How durable is the Apple Watch Series 3?

The Apple Watch came with a fixed number of watchfaces. There is no third party watchface support. So, getting the Nike+ is a better bang for your buck as you get additional 2 watchfaces and I must admit that the Nike+ watchface is one of my favourites!

I recently bought a Apple Watch Series 3, Nike+ edition and I am pretty pleased with it. While the battery is not as long lasting as my Pebble watch (5 day vs 2 days for the Apple), the brightness of the OLED screen, the heart-beat sensor, the size and how well it works with the rest of Apple devices (Mac, iPhone, Airpods) made this a must-have if you are heavily into the Apple gated garden. One thing I was extremely worried about is how durable is the aluminium body? I have seen MacBook Air or iPads get dented over a drop. Imagine a watch on your hand which is super exposed to hitting doors, tables, walls .. and having a dented aluminium watch body is glaringly ugly on the wrist.

Well, it seems I might not have to worry so much because it is pretty durable:
From iMore:

First, Apple has chosen to use a harder aluminum alloy — 7000 series. While the standard 6000 series aluminum is plenty strong for a watch, 7000 series aluminum offers roughly double the hardness and twice the tensile strength, approaching figures typically seen in mild steel. This means the anodized surface will have a much harder underlying structure to resist scratches and dents.

More importantly, Apple has deployed some advanced anodizing technologies. Anodizing is an electrochemical process that "grows" a uniform layer of aluminum oxide across the surface of the part, and there are a number of different methods for making this happen. In anodizing, the raw aluminum part is placed on a metal rack and (after a quick acid bath to clean the surface), is dipped into a tank of sulfuric acid. While in this tank, a positive electrical current is passed through the metal rack and the anodizing parts, while the negative end of the circuit is located in a metal plate inside the tank. This current causes oxygen molecules in the sulfuric acid to bond to the outer layer of the aluminum, creating a skin of aluminum oxide - a ceramic material that is far harder than the underlying aluminum.

Sounds pretty convincing, isn't it? How about impressions from other people? Read this thread from QuarterToThree:

I have a Sport series 0 I got day one 3 years ago. Couple of minor dings and I wear it every day.

or

My Sport 0 had no scratches on glass or body of every day use for 2 years. 

or

If you are worried about durability of the Watch, don’t be.

finally, one person's view of the Series 3:

For my most recent purchase I went with an aluminum Nike edition Gen 3, just because didn’t want to invest too much since I wasn’t sure I’d use it any more than my old one, and despite being concerned about durability. I needn’t have been concerned in either case; I use it a lot more than my first Apple Watch, and it’s currently in perfect condition after a few months.

And if you think about it, there was no scratch-gate outcry associated with Apple Watch. I think it should be safe and ok! Let me know if you have heard otherwise.

Additional photos and captions below:

The Nike+ comes in a black box. It's very classy!

I was surprised to see that Apple include a shorter writsband in case our hands are smaller. Very thoughtful of them. I am using the shorter one as my wrist are not big.

The Apple Watch Series 3 Nike+ edition has a nice Nike+ logo etched behind it.
Very small, subtle, not very loud.
The back says Apple Watch. Series 3. Nike+. 42mm.
Aluminium Case. Ion-X Glass.
Composite Back. GPS. WR-50M.

And I'd really recommend browsing this article below:
The best Apple Watch face and complication combos

So we've put together our own watch face and complication combinations grouped by activity. Going flying? We've got you covered. Want the perfect face for your morning commute? We know just the thing. Love the hell out of Siri? Here ya go. 

There are what feels like hundreds of more combinations out there, and the ones you'll find below are just some examples of mixing and matching apps and designs.