# Acrylic Vs Sapphire Crystal



## heartyparty (Nov 12, 2006)

Hi folks,

Again - rookie question:

What is the difference between Saphire crystal, mineral crystal and acrylic?

I understand that sapphire is the hardest and most scratch resistant, but how does acrylic compare? Is it as hard but less scratch resistant, or is it lesss hard and just as scratch resistant.

I have a Nixon Insider which has taken a good few hard knocks to its mineral crystal face with no scratches to show and i'm looking at basic Sinn 103 with acrylic - just want to se if the acrylic will be a good choice.

Cheers,

heartyparty


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

OK Sapphire is the hardest and most scratch resistant however it can, if dropped or subjected to a hard knock, shatter into tiny pieces which can then get in the watch mechanism and f**k it up big time









Also sapphire can suffer from strange reflections and is comparitively expensive to replace.

Acrylic is a lot softer and therefore easier to scratch, however it is possible to polish a lot of them out with products such as Polywatch, as sold by Roy see here... Tools

Also acrylic has a nicer feel to it then either mineral or sapphire IMO and is a lot cheaper to replace then either of them.

Mineral is harder then acrylic but isn`t as hard and therefore scratch resistant as sapphire it is more prone to scratches then sapphire and while it is possible to remove scratches it is a lot more difficult to do then acrylic so not really viable, it also can suffer from strange reflections and odd distortion effects.


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## unlcky alf (Nov 19, 2006)

Acrylic scratches very easily, however, all but the deepest scratches polish out with relative ease. Mineral crystal is more difficult to scratch but very hard to polish, I'm told that it is possible but I've never tried. Sapphire crystal is very difficult to scratch accidentaly but once it is scratched you're pretty much stuck with it. I don't know of anyone whos polished out scratches on sapphire but maybe someone here has tried and succeeded?

For a beater watch I prefer acrylic because I can get rid of most scratches, if it's a cheapo then mineral crystal is OK as well, if it gets badly scratched just throw it away (sacrilige)or keep for spares. It will probably be cheaper on something like a Seiko 5 to replace the watch than it would be to get a new crystal fitted. PG tips posted a tutorial on polishing acrylic crystals here it is very easy once you've been shown how.

That's my "newbie" understanding of it anyway, no doubt someone with considerably more experience will be along shortly to help you out.

Happy new year,

Simon


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## unlcky alf (Nov 19, 2006)

Sod it, pipped at the post.


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

unlcky alf said:


> Sod it, pipped at the post.


Sorry


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

Acrylic is very soft by comparison, but its advantages are that it is slightly flexible so that it can take a quite hard knock without shattering and although easily scraped/scratched, such blemishes can easily be polished out by hand. They're also quite cheap to replace if badly damaged.

Sapphire crystals are exceptionally hard, nigh-on unscratchable and relatively expensive. But I've heard that they can shatter if knocked sharply, shedding fragments into the movement which may then require cleaning and servicing.

Mineral crystals aren't as hard as sapphire, but are still quite difficult to scratch and not too expensive to replace if broken. They're not a bad compromise in my opinion.


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

unlcky alf said:


> Sod it, pipped at the post.










me too









Screw you guys, I'm going for another beer


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

rhaythorne said:


> unlcky alf said:
> 
> 
> > Sod it, pipped at the post.
> ...


Well at least we are all basically in agreement


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## MIKE (Feb 23, 2003)

Apart from being able to polish an acrylic, I think they give a better, some say "warmer" look to some watches. Giving a relatively modern watch a "nice vintage feel" like this Hacher, aparently an early 1990's model (before they went over to saphire) So this watch looks as it could have come from the 60's/70's.










I wish this O&W had an acrylic crystal it would look far better in my opinion


















Mike


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Acrylic is best ........ 

All watches should have it.....


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

jasonm said:


> Acrylic is best ........
> 
> All watches should have it.....


Too right Jase


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

heartyparty said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> Again - rookie question:
> 
> ...


Take no notice of the above sapphire is best







it will make the watch look nicer as well









It will add about Â£100 to the price of your Sinn 103 though, this puts the O&W Mirage III back in contention as you get a sapphire crystal as standard.


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## Bladerunner (Jun 4, 2006)

Agree with what's been said.

Some watches look better on mineral or sapphire crystal, others look better on acrylic IMO.

At least with acrylic you can usually polish out a scratch/replace it fairly cheaply.









Depends what the watch is used for... you takes your money.....


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## USEDMODEL (Mar 26, 2005)

Sapphire is undoubtably the hardest.

Mineral scratches fairly easily and is a buggers own job to remove the scratches.

Acrylic is easy to scratch and easy to polish.

I prefer acrylic because in most cases it can be salvaged.

I hate sapphire because it always looks dirty with fingerprints, smears and continually has to be polished.

ACRYLIC RULES OK.

Roy


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

I hate sapphire.







Acrylic every time.


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## ETCHY (Aug 3, 2004)

Yep I prefer acrylic too, I like scratches it gives a watch character









Dave


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## USEDMODEL (Mar 26, 2005)

ETCHY said:


> Yep I prefer acrylic too, I like scratches it gives a watch character
> 
> 
> 
> ...


ETCHY

We spend, what appears to be, half our lives removing scratches from acrylics.

so

I like scratches.































I have some watches you can purchase. Do you prefer light or deep scratches ??? .......... made to order


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## heartyparty (Nov 12, 2006)

Ha ha ha....

Happy new year folks! Hope there aren't too many sore heads today 

Thanks for the info - food for thought...... how much do you reckon it woud cost to replace an acrylic crystal??

can you fit an aftermarket sapphire crytal to an acrylic watch further down the line?

Cheers,

heartyparty


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