Type of Watch Crystal

Has to be sapphire or I would (almost always) break it 😅

It doesn't matter, whether sapphire or acrylic. Each has its benefits. 👍

Prefer acrylic.

Wear all kinds.

The fear of wearing acrylic and scratches is over rated.

Acrylic is less oleophobic, cleans viscous fluids off easier/less smudges, less reflective, easier legibility, and Polywatch takes most scratches off.

Far as hardlex/mineral go, usually more resistant than people want to admit.

Sapphire is the standard, due to peeps not wanting scratches. Yet when wearing your watch and using it as a time telling tool, it's gonna get scratches.

Just like how peeps in other enthusiast forums get distraught when their fancy, custom, "battle worn" Cerakote gets wear marks from holstering, brass deflection, and slide cycling. Or their brand new, hand forged Sand Wedge gets scuffed up in the bunker.

#useyourtools or it's just a Safe Queen you LARP with.

Good info. thank you. I am not fussed, but if a model has a sapphire or mineral option, I would choose sapphire.

I love acrylic if it’s purposefully done. Like Lorier does. There’s a “warmth” to acrylic when done right 👌

If it’s a older piece and has mineral, that’s acceptable.

I see no reason for mineral to be used otherwise on a newer timepiece, seems to be cost cutting.

I avoid mineral where possible

That's the beaut of the watching world. Get what you like, and even in most cases you can switch them out if you want something different.

Long as there isn't proprietary gaskets, or designs requiring a specific crystal.

There's a WC'er who has swapped out their Bulova Lunar Pilot sapphire for acrylic and it looks soooo good. 👌🏻🔥

Not fussed, but not tried acrylic since I was a kid. Actually rate Hardlex , not scratched one in 30 years.

Aye, I think the last time I scratched a crystal was ~16 years ago and I'd had a few 🍻. My GS came back from a service with a scratch on the display back, I only noticed it weeks later, can't really push back, annoying 🥺

Buenas ecrilico es bueno para uso diario, fácilmente se logra tener como casi nuevo.

Cristal mineral, se raye es verdad, también a sierto grado tiene resistencia a golpes, fácil y barato el recambio

Mineral endurecido, resiste tanto golpes como arañazos, no es fácil que se rompa

Safiro una visión inmejorable, una dureza. 🤯 A arañazos, lo malo que si es de diario cualquier golpe o caída estalla sin ninguna forma de disimularlo, cambio seguro

Tengo de todos los tipos de cristal dos piezas de safiro se las tube que cambiar x cristal mineral🙄, desde esa etapa hasta ahora de mis piezas con cristal plano les agrego protector plástico para darle más protección film del que se protejer las pantallas de movil, hay espesifico a la venta en varias plataformas

Sapphire or bust. Anything else is inferior. Even on throwback models harkening back to vintage watches, ya gotta go sapphire for me to be interested.

DEPENDS on the watch. The nicer pieces? Sapphire. Except when they're proper retro, then acryl it is. Sillicate glass when there's no other option.

If given the option I’d pick sapphire but acrylic has its charm and is far from being a dealbreaker when buying.

It depends on the watch.

For my lifestyle, acrylic is king. The ability to buff out scratches means that they can stay looking fresh if you don't thrash your watch. Only after some decades do they yellow and crack from UV rays, but that can be delayed with care. Not shattering is also a huge bonus. I'm never going back.

Eh, some of my favorite watches are mineral, sapphire is a bonus no doubt, but I really couldn't care less what crystal on there - they all look great imo

I do like a heavily AR Coated sapphire. Something about that blue-ish hue thats appealing

Ticked ‘has to be sapphire’, but my 24 year old monster, that’s been through the figurative chipper..

..Has a perfect hardlex despite its steel being scarred to hell.

So Seiko hardlex is apparently pretty bulletproof, and apparently more shatterproof. So wouldn’t feel bad getting this on a lower priced watch.

Agreed. Also, cerakote is, IMHO, extremely overrated as it can chip and crack, leaving bare metal exposed. That's why I LOVE meloniting, Armornite, DLC coating, anodized aluminum, or straight stainless steel (you can paint it or DLC is later)

For me, acrylic or sapphire. Acrylic won't explode into shards like sapphire can of its hit by certain objects at high speed. Acrylic has it's place.

As for sapphire, it's is extremely hard to mark it scratch and as long as a hard piece of granite or ceramic or similar doesn't fly into it really fast it's extremely hard to break.

For me it actually depend on the watch.

So i’d always go for a sapphire crystal for sports or military watches.

A double domed acrylic for a #dresswatch or a #vintage

But those are the only two.

I wear a decent amount of vintage, generally they have some hardened plastic crystal. In modern I prefer sapphire.

Well, it doesn’t *have* to be sapphire, but it is very preferable.

Kinda depends on the watch as well.

I’d often prefer a good mineral crystal over a sapphire when I am frustrated how annoyingly reflective many sapphire crystals are.