3 ms·

I think pretty much all watches have some sort of raised dial/edge in order to protect the glass. This one is not as small as some, but compared to the original

by apparent 10mo ago

I think pretty much all watches have some sort of raised dial/edge in order to protect the glass. This one is not as small as some, but compared to the original round pebble, this is much, much smaller.

jerlam 10mo ago
Except, of course, the most popular smartwatch (Apple Watch) which extends the glass above the case, giving it zero protection against impacts from the front.
- walletdrainer 10mo ago
  FWIW the same is true of the Rolex Daytona and Patek Philippe Nautilus. There’s probably an actual reason for why this is done. On a mechanical watch I’d often prefer for the crystal to be damaged rather than the case, though I’m not sure that the same logic works for Apple Watches.
  - aidenn0 10mo ago
    Does one ever polish a crystal? Having it raised would make that much easier (also if one does, tell me who can do it to mine, my crystal is scratched to the point where I can't read my watch if the main lighting is behind me).
    - jerlam 10mo ago
      Having a soft but easily polishable crystal made of acrylic was a feature of old military watches. The softer crystal was more easily scratched, but fixable; and less prone to shattering, which would completely break the watch.
    - walletdrainer 10mo ago
      It might be possible, but I’m quite sure nobody does it with newer crystals. The replacement costs just aren’t high enough to justify the effort Also, they just don’t really scratch.
      - aidenn0 10mo ago
        > Also, they just don’t really scratch. Do I need to take a photo of my crystal? Maybe mineral crystals don't scratch but glass ones certainly do.
        walletdrainer 10mo ago
        Sure, but I was referring to new high-end watches which mostly use sapphire crystals. If you have a glass crystal, you can easily polish that at home. There’s a polywatch polishing paste you should look at.
    - deleted 10mo ago
      [deleted]
walletdrainer 10mo ago
All the (fancy, mechanical) watches I had within reach seem to actually have the crystal slightly protruding out of the case.
- apparent 10mo ago
  I don't have any fancy watches in reach, but was just talking about watches in general. I think it makes sense to compare $200 Pebbles to similarly-priced watches (smart and otherwise) in this regard. I can imagine that diamond-encrusted or otherwise dearly-priced watches differ in terms of use case and design tradeoffs.
  - ramses0 10mo ago
    I'm very minorly into watches and $200 is very "mid/base" for watches. My most expensive watch is a Fenix7 (used) @ $300. Then ~$150 for a "Svalbard" single hand automatic (winding) watch, and a smattering of "$50-80, used off eBay" watches. I had two (used) pebble watches back in the day, pre-ordered the PT2 before they went bankrupt, and have preordered the "new" PT2 (at ~$200 price range). Freaking Timex Expedition is costing $60-80 on sale nowadays. No smart stuff, just "chunky Casio vibes" and it's $80. Timex "Transcend" is a fun one in the $100 price range. Apple Watch SE is $250, and all the re-pebbles are $200 price range? Color me impressed! I hate to say that Pebble Round 2 is "almost an impulse buy" (prior to Time2 shipping), but there are occasions (eg: last night) where my Garmin was out of battery, I went to a friends house, so I pulled out my slightly fancier round-dial analog watch. The fact that pebble is hitting $200 price points is actually an incredible (and hopefully sustainable!) value for what they offer!
    - apparent 10mo ago
      > Apple Watch SE is $250, and all the re-pebbles are $200 price range? Color me impressed! I have wondered why Eric didn't price them higher, and I think it comes down to wanting to make sure there is sufficient demand to justify production runs, and staving off competition that could front-run him and use his open source software too. I am genuinely curious to see what competition emerges, and how long it takes to appear.

jerlam 10mo ago

Except, of course, the most popular smartwatch (Apple Watch) which extends the glass above the case, giving it zero protection against impacts from the front.

walletdrainer 10mo ago
FWIW the same is true of the Rolex Daytona and Patek Philippe Nautilus. There’s probably an actual reason for why this is done. On a mechanical watch I’d often prefer for the crystal to be damaged rather than the case, though I’m not sure that the same logic works for Apple Watches.
- aidenn0 10mo ago
  Does one ever polish a crystal? Having it raised would make that much easier (also if one does, tell me who can do it to mine, my crystal is scratched to the point where I can't read my watch if the main lighting is behind me).
  - jerlam 10mo ago
    Having a soft but easily polishable crystal made of acrylic was a feature of old military watches. The softer crystal was more easily scratched, but fixable; and less prone to shattering, which would completely break the watch.
  - walletdrainer 10mo ago
    It might be possible, but I’m quite sure nobody does it with newer crystals. The replacement costs just aren’t high enough to justify the effort Also, they just don’t really scratch.
    - aidenn0 10mo ago
      > Also, they just don’t really scratch. Do I need to take a photo of my crystal? Maybe mineral crystals don't scratch but glass ones certainly do.
      - walletdrainer 10mo ago
        Sure, but I was referring to new high-end watches which mostly use sapphire crystals. If you have a glass crystal, you can easily polish that at home. There’s a polywatch polishing paste you should look at.
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]

walletdrainer 10mo ago

All the (fancy, mechanical) watches I had within reach seem to actually have the crystal slightly protruding out of the case.

apparent 10mo ago
I don't have any fancy watches in reach, but was just talking about watches in general. I think it makes sense to compare $200 Pebbles to similarly-priced watches (smart and otherwise) in this regard. I can imagine that diamond-encrusted or otherwise dearly-priced watches differ in terms of use case and design tradeoffs.
- ramses0 10mo ago
  I'm very minorly into watches and $200 is very "mid/base" for watches. My most expensive watch is a Fenix7 (used) @ $300. Then ~$150 for a "Svalbard" single hand automatic (winding) watch, and a smattering of "$50-80, used off eBay" watches. I had two (used) pebble watches back in the day, pre-ordered the PT2 before they went bankrupt, and have preordered the "new" PT2 (at ~$200 price range). Freaking Timex Expedition is costing $60-80 on sale nowadays. No smart stuff, just "chunky Casio vibes" and it's $80. Timex "Transcend" is a fun one in the $100 price range. Apple Watch SE is $250, and all the re-pebbles are $200 price range? Color me impressed! I hate to say that Pebble Round 2 is "almost an impulse buy" (prior to Time2 shipping), but there are occasions (eg: last night) where my Garmin was out of battery, I went to a friends house, so I pulled out my slightly fancier round-dial analog watch. The fact that pebble is hitting $200 price points is actually an incredible (and hopefully sustainable!) value for what they offer!
  - apparent 10mo ago
    > Apple Watch SE is $250, and all the re-pebbles are $200 price range? Color me impressed! I have wondered why Eric didn't price them higher, and I think it comes down to wanting to make sure there is sufficient demand to justify production runs, and staving off competition that could front-run him and use his open source software too. I am genuinely curious to see what competition emerges, and how long it takes to appear.