Ion Strengthened Glass?

What's the deal with this ion strengthened glass? How does it compare to sapphire glass? Also, is this the same as the ion-x glass that makes up the Apple Sport Watch screen? I'm confused why the sport watch is considered more durable, but isn't made with the sapphire glass. I get that the sapphire glass probably adds weight, but that seems necessary on a watch that's supposedly the most durable.

Okay, so I've been reading around and I think I've answered my own question.
Here's my findings for anyone else who cares.

So like probably a ton of other Apple fanatics, we've been told that this sapphire glass is the best thing since sliced bread, and that's what we want on our phones. Right? I think so? Okay, well not exactly.

Sapphire glass is extremely scratch resistant, but not the best when it comes to drops.
That's why so many watch manufactures use sapphire glass because you don't generally drop watches.
I'm also assuming that's why Apple decided to use this glass for 2 of their 3 watches. Makes sense now.

Ok now why are they calling it ion strengthened glass? Well, it's rumored that Apple is planning on switching from the gorilla glass that they currently use for their iPhone screens to sapphire glass. Rumored. So it's not some new type of special glass, ion strengthening is the process that's used to create gorilla glass. It's still the same glass, but they're giving it a more generic name to distance themselves from Corning that makes gorilla glass. Supposedly.

While people, like myself, may be "outraged" that Apple didn't switch to sapphire glass, now that I fully understand the situation I'm content with the gorilla glass on the new iPhone 6 and 6 plus.... for now.

There are lots of sapphire glass vs. Gorilla glass reviews on the internet. And like you mentioned…one big problem with sapphire glass is it's very brittle. Thus much higher likelihood of a crack if the product is dropped…or bumped fairly hard.

Here's just one review of many:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/sapphire-vs-gorilla-glass/#!bShOzK

- Nick

Changeable

Hi Ftor,

Great question, for me the maximum protection is always necessary for watches. Bumps and scrapes are going to happen.

Say if we wanted to use the Apple Watch primarily for Sport, surely we should just buy a sapphire crystal display model and then just change the straps to the sports design? This would surely be better than buying the sports watch which would be inferior casing wise?

I imagine this is possible due to the interchangeable straps, only the watch would be slightly heavier?

Thoughts?