Women's stainless steel watches are housed in an alloy of steel that contains at least ten percent chromium to give it corrosion resistance. But stainless steel or SS, is anything but stainless free. It is much more like stain resistant, but prolonged exposure to salt, acidic foods and detergents can cause the metal to darken over time, or even rust. SS is highly used in cookware and in sinks and can be very efficient in conducting heat. On the other hand, the cases of women's titanium watches are made of an element, number twenty two on the periodic chart, which is also found on meteors and in moon rocks brought back from the Apollo lunar landings. Titanium has the highest weight to strength ratio of any element and is very white in appearance. It is highly scratch resistant and non-magnetic, and is more difficult to work with than stainless steel.
The young woman had done the homework on Brazil. Knowing that because the area in which the young lady would be working was near the Equator, the temperature would average about ninety degrees most of the year long, and the humidity would hover around ninety five percent most of the time. The woman also knew that a great deal of the time there would be rain in the air. In addition, the woman also discovered that part of the Peace Corp job description would be to work with local citrus farmers to investigate the effects of deforestation on their crops and yearly harvest. Not only is Brazil the largest orange producer in the world, but nectarines, lemons, limes and grapefruits are produced in massive numbers. "Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion." (Ecclesiastes 5:18)
The intrepid young woman prepared to make a purchase of a reasonably priced watch. The lady did not own a watch because of the constant use of a cell phone in college, but since cell phone coverage in that part of the world was less than stellar, the need for a dependable watch would be great. The woman had a budget of about four hundred dollars to purchase a reasonably priced watch that would handle to climate of the country to which the young woman was headed. Would it be one of the many women's stainless steel watches that she had seen or one of the women's titanium watches? Our young lady discovered that in comparing apples to apples, the stainless steel cased timepieces were about the same price as comparable makes in a titanium case. So the woman began listing all the conditions that the watch would be facing when she traveled to Brazil. If there was a lot of work among citrus farmers, there might be an over exposure to the acidic nature of the products they produced.
In addition, the young woman made the assumption that the sweat that would be produced every day would put constant corrosion pressure on the band of the watch, making the presence of salt a factor to consider in the purchase. In the end, with time getting close to her departure, the young woman chose to go with one of the many women's titanium watches that she had looked at during earlier window shopping excursions. With the knowledge she had gained about the pros and cons of stainless steel, the possibility of acidic fruit juices and the constant exposure of the watch to salt the option of choosing one of the many women's stainless steel watches that the woman had looked at earlier was not considered. While the SS watches looked stylish and very appealing, the rather gray appearance of the titanium watches was not important. The woman reasoned that there would be plenty of time upon returning to the States for a more fashion friendly timepiece.
The woman found that an off brand of watch with a titanium case and leather strap could cost as little as ninety dollars at an online site. But there was concern about reliability in such a harsh climate. Since the budget ceiling was four hundred dollars, the woman found it easier to disregard the economy models and consider the more well known watch brands in the titanium considered to be so important. The final decision was to be a watch from a famous Japanese watch maker that offered a two tone titanium case and matching band, quartz movement and analog display for three hundred and twenty five dollars. The young lady felt vindicated when arrival came in Brazil and saw a number of other Peace Corps workers wearing very similar timepieces.