How Strong is a Sapphire Crystal?
How Strong is a Sapphire Crystal?
Just how strong is a sapphire crystal is what I commonly get asked over and over again. Well today, I demonstrate just that!
A couple of things I want to mention about broken crystals are this:
1️⃣ If the crystal is cracked or shattered- you will immediately need a full service.
2️⃣ Move your hour, minute, and seconds hand out of the way. You should probably pull the stem to the time setting position immediately so that your second hand doesn’t repeatedly run into the shards. This is just preventative care and being proactive. At least we’re not damaging the hands anymore than we should be.
3️⃣ When a crystal is shattered (depending on severity), the worst case scenario is always this: Full service, new hands, new dial, new crystal, and new calendar disc. Reason being that the shards or broken crystal remnants may have scratched or cut deep these parts. Be prepared for these costs.
4️⃣ Sapphire crystals are generally the ones that crack and shatter. Acrylic crystals are generally more resilient to cracking and shattering but are extremely easy to scratch. If you have a cracked/shattered crystal like this, it’s most likely sapphire.
5️⃣ Crystal shards are no joke. They will make their way into the smallest crevasse in the watch. Watchmakers will often find remnants deep into the watch during a disassembly.
6️⃣ Dont go cheap. A broken crystal requires a certain amount of workload to fix it properly. Price shopping, knitpicking, and choosing to only get the crystal replaced without a full service is asking for trouble. You will be back. I guarantee it.
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