The forged carbon material was discontinued by AP in favor of ceramic given the inconsistency in waterproof ability and also the softness of the edges. The FC edges tend to deform and chip after some time and the watch looks chewed up. Just look at the FC GPs on Chrono24. Lots of evidence. This was also why some FC GP have the FC bezels replaced with ceramic ones.
Ceramic is the superior material when it comes to waterproof capability, hardness, scratch resistance and resilience. This is also reflected in the price of the ceramic/partial ceramic models which are always priced higher than the FC and steel/titanium models but of course below the gold models. Ceramic is however prone to cracking once you drop it or subject it to sharp impacts. I’ve seen this happen on a 26400 panda bezel belonging to a friend after he hit the watch on a wall accidentally. So it’s not bulletproof too.
The FC diver is lighter and of course the marbling is beautiful to look at. I personally prefer the look of FC cases but will never buy one again given my negative experiences with my gen FC diver and GP in the past. I’ll go for the ceramic cases/bezel models for the scratch and marring resistance it affords.
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