Vintage Acrylic Crystals vs Modern Sapphire Crystals | Inside Watches Bob's Watches

Vintage Acrylic Crystals vs Modern Sapphire Crystals | Inside Watches Bob's Watches

Welcome back to another installment of Inside Watches. Today, we’re focusing on the difference between acrylic and sapphire crystals. Shop pre-owned Rolex: https://www.bobswatches.com/rolex/

NAVIGATE THIS VIDEO

00:00 INTRO
00:31 Sapphire Crystal
01:02 Acrylic Crystal
02:12 Which one is better?
02:49 Rolex Submariner Comparison
03:05 Omega Speedmaster
03:27 Outro

The goal of our series Inside Watches is to help you build a more valuable watch collection. Armed with the knowledge of some of the lesser-known watch collecting tips and secrets, it’s easier to shop with confidence.

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Watch Crystals: Acrylic vs. Sapphire

What is a watch crystal, anyway? It’s the protective, transparent “glass” that sits over the dial. Aside from offering the wearer a clear, unobstructed view of the dial below, its purpose is to protect the dial itself from everyday wear.

The industry uses three main types of crystal materials: acrylic, sapphire, and mineral. Today, we’re going to turn our attention to acrylic and sapphire.

What are these materials? And how can you tell them apart? Keep watching or read on to learn more!

Sapphire: Sapphire Crystal is a newer material used by most companies on the market today. Like its name would suggest, it’s comprised of the same mineral, corundum, as the sparkling blue sapphires used in jewelry.

The reason why the sapphire seen on your watch is clear, not colorful, is because it is synthetic and free of any of the impurities that give most gemstones their vibrant colors.

It’s manufactured into a long “stick,” off of which lenses are sliced and polished for use in watchmaking.

Sapphire is one of the most popular crystal materials in the industry because it’s seriously tough. It is the second hardest mineral in the world after diamonds and boasts a ranking at a level nine on the Mohs scale for overall hardness.

Many watch enthusiasts also prefer sapphire because it’s more transparent than acrylic, is hard to break, and won’t scratch as easily as acrylic.

Acrylic: Acrylic crystals are a transparent thermoplastic material often seen on older watches, although some companies still use the material today.

You might also recognize its other branded names: Hesalite, Plexiglas, and Perspex, just to name a few.

As we mentioned above, some brands still offer acrylic. But why, when sapphire is much more durable?

Well, for one thing, acrylic is lighter than sapphire. It’s cheaper to replace, and it doesn’t shatter the way sapphire does.

Acrylic does scratch very easily, though. However, depending on how deep they are, most scratches can be buffed out.

Another argument for acrylic over sapphire is that it doesn’t glare as much as sapphire. But one can also argue that many companies treat their sapphire crystals with an anti-glare coating to prevent this issue.

Really, it comes down to aesthetics and price point when choosing between the two.

HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACRYLIC AND SAPPHIRE CRYSTALS

If you haven’t seen very many sapphire and acrylic crystals in person, it can be hard to tell the difference.

Upon first glance, you will notice that acrylic is more convexed or domed than sapphire, which is flat.

Acrylic also isn’t as transparent as sapphire and often shows some distortions.

While sapphire is sleek, contemporary, and neatly flawless, acrylic adds a more retro aesthetic to the watch.

If you hold a newer model and a vintage Rolex Submariner side-by-side, you will also notice that the sapphire on the modern watch sits flush with the rest of the case while the acrylic on the vintage watch sits higher than the case.

The earliest examples of sapphire within the Rolex catalog date as far back as the 1960s. As Rolex typically does, they took their time rolling the material out to the rest of the catalog. In fact, it took the company the better part of the 1970s and 1980s to replace acrylic on most of their models.

Using Rolex specifically as an example, if your watch was produced before this era, it likely sports an acrylic crystal.

If it was produced during the late 1980s/early 1990s, it most definitely features a sapphire crystal.

As we mentioned above, some companies still use acrylic, including Omega. Their reason is that since acrylic does not shatter like sapphire, it is a safer alternative for the Speedmaster, which often accompanies astronauts into space.

We shudder at the thought of hitting the sapphire at just the right angle, sending countless shards of sapphire floating around in zero gravity!