Ruby is the red variety, and sapphire is the variety that encompasses all other colors, although the most popular and valued color of sapphire is blue. Apr 26, 2017 you cannot tell the difference between regular mineral crystal and sapphire crystal, except when you attempt a scratch test. Houdini, pete was right, the underside of the crystal is dirty. I had a suunto spartan sport that had the mineral glass crystal, and within about a day i somehow. The best way to tell mineral and sapphire glass apart is to try and scratch it, a stainlesssteel knife or screwdriver will scratch mineral glass but not sapphire crystal. Mineral glass is less resistant to scratches, and acrylic the cheapest and most shatter resistant of them all will scratch if you just look at it wrong. Authored by isthmus i posted the following as a reply to someone who asked for information on crystals a few posts down, and then figured why not post this by itself and expand on it so we can save it as a resource the next time the what crystal is best question pops up and you know it will. So whats better, acrylic or sapphire rolex crystals.
Hardlex crystal vs sapphire crystal watch discussion. Well, that is where youre wrong there are very significant differences between these two, and knowing them would help you differentiate one from the other. As the window to your timepiece, the watch crystal or glass. And all three are vastly different, in terms of scratch resistance. When seeking mineral specimens for sale, you may want to consider their healing properties to choose what kind you would like. Sapphire crystal glass vs mineral glass the crystal of a watch the clear cover that goes over the dial and protects it can be made of a variety of materials. With a hardness of 9 on the mohs scale it has a considerably higher scratch resistance and a resistance to fracture than mineral glass. This means that a sapphire glass is almost resistant to scratch unless it will come in direct and hard abrasive contact with a diamond. I know sapphire will always be more durable, but im having a hard time finding a watch i really like with a sapphire crystal at a reasonable price. The rohje sapphire crystal is 89 on the mohs scale, being nearly unscratchable.
It is named after the german geologist and mineralogist friedrich mohs 17731839. While it is not as scratchresistant as sapphire, it is more scratchresistant than plastic. For a quick reference, the sapphire has a value of 9 while diamond has a value of 10 under the mohs scale of mineral hardness. Star sapphire crystals and sapphire mineral specimens natural stars try our natural star sapphire crystals satisfaction guarantee compare our prices and our superior quality.
Blue sapphire crystals and blue sapphire mineral specimens at. I guess im somewhat ocd about my watches, i will always buy sapphire if i can afford it. According to seiko, it is more scratch resistant than ordinary mineral glass, but still not as durable as sapphire, which is 3 times as hard as hardlex. For decades the watch industry wrestled with these constraints. A gem can be a crystal whereas a crystal will not always be a gem. Generally, there are three types of crystals used in watchmaking.
That was my 1st realisation just how resistant mineral glass can be. The glass offers a particularly high scratch resistance and is considered more resistant than. Mineral glass made from silica, mineral glass is just that, old school glass. Mineral glass is a common glass and used in the manufacturing of windows and watch faces. Ruby and sapphire are scientifically the same mineral, but just differ in color.
Sapphire crystal vs mineral crystal the watch forum. Various internet experts offer a variety of crystal tests from tapping, heating, touching even licking yuck. Many watch collectors and repairers have also developed a sense of the different sounds made when tapping sapphire and mineral glass crystals with a finger nail, although this is an acquired. Click on any natural color star sapphire crystal image below to enlarge it. What is the difference between mineral crystal and. You can hardly tell the difference between regular mineral crystal and sapphire crystal, except when you attempt a scratch test. The reflection given out by the sapphire glass can be diminished by adding the smallest antireflection coating. The finest watches all have sapphire crystal for this reason. Sapphire crystal vs mineral crystal watch discussion.
Whats the difference between acrylic, mineral, and sapphire crystals. Sapphire crystals vs other types everything you need to know. As discussed in this watch glass guide, there are three different types of watch glass sapphire crystal, acrylic, and mineral crystal. Al 2 o 3 with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. I hated looking at my iphone and discovering i had a scratch either on the case or on the screen. Despite this, sapphire is still subject to chipping and. Same scenario a scarred crystal takes away from the overall wow factor of your premium timepiece. If the crystal is mineral glass or plexiglass, you might end up.
Mar 24, 2012 sapphire vs mineral glass cwazy dreams in watches. They are a little more expensive than plastic or acrylic crystals but are significantly more scratch resistant. What is the difference between mineral crystal and sapphire. Hey guys, just wondering what your experiences with seikos hardlex crystal are. With a 5 in the mohs hardness scale mineral glass is located between acrylic glass and sapphire crystal. With mineral and sapphire glass they are hard to tell apart and a scratch test is the only way to tell which is impractical in most cases. The sapphire glass has an extreme scratch resistance rating as well as a harder glass and usually will last unscathed for the life of your watch.
Difference between crystal and gem difference between. It is typically blue, but natural fancy sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green colors. Sapphire is perfect in a watch that was designed to use a sapphire crystal originally. I have had 56 watches with sapphlex never yet had a scratch. Sapphire vs mineral glass watches youngblood worldwide. However, there are a few slight differences between the two that you may want to take into account before you p.
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminum oxide. As a point of interest should you be offered a box of crystals as spares a pocket knife of screwdriver will generally mark a mineral crystal where it wont mark a sapphire crystal. Sapphire crystal is more reflective than mineral crystal due to its higher index of refraction. All the citizen divers come with a mineral crystal except a very few exceptions usually limited edition models. Watch crystal types angry sheep blog rejzors flock of sheep. Safflex is a mineral glass crystal with a sapphire coating. Jun 21, 2015 of all of the glass, sapphire crystal is the least prone to shatter or be scratched. Garnets are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the bronze age as gemstones and abrasives. A few of the higher end seikos come with a sapphire crystal. Sapphire glass sapphire crystals the most expensive of the watch crystals, sapphire has gained popularity in recent years, and its use within the industry has exploded. The color of these blue garnets is not like sapphire blue in subdued daylight but more reminiscent of the grayish blues and greenish. Watch glass is the transparent covering on the face of the watch. This is why it is important to consider which raw material to invest in, mineral glass or sapphire. Im 100% sure it is the problem, ive got the same with one of my invicta.
Of all of the glass, sapphire crystal is the least prone to shatter or be scratched. Its a special hardened glass that is much more scratch resistant than mineral glass and a lot more shatter resistant than sapphire crystal. Hardlex is closer to 7 in the mohs scale, but is much more flexible than sapphire. Most people dont realize that ruby and sapphire are both gems of the mineral corundum. A can scratch a mineral crystal just by looking at it. Star sapphire crystals and sapphire mineral specimens. As nouns the difference between gem and crystal is that gem is a precious stone, usually of substantial monetary value or prized for its beauty or shine while crystal is countable a solid composed of an array of atoms or molecules possessing longrange order and arranged in a pattern which is periodic in three dimensions. It is a crystal composition that offers the best of both worlds in dial and movement protection. Vs mineral vs acrylic watch glass crystals mushs hairy wrist watch channel. This is a very simple test on how to distinguish between sapphire and mineral glass watch crystal. Whats the difference between acrylic, mineral, and sapphire. Applying one or more layers of ar antireflective coating will limit this reflection to a very low level.
Sapphire glass is not actually glass but synthetically produced sapphire. Sapphire is a tough and durable gem, and the only natural gemstone harder than sapphire is diamond. Mineral glass is more pure, structurally harder and more difficult to scratch than acrylic. All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms. Generally a mineral crystal is an ordinary glass crystal that has been heat treated or chemically treated to withstand scratches. This is what creates specific crystal shapes and consistent properties for a given mineral. Hardlex glass this is a toughened mineral crystal glass developed by the seiko watch corporation, which is highly resistant to knocks and scratching. The socalled mohs scale assigns the numbers from 1 to 10 to the material hardness. It is commonly used in many seiko models as it provides a good balance between cost and quality. Each material has its own pros and cons, so choose.
Watch glass guide sapphire crystal vs acrylic vs mineral. Contrary you ought to be more concerned that the watch may scratch another surface. As the window to your timepiece, the watch crystal or glass takes some of the hardest hits and is the brunt of everyday wear and tear. When people start shopping for watches, the type of watch glass can cause a lot of. Both of these gemstones have the same chemical composition and the same mineral structure.
A diamond and perhaps some choice industrial power tools. It is a type of corundum, the same as ruby rubies are merely red corundums, and although associated with the color blue, may also be found in a multitude of colors such as colorless, black, grey, yellow, green, purple, orange, pink, and even changeable colors. It has a mineral crystal on the front, so it isnt the same as ionx or gorilla glass, but it is a fairly sturdy material. It takes about 100 times more energy to generate a sapphire crystal than it does glass. Some sapphire gemstones may even be multicolored such as purple and blue. Hardlex is seikos nomenclature or trademark for its mineral based clear glass. What properties do different mineral specimens have. Hardlex is a seiko proprietary type of hardened mineral crystal and comes in at least two different varieties what goes in seiko 5s is not the same quality of what goes into iso divers. The difference between acrylic, mineral and sapphire crystals. Both can be superior watch dials in appearance and in performance. While sapphire is the more expensive of the three crystal choices, it has its advantages due to the scratch and shatter resistance. Corundum is best known for its gem varieties, ruby and sapphire. Also, if you bang your watch against something, you might end up with a scracth or dent in your mineral crystal but a sapphire crystal is so hard that has virtually 0 capacity to disperse energy, ending up shattering.
A sapphire crystal can appear as a slightly tinted pink or milk white. We have focused on the chosen sapphire crystals details. Mineral crystal glass cons can still be scratched harder to buff out. Sapphire s claim to fame, as a watch crystal material, is its scratch resistance. If water gets on a sapphire crystal, it will come together forming a bead. You cannot tell the difference between regular mineral crystal and sapphire crystal, except when you attempt a scratch test. The big domed crystal on the speedmaster doesnt lend itself well to sapphire because of the milk ring effect. And a mineral cyclops will look like its had an unfortunate meeting with an emery cloth after about a week on my wrist. Scratched watch face how to fix it sapphire crystal glass. The second watch is one that i hesitated to post, but i figured id post it anyways since it shows how a normal watch would stand up to what ive done to my sapphire watch crystal. Most seiko divers use their hardlex crystal which is supposed to be more scratch resistant than a mineral crystal but not as good as a sapphire crystal.
You practially need a diamond to scratch a sapphire crystal. Depending on the watch model, some hardlex crystals are manufactured w. Crystals are pure substances that have molecules arranged in a regular geometric pattern. Trace amounts of impurities determine if a gem corundum will be a brilliant red ruby or a beautiful blue sapphire. I had a regular f5 for six moths without a scratch and i have same experience with other.
Color zoning is responsible for certain sapphires having lighter and darker colors in different parts of a crystal. Sapphire ranking 9 out of 10 on the same mohs scale of hardness sapphire watch crystals are as close to indestructible as you can find. Gemstone discovery, genuine crystal and facet blue sapphire from madagascar delivery with complete disclosure and integrity to you. There are several grades with varying properties but in general it is somewhat softer but much more flexible than a pure synthetic sapphire. Sapphire and mineral glass are both tested by dropping a 2. These crystals are sometimes preferred in the field because of their shatterresistant qualities. Glass made of artificially produced sapphire crystal al 2 o 3 monocrystalline aluminum oxide. Hardlex glass is now standard in most seiko, pulsar and lorus models. One reason many people like to have a mineral specimen is because of the belief in their special healing properties. Question how much difference is there between mineral crystal dial windows, and sapphire crystal dial windows. Many people who own fine watches, or aspire to own them, have wondered about the difference between mineral crystal dials and sapphire dials. Mar 02, 2015 i see people in most discussions here explaining the sapphire models with glass when in fact apples website states that its sapphire crystal. Unlike its natural counterpart, this type of sapphire is synthetically produced in a lab.
Watch crystals catalog has flat, domed, domed flat bottom, sapphire, plain, fancy, facetted. I dont have any scratch on any mineral crystal but i tend to be careful with watches. In comparison to sapphire crystal, mineral crystal is less durable, because under certain circumstances, this glass coating can scratch or shutter. We are often asked how one can tell the difference between sapphire crystal and mineral glass. If you want to never have to worry about your watch getting scratched it is better to make the investment on the purchase and get a watch with a sapphire crystal. Mineral crystal is a glass crystal that has been treated both with heat and with chemicals in order to become scratchproof. If water gets on a mineral crystal, the water will separate in different directions. To confirm the material used in the construction of a glass crystal, the surefire way is to test it with adiamond tester. K1 mineral and sapphire crystal scratch test nite watches. Of course, the hardlex crystals on my other watches havent scratched very often either. I also remember reading the new yorker interview at which one of the designers corrected a demo person after the watch event that it is in fact. Plexiglas often called plastic or hesalite acrylic crystals.
Gems are beautiful stones that are used in making jewelry. I was searching info about sapphire vs mineral when ive landed on this old thread. It ranks 5 out of 10 on the official mohs scale of hardness. Mineral crystal is break resistant but scratches relatively easily. Hardlex is a trademark name for a synthetic mineral composite material produced by seiko. Apr 26, 2017 i have a house rendered with a mineral renderacrylic textured finish but it is showing rust stains or spots. Listing of watch crystals with dimensions and pricing.
A sapphire crystal can appear as a slightly tinted pink or milk white color, while mineral is often blue. Comparing the 3 common types of watch crystals with regards to scratch resistance, toughness, transparency, etc. In this second episode of watch and learn, we will discuss the 3 types of crystals you find on todays wristwatches, discuss the pluses and minuses of both, and give a. Sapphire is one of the most famous and costly precious gemstones in the word, and regarded as the birthstone of september.
Watch glass guide sapphire crystal vs acrylic vs mineral pros. Sapphire crystal is cold or icy to the touch where the. What is the difference between mineral glass, k1 glass and. Hardlex also known as mineral a in some markets is seikos proprietary glass produced from a mixture of barium and silicon.
Replace your watch crystal many materials like acrylic, sapphire, mineral, and glass. As far as i can see from data ive found, the light transmittance of sapphire should be very close to a high quality mineral glass at around 95%. I have watches that has many scratches on my steel bezel n hardly any on its mineral glass. Remove movement and clean the crystal, easy to do and result will be great. Question how much difference is there between mineral. Up until the late 20th century, most watch crystals were in fact acrylic with the exceptions being mineral glass or expensive sapphire only seen on higher end watches. The watch wearer should note that accidentally scraping a sapphire crystal against such a surface could cause a scratch. Difference between crystal and mineral difference between. The k1 falls right between the hardness and scratch resistance of sapphire and the shatter resistance of mineral. Apr 21, 2010 you cannot tell the difference between regular mineral crystal and sapphire crystal, except when you attempt a scratch test. In other words,there are less things that can scratch sapphire than mineral. Mineral glass versus sapphire what you need to know s. Mineral glass is used in place of sapphire in watchmaking because it is more affordable.
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