polishing watch crystals?

Bit of a story:

I was talking to a good friend last night, and noticed her watch (I have now become observant of these as well as flashlights). It was a Seiko titanium and the watch itself looked spectacular, but the crystal was scratched fairly badly.

I asked her why she didn't send it back for crystal replacement. She told me that it's on the third crystal and she's tired of sending it in. Seiko had gone as far as sending her a letter inquiring what she does for a living (to mess it up so bad). She replied that she works for a jewler and her job is to dig through a barrel of diamonds to get the good ones that settle on the bottom. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Later in the lettter she explained that she actually works at a psych hospital and the watch gets slamed around fairly frequently.

Now that you're done listening to my ramblings, can anyone suggest a way to polish the crystal at home? I thought some Brasso and a little effort would work well, but I told her not to do anything untill I got some more info.

thanks,
-Jason

If its acrylic, then toothpaste + rag should work.

But I doubt that it's acrylic, if its a good watch.

You might want to try on these other forums:

http://www.timezone.com
http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/78440?achk=1

[ QUOTE ]
flownosaj said:
<snip>
Now that you're done listening to my ramblings, can anyone suggest a way to polish the crystal at home? I thought some Brasso and a little effort would work well, but I told her not to do anything untill I got some more info.

thanks,
-Jason

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm a timezone member, hehehe.

Here are my thoughts.

Most Seikos use Hardlex crystals, Seiko's proprietary type of mineral crystal. Mineral crystal is good in that it is harder to scratch than acrylic, but when you do scratch it, it is very hard to polish it out. I don't even know if it is possible on such a small scale. I would just let her deal with the scratches until she's ready for a new watch. Then, have her buy something with a sapphire glass crystal. They are all but [impossible] to scratch. I have an Omega Dynamic with a sapphire crystal, it is is NICE to have. It will probably jack up the price significantly. Here is a quick breakdown of watch crystals for you:

Acrylic - Almost impossible to shatter, but prone to scratching. It is easy to polish the scratches out. (I've heard the toothepaste trick before, but have never tried it personally)

Mineral - Harder to scratch than acrylic, but when it does get scratched, and it will eventually, you're up the creek without a paddle. Shatters easier than acrylic but not as easily as sapphire.

Sapphire - The hardest type of watch crystal. More expensive, they can only be scratched with something exceptionally hard, such as gemstones and possibly ceramic. Go ahead and drag your car keys across your sapphire crystal; nothing will happen except that they will feel like they're dragging on a frictionless surface. However, with hardness comes brittleness. Be careful not to bang a sapphire crystal on something too hard, or it will shatter, causing a deep wound in your wallet. The diver's watches that use sapphire usually use very thick sapphire to make it harder to break. In my humble opinion, sapphire is the only way to go.

Drop me a line if you would like some suggestions on watches; I am something of an expert.

-Jeremy

Re: real sapphire story

my friend wear a Tudor diver watch. one day on the street, his watch crash with the one walking toward him.. both stop and take a look with their watch... both surface cracked.. coz both wearing some sort of Tudor , rolex watch... both have a painful smile and both walked away.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif

I donno what is the possibility for this to happen, coz both need to wear a sapphine watch and they need a crash..... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif