Question on AR coatings

this may be a stupid question but i have to ask.I own 2 watches with dual ar coatings,a mido all dial cosc and an invicta seavulture.both have light scratches in the top ar coating.so that said why does the top coating have to have a color,like the bluish greenish or violet tint? why not make it clear?if it were clear it wouldn't show scratches right?is there a reason it cant be done,would it not work as well? on the same note can i remove the top coating or can it be replaced cheaply?thanks

If it has double AR, it can be taken off. From what I recall, this can be done with a Cape Cod cloth and a little patience.

If you do a search on WUS, I am sure that you will come up with plenty of content/information on removing it. On a side note, it can be redone.

I think the color is in the sapphire crystal and not the coating.

Yeah, I don't get DOUBLE AR coating at all...

...why not just put it inside?

alot less glare when done on both sides! Dont hate me but Breitling AR= great
Omega AR= well you guys with planet oceans look down at them and tell me what you see!!! Three Breitlings 2002, 2004 and 2009 and not a mark on the AR, Omega cant say that while being cleaned with a soft omega cloth at the AD!!! Story gets better on the re-read, i didnt even know that invicta knew what AR was!!

cali kid wrote:

alot less glare when done on both sides! Dont hate me but Breitling AR= great
Omega AR= well you guys with planet oceans look down at them and tell me what you see!!! Three Breitlings 2002, 2004 and 2009 and not a mark on the AR, Omega cant say that while being cleaned with a soft omega cloth at the AD!!! Story gets better on the re-read, i didnt even know that invicta knew what AR was!!

Flame fusion is naturally glare resistant. You heard it here first-it will be mentioned on TV some day.

I have 2 Omega X-33 Gen2 models, the first showed no crystal top scratches when I bought it, owned by an aviator. The second consumer version did have BOTH sides AR coated!
Now, Gen1s sapphire crystal came with both sides AR coated, but I had read that the newer Gen2s had only the bottom side coated.
My second X-33 attests to the opposite, and I noticed lots of tiny scratches on the top surface when the watch is viewed with backlighting. This model was bought used here in Japan and the owner must have been a sports guy to have put on lots of scratches, likely from his jacket cuff.
Anyways, I thought I would have to send the watch to Omega Osaka for a new crystal....but......polishing the watch with a generic metal polisher, lots of tarnish came off the ti case and bracelet.
I decided to continue rubbing the cleaning paste over the crystal.....and....the many scratches disappeared!! Wow! I thought...no need to send it in !!! haha! Those who really want the AR top coating can have it! I have no problem reading both X-33 dials now.
I have had double coated AR crystals (Seiko modded watches) and did not find them that much of a performance enhancement. Possibly due to the Seiko crystal curvature, the crystal reflected too much side light for me!
The X-33 crystal is quite flat....
Not sure if the top coating AR affects polaroid glasses, but the Gen2 dial LCD portion can be read with polaroid sunglasses! So, pilots can wear polaroid sunglasses while flying .....


X-33 after crystal polishing scratches 006 by thianwong1, on Flickr

im not sure how i feel about AR...Seems that on my Breitling its unreal amazing, perhaps its on the underside of the crystal? On my Sinn U2 there are a few super fine marks on it so assume the AR is on the outside. If thats the case why would a company even put AR on the outside??? Then theres Anonimo who i dont think uses any AR whatsoever whch makes me crazy especially at that price point

ericf4 wrote:

im not sure how i feel about AR...Seems that on my Breitling its unreal amazing, perhaps its on the underside of the crystal? On my Sinn U2 there are a few super fine marks on it so assume the AR is on the outside. If thats the case why would a company even put AR on the outside??? Then theres Anonimo who i dont think uses any AR whatsoever whch makes me crazy especially at that price point

Just like everything else, I guess there are LEVELS of quality of AR coating. Cali is right, both my Breitlings are AR coated inside and out and NO fine little scratches, and I've had my Seawolf over a year now!

It DOES seem if you see an Omega or Sinn for sale, there is many times the "SLIGHT AR scratches at the right angle in the light" disclaimer....

i love the cool blue hue that my steelfish shows from the AR.....Still after a few yrs of owning this I havent got tired of seeing that!!! LOVE THAT WATCH

ericf4 wrote:

i love the cool blue hue that my steelfish shows from the AR.....Still after a few yrs of owning this I havent got tired of seeing that!!! LOVE THAT WATCH

Yep, XMT is definitely a HUB for happy Breitling Owners!

what7 wrote:

this may be a stupid question but i have to ask.I own 2 watches with dual ar coatings,a mido all dial cosc and an invicta seavulture.both have light scratches in the top ar coating.so that said why does the top coating have to have a color,like the bluish greenish or violet tint? why not make it clear?if it were clear it wouldn't show scratches right?is there a reason it cant be done,would it not work as well? on the same note can i remove the top coating or can it be replaced cheaply?thanks

This was a GREAT question What7 ! Always kind of thought the same thing about the blue, green, and violet
tints of AR coatings. You also have a terrific idea there about them being clear too by the way. Like you said, if the
coating could be clear it wouldn't show scratches, which would be amazing. Really don't know too much about this
at all, so it's fun seeing everyone's opinions, and links about this. ..Thanks !

TREMENDOUS job on your Omega there by the way Thian !

just today I have removed the AR coating from my Breitling Evolution.
It just so happened that I accidently removed a bit while polishing
the inner rim of the bezel. After that job I noticed some smudges
on the crystal, however they were not smudges but they were spots
where the AR coating has been damaged / removed.
I decided to remove all the coating, took me while
to decide, hey, after all its a Breitling.
I put some polishing paste on the crystal, got my Dremel out an carefully
let the Dremel do its thing.
I don't have any pics yet but I'm very pleased, the dial looks very clean
and makes the dial look more natural.
The blue glare, however nice, always looks a bit unatural.
A while back I also removed the AR coating on my Sinn 103 Panda
and it came out looking much more vintage style.

My advise: If the coating is damaged, remove it!

thanks all for the info on ar and how to remove it.