I believe Apple tried to get sapphire for phones screens at some point, but their supplier folded.
The difference between my watch (which was 4 years old at the time) and a colleagues almost brand new apple watch (without the sapphire) was really telling, is his was lightly scratched on the edges despite him being quite careful, and I was exceedingly reckless with mine as I considered it old- yet there was not a single defect.
That was a major reason for me to upgrade to the LTE of the next version of apple watch that I bought.
Long story short, it is more scratch resistant but also more prone to break. So be careful.
I suspect the edges are more at risk than the face, as I've struck the face very hard against the edge of a scaffolding pole and there was no damage - which, actually shocked me a lot based on the force.
Tiny replacable airbags, on the corners. Preferably it should somehow detect the elasticity of the surface its falling to or going to hit.
But there are other devices with better sapphire that actually live up to the hype.
I have now had watches for 10 years without issue and my phone displays seem to scratch.
I’m not doubting you’re correct, I never boight it for this reason, it was just an interesting retrospective observation. Clearly its working for me, and I’m not sure I have anything with gorilla glass.
Unless the Pixel 7 has it.
EDIT: My Pixel 7 does have gorilla glass indeed and it has two scratches on the display despite being extremely rarely used. (its my work phone and sits on my desk mostly)