I'm new to reading up on watches, but it seems sapphire faces are desirable. But are all sapphire lens/faces the same grade of quality and scratch resistance? At least in the under 1000 range? Thanks guys.
Sapphire in and of itself if significantly more durable and harder than any other watch face material. I read somewhere that diamonds are the only things that can easily scratch it...other things must be hit with force in order to make scratches.
Though sapphire crystals are powerful,there are different degrees of strength. Some companies offer double or triple layer sapphire which is extremely strong (and expensive.) One layer is still fine, and will prevent scratches like no one's business.
Though sapphire crystals are powerful,there are different degrees of strength. Some companies offer double or triple layer sapphire which is extremely strong (and expensive.) One layer is still fine, and will prevent scratches like no one's business.
The harder they make them, the more likely they will crack on impact. Read that on one of the chrono blogs. As if they become less flexible. I won't buy anything not having sapphire now. Figure it adds $40 to 80 per watch at most.
trying to keep away from
painted bezels as well.
From what I understand, thicker sapphire crystals are only necessary on dive watches. Other than that, normal thickness is fine. They are a 9 on the Mohs hardness scale (diamond is 10, titanium is 9.5 I think).
From a chemical point of view, sapphire is sapphire, but more expensive watches do have AR (Anti Reflective) coatings applied to the underside of their crystals and the quality of the coatings (and the care with which they're applied) can presumably vary.
Call me out, huh? A quick Google search reveals... that you are indeed correct. Apparently I was thinking of titanium carbide. My bad.
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