases have a hardness of around 220 Vickers. Sinn's tegimenting process (applied to their more robust submarine steel) ends up creating a surface hardness of approximately 1200 Vickers. Additionally, Sinn's black PVD coating is composed of TiAICN (titanium aluminum carbon nitride), which achieves a surface hardness of around 2000 Vickers! You want a matte black watch that will pretty much NEVER show surface scratches? Get one of the Sinn tegimented watches.

 

Sapphire and ceramics. The OP is asking for scratch resistance, not shatter resistance...

 

We can read. Did the OP state that we should specifically NOT mention any of the disbenefits of a substance or coating ?

 

There's also cobalt chromium (Lum Tec) and Damasko has their own proprietary steel (nice blasted finish) but neither have a bracelet. Omega's new dark side of the moon chronograph is brushed ceramic., also no bracelet AFAIK.

 

In my experience, Sinn, tegimented.

 

^^Yea, no comparison in my opinion.

 

Damasko's case is far more durable with respect to scratch resistance. No comparison. I see Sinns with serious desk diving scuffs on the bracelet all the time. And yes I mean the tegimented ones. Damasko can be beaten down hard and show nothing. Of course, Damasko has no bracelet so that sucks.

 

Tegimented (kolsterized) and ice-hardened cases are out seeing your budget, even if buying 2nd hand. Ceramic, Rado at least, is out as well because it is shiny.

 

Every now and then you can find a ceramic watch with matte finish. There's also DLC coated steel.

 

probably the stuff this is made of:

 

probably the stuff this is made of:

View attachment 1131818

Adamantium is indestructible but actually scratches very easily.

 

I know one watchmaker (Swiss i think) makes (or did make a limited series) of a watch which case was entirely made out of sapphire crystal. That should aso be super scratch resistant.

 

Are you talking about the Richard Mille RM56? It's a limited edition of 5 at the cool sum of $1.65 million a piece.

 

Rado Sintra Matt- matt ceramic case and bracelet.
Non-glossy: As its matt, its not shiny or blingy. it's real slim and light, therefore less risk of it getting chipped.
It has been in my possession for a few years and it is still looking as good as new, no scratches or cracks.
Price: I bought mine at a sale for less than 1k at the duty free here in Bangkok.

Sinn U1 is another great choice, but do take note that Tegimented Steel is not as scratch resistant as ceramic. if u want a dive watch, it's the best choice. But you will have to pay a lot more than 1k for it.

 

Another pic.

 

Get the titanium. It hides its scratches well. I've had one for almost 10 years and you wouldn't look at it and think it's scratched to hell

 

However, I am worried because titanium is said to be softer than stainless steel.

Watches were typically made from commercially pure (grade 2) titanium which scratches easier than stainless steel.

However grade 5 titanium is often used now and it is around twice as hard as steel. Grade 5 is an alloy with about 95% titanium so you still get the benefit of light weight. Furthermore it s typically not anodized so there is no surface layer than when scratched off shows a different colour underneath. Great material for a watch in my opinion.

 

Enjoy your titanium watch and get a scotch brite pad. I little piece of that will make most scratches on a brushed surface disappear quite easliy.

 

Rather than find the perfect wonder material, you could do as Mark said and just learn to buff out scratches with some sort of abrasive. I, too, tend to be rough on things like watches and I've had to learn to take them off and try to be careful. For times when abuse is unavoidable, Casio created the G Shock.

 

I'm pretty sure that Tissot use grade 2 Ti whereas Omega use the tougher grade 5. Brushed Ti hides any scratches much better than polished does so if the bracelet has any polished bit on it stay away - mine looks like the dog's had it.

 

Ceramic can be matte as shown on the two watches,but both are beyond your budget..

Been wearing DLC'd Ti watch for a week,I think it is quite durable too,but I do baby this watch because it's new...

 

Keep in mind that the more scratch-resistant a material is, the harder it is to repair any scratches that do happen. Anything but a deep gouge can be polished out of steel at your next servicing; a scratch in ceramic is pretty much there forever.

 

Matte black ceramic case and bracelet with sapphire crystal, well under your price requirement:

Sottomarino

 

Get a used Damasko and beat the hell out of it.

 

Thx to everyone for the replies and info!

I am not necessarily looking for a black colored watch, sorry for the confusion. I meant to say that I am looking for a brushed metal look, I prefer something that is primarily grey in tone. Unfortunately a lot of this stuff (tungsten, etc) seem to be out of my price range, but I haven't given up on my search.

Problem is that I'm not exactly sure how to efficiently search for this sort of stuff online... I just did an Amazon search for ceramic watches and found nothing really appealing. I also searched worldofwatches with the 'ceramic' filter on and I didn't see anything good. Am I doin it wrong?? What sites should I be searching?

Also having trouble searching for DLC coating. Any suggestions to brands that do this within the sub-$1k range (or even sub-$500) ?

 

Not likely going to happen within budget. I'd get a brushed stainless watch and a scotch brite pad and be good for ten years or so before it needs professional attention.

 

You can only use a scotch brite pad if the pad is the same "grit" as your watch finish. If it is different then using a scotch pad will make the area look totally different and worse. And of course you can't use a scotch brite pad on a polished watch.

 

Mesh is not chemically resistant to scratching like ceramics but makes it impossible to see them.