Sapphire vs Mineral Crystal

We all know sapphire is harder, but is it a DEAL BREAKER on a watch?

I don't BABY my watches, but I don't work under the hood of a car with my Breitling on either.

A mineral crystal REALLY wouldn't bother me that much...

I am the total 180 of your take.

I would rather have a Saphire crystal every day of the week prior to buying one with a mineral crystal. It would actually stop me from buying a watch. If it was a beater, then it is a different story...but a nice timepiece, nope!

I prefer Sapphire as well, more of a sign to me that the manufacturer did'nt cut the obvious corners. Its interesting though that many sport wood for old Rolexs or current Sinns with plastic (acrylic) crystals.

I like the hardlex on my Seikos for every day. Bang the $heet out of them.

The watches i have with sapphire crystals I worry more about the steel getting boogered.

its all about sapphire for me, its just what i want and like. steve

I don't think the type of crystal should be a deal breaker in a decision
to get a watch. Whether it be sapphire, or mineral, the overall watch
itself is what probably matters most imho. For the most part it would
probably be hard to tell what crytsal was actually on a watch too.
Plus if they are using other crystals such as acrylic crystals in some
higher end watches like Mark is saying, then that says alot as well.
Basically if we like a watch, we shouldn't let the type of crystal get
in the way !

the only crystal i ever shattered was mineral and ive scatched a ton of them, sapphire all the way! my old rolex gmt master had an acrylic and it would scratch but a couple minutes on the buffing wheel and it was like new, think you could do it up to about 10 times and then it would need to be replaced as it thinned out!

Mineral Crystal - enough said.

Docrwm wrote:

Mineral Crystal - enough said.

LOL!

GOOD ONE DOC!

I prefer a sapphire, but a mineral will be OK for me. I have put scratches in both and they polish out if it's not too bad.
BJ

im left handed and still wear my watch on my left hand and working in the industrial/ag supply business there isnt alot of times that im out of the office anymore but when i do have to help my guys im always up to my wrist in bolts and nuts or pulling stuff out of bolt bins that i scratch up mineral like its butter, even seiko's stuff i would love to upgrade to sapphire. need to learn to take my watch of when working in the warehouse or buy a cheap quartz with sappphire and just leave it in my desk for these times! good idea trevor, problem solved and a new watch....... maybe a mako!

cali kid wrote:

im left handed and still wear my watch on my left hand and working in the industrial/ag supply business there isnt alot of times that im out of the office anymore but when i do have to help my guyss im alway up to my wrist in bolt and nuts or pulling stuff out of bolt bins that i scratch up mineral like its butter, even seiko's stuff i would love to upgrade to sapphire. need to learn to take my watch of when working in the warehouse or buy a cheap quartz with a sappphire and just leave it in my desk for these times! good idea trevor, problem solved and a new watch....... maybe a mako!

SELF COUNSELING is the best!

cali kid wrote:

im left handed and still wear my watch on my left hand and working in the industrial/ag supply business there isnt alot of times that im out of the office anymore but when i do have to help my guys im always up to my wrist in bolts and nuts or pulling stuff out of bolt bins that i scratch up mineral like its butter, even seiko's stuff i would love to upgrade to sapphire. need to learn to take my watch of when working in the warehouse or buy a cheap quartz with sappphire and just leave it in my desk for these times! good idea trevor, problem solved and a new watch....... maybe a mako!

I'm an office guy but I have a Victorinox V-7 Chrono in a plexiglass cube on my desk. It serves as both a desk clock and an alternative watch if I need a chrono and didn't wear one or I need a beater because I might be dealing with behavior problems from the kids I am working with that day. It has sapphire and looks brand new. The Swiss Army Chrono I put photos up of was a gift from my wife before we got married. I wore it on residency and my first faculty jobs. The scratches in the Mineral crystal are from just plain old daily wear.

sapphire all the way but will buy mineral for a beater work watch
I also prefer flat crystals over domed.

Mineral is not a total deal-breaker for me if I find the watch entertaining enough, but I prefer sapphire by a long shot and I'd even rather have acrylic than mineral.

So: sometimes mineral is a deal-breaker for me but sapphire or acrylic is never a deal-breaker.

Sapphire is my preference although I do own 2 watches that have a mineral crystal and so far, no issues at all.

have/had both...top surfaced sapphire tends to cast more reflections though.....
Interesting to note, that Omega, in refining its X-33 Gen2 model, after suggestions from their astronauts, did remove the top sapphire coating and left the underside coated!

Mineral crystals are my least favorite and I rank them well below both arylic/hesalite and artificial sapphire, but yet I managed to collect quite a few watches with them , including what I'm wearing to work today.

i wont buy nor do i own mineral..

ericf4 wrote:

i wont buy nor do i own mineral..

You still got that flame fusion thing dont you?

nope, i dont own any invicta with that....my SAN is sapphire, before they cheaped out

I have had mineral in the past...I will never own a watch again with mineral..always worked in an office and I scratched the crap out of it....only sapphire for me..

for me its sort of a thing where i feel that for the $ i spend, I want only the best materials i can get and mineral is not one of them

Seems like sapphire is the CLEAR winner!

Part II...

Do you prefer your sapphire AR coated or not?

Underneath, is fine, I prefer it NOT be on the outside...

i agree Yes to coated but underneath,,,

Anomaly wrote:

Seems like sapphire is the CLEAR winner!

Part II...

Do you prefer your sapphire AR coated or not?

Underneath, is fine, I prefer it NOT be on the outside...

Under coated underneath only. It can be scratched on the outside and then after that what good is sapphire.

i must admit though that my Sinn U2 i believe has coating on both sides and damn if it doesnt look like there is no glass when you look at it during the day..

ericf4 wrote:

i must admit though that my Sinn U2 i believe has coating on both sides and damn if it doesnt look like there is no glass when you look at it during the day..

Same with the Avenger Seawolf...

...so far no outside nicks.

Not a deal breaker, but I'd prefer sapphire. I think I'm more likely to scratch than bang it hard enough to break it. AR on the inside, for the same reason resistance to scratching.

I like under-coated sapphire but a top anti-reflective coated sapphire would be almost as close to a deal-breaker for me as mineral crystal.

Occasional reflections don't bug me near as much as scratches or permanent rub spots.

AlbertaTime wrote:

I like under-coated sapphire but a top anti-reflective coated sapphire would be almost as close to a deal-breaker for me as mineral crystal.

Occasional reflections don't bug me near as much as scratches or permanent rub spots.

Exactly!

I'm with Ron, whats the use of sapphire if the AR is going to scratch up and smudge like crazy, put it under and thats good enough for me! So i might have to turn my wrist a few degrees one way or the other once in awhile to see the time!!

I agree with everyone on this ! Good to have AR coating, but should
probably only be underneath, so it doesn't get scratched in any way !