Hardlex v Dremel! Can Seiko's crystal ACTUALLY Be Repaired?

[@johnjones928]

The frustrating thing is a sapphire crystal wouldn't cost anywhere near $100, Seiko wants to save the good stuff for watches with more cachet and higher profit margins. This is all a marketing game.

[@HonestWatchReviewsHWR]

100%

[@blackpig52]

My tandorio cost £65 and has sapphire glass!

[@fats7459]

Sapphire crystal costs maximum 10 $ more. Seiko is greedy as fk

[@Michael-us9rq]

Yes, it doesn't make sense... sapphire could be put on all watches for 30/40 bucks and everyone would be happy. The one argument for mineral would be dive watches for real divers but even that's debatable.

[@killforkylie]

I have a sixty five quid Baltany field watch with an outstanding piece of double domed sapphire on it and ironically a Seiko movement. You are absolutely right. Seiko are artificially hobbling what would otherwise be perfectly good cheaper watches. I'm not playing that game anymore.

[@chrispriestley882]

Apply the paste sparingly to the polishing pad rather than the item to be polished. . Re apply the paste as the "milkyness" clears, and slower speed is always better. You can always go over it again to remove more of the scratch but you can never put back what you have polished off.🤑🤘

[@brianmsahin]

Excellent advice Chris. Good to know, and it's true, once you polish off something it's gone forever. I polished off 3 bottles of beer watching the rugby world cup yesterday and they're gone forever! ;)

[@chrispriestley882]

@@brianmsahin A common mistake is to assume the beer is gone forever, I have had several pints that have tasted like piss:)

[@brianmsahin]

​@@chrispriestley882😂😂

[@johnmonachelli5256]

Seiko should include the dremel polishing bit with every watch

[@paulhopkins1905]

Or just use sapphire

[@RodrigoBarbosaBR]

@@paulhopkins1905 or even use acrylic... Which, to tell you the truth, I like better than mineral.

[@paulhopkins1905]

@@RodrigoBarbosaBR I don't disagree

[@pb7778v]

That is the biggest problem with seiko. The sapphire crystal absence on sensible models really drives me insane.

[@zillsburyy1]

and enjoy their stamped clasps

[@elmatroso7125]

Biggest problem with Seiko is quality control. Real problem. Giant problem. I think they have a division of the company that sits and thinks: “How can I make an ugly watch out of a beautiful watch? Make the bezel crooked? Rotate the dial 2 degrees? Set the logo offset?”... Hardlex is not a problem.

[@joelf5565]

That’s exactly why I’ve been looking at Chinese brands lately. They basically copy styles but use sapphire crystals for less money.

[@WatchmakerErik]

Even if you aren't a DIY type, it's really heartening to see you attempting your own repairs and not being afraid to get your hands dirty. This is exactly how non-diy types become DIY types! 😁

[@spavliskojr]

Right on!

[@75dt21]

Hi Jody, well you said it right, 85% off buyers would stump up more cash for Sapphire…but guess what that would mean Seiko would miss out on 15% of sales they would have made for the people who don’t want to pay extra..that’s why they don’t want to do it. Of course with cheap AliExpress brands offering Sapphire for under $100 AUD with a watch attached to it it actual makes you wonder how much it actually costs for a small piece of Sapphire glass in the first place!

[@marcdaniels9079]

Been wondering this for a while too

[@Username.RandomNumbers]

But how many buyers pass up on a watch because it does not have sapphire? This would usually be me.

[@zwerko]

When ordered in bulk (esp. given that most Presages have the same crystal) it would probably be under $5 a piece, but they just don't want to do it...

[@75dt21]

@@zwerko I also think they use Sapphire as a big selling point for their more expensive watches, if it's in a cheaper watch it may dismiss a more expensive watch to a potential buyer. Jody would know what it costs per piece of Sapphire as he is starting his own watch brand so he must know.

[@snacklofter]

@@Username.RandomNumbers 👍👍

[@BlindProphet413]

Jody you risking the quality of your watches and a bit of online embarrassment for our benefit is incredibly kind of you, and I really appreciate your adventures in watch building/making/maintenance because it helps me take better care of my own collection. Thanks very much!

[@FourIntoOne]

I would 100% rather have acrylic crystal then mineral (in fact I have swapped a few of my mineral crystal watches for acrylic over the years) Much easier to polish.

[@mattdsoares]

Yup, a cheap tube of polywatch, a microfiber, a finger, and a just a few minutes is all you need. Plus acrylic gives a clarity and warmth that neither mineral nor sapphire can. There's really, IMO, no good use case for mineral crystal.

[@ronron8311]

Totally agree! You can polish an acrylic crystal to a brand new looking shine in no time without having to worry about taking the watch apart and replacing the crystal.

[@marktibbetts3799]

JODY,now that you have the DREMEL,you can polish any scratches in the cases. All you need is a small 5oz. bottle of Black Magic Titanium wheel polish. It works wonders. And for the brushed finish on case or bands use the little attachment that looks like a scotchbright pad wheel. It works instantly,so use it lightly.

[@Zzutubez]

Loving the 4K quality!! Looking so crisp!

[@amvj]

You really are brave to experiment with such a beautiful watch. Great results by the way.

[@lazylama6]

Agree with you, Seiko should just charge a little more and gives us sapphire. Thx for clearing up the debate about hardlex being repairable or not. Cheers.

[@brianmsahin]

Can I give another tip Jody, a preventative tip. This only applies to flat mineral crystals. On Ali, you can get, for just a few dollars a 3 set of hard glass crystal protectors that have 9h protection, probably just sapphire coated, but they have saved me more than once. They're easy to apply, no bubbles under the glass, just watch the little video to do it right. You use a supplied suction cup to put it on then fingernail under the cup and peel it off. I bought one for a G-Shock GA-700 and discovered it's also a perfect fit for the SKX/Seiko 5 crystals. It's been on the watches for more than a year with no issues. I also got one for my bigger GG-1000 and lo and behold it was perfect for 2 chronographs I own plus my Orient Mako XL. I accidentally smacked it hard off a rock when diving, could have been a disaster, but it only broke the crystal protector leaving the watch crystal unscathed. You can buy them in different sizes and I recommend them highly for any flat mineral crystal. They can even make the watch look nicer. Just be careful to look for 9h hardness as there are peely plastic ones that are rubbish. Sorry for the long comment but these protectors may save watch enthusiasts some pain and expense.

[@thegorn]

I love the content showing how to fix up the hardlex. Great for when there's no other option. Now if not moving this watch on, then please create a follow up video about buying the "Sapphire Box Crystal to replace OEM Hardlex on Seiko Cocktail Series Watches #Cocktail-BX" from Marc at Long Island Watch, and swapping it over.

[@BobT-T]

The first thing I did when I got my Cocktail Time was head over to Long Island and buy myself a replacement sapphire crystal. It is sitting in reserve for the day I scratch the hardlex! In terms of why Seiko did not fit sapphire to these watches - my understanding is that these are box-crystals and as such much harder to manufacture than standard flat crystals. Perhaps it would have pushed the watch too far into the next price bracket?

[@dunderhay9169]

Good job. I recently had to do this, I didn't have a dremel, bought just equivalent 800 grit and 2000 and used it on wet and dry paper of the same grit. It worked well but very slow. I was disappointed in the final polish, so used cerium oxide to finish and that made it a much more polished finish.

[@HonestWatchReviewsHWR]

Really interesting video Jody. But for me this is the issue with Seiko watches. They have great design, especially the dials... But then they cheap out on things like sapphire crystal and solid endlinks etc. To try and push you to buy their more expensive models. When the likes of Steeldive etc can include sapphire on watches costing as little as £50, then there's no reason why Seiko can't. Sapphire crystal can be picked up for as little as £10 - £15. That's not even the wholesale price either, so I'm sure Seiko could get them for peanuts.

[@spookmineer]

It's that you pointed it out, but even though that little spot is hardly noticable even if you're looking for it. Great vid!

[@oak6845]

Jody the diamond paste do work well but what we use to polish mineral glass, acrylic as well if you do bump into a diamond somehow is "Cerium Oxide" much better and quite easier to remove even deep scratches.

[@benjaminvis]

Very helpful and instructive! I'll keep on preferring sapphire. Strange how some brands ask premiums even with mineral glass crystals. I only tolerate the wear on the plexi of my Max Bill, which arguably is the more authentic choice and was bought before there was a choice.

[@timrosenthal46]

Nice one Jody. It's nice to know Hardlex can polish up ok. I own a Dremel so I might get some of that paste and have a go at my Espresso Martini Presage which I have managed to drag along every brick wall I walk past ..

[@scottbeckett4190]

My watches love brick walls too!

[@jerrypanela]

If aliexpress watches can provide sapphire, certainly Seiko can.

[@knutjunker2019]

Of course they could. But they won't. :-)

[@zillsburyy1]

seiko sux

[@knutjunker2019]

@@zillsburyy1 The watches are still great, but the pricing sux.

[@zillsburyy1]

glass over sapphire and stamped clasp over milled is GREAT?!@@knutjunker2019

[@hudldevice1092]

Exactly. Seiko used to be a company which provided good value to its customers; now it's a company that seemingly just treats its customers with contempt, selling under-specced watches for inflated prices. Such a shame.

[@stevenwymor1398]

I’ve done it on my SKX. Wasn’t happy with the result because it makes a slight depression in the Hardlex which winds up looking like a wave at an obtuse angle. Replaced it with sapphire in the end. The dome on your crystal I’m sure helps to hide any depression in the crystal. A flat crystal will reveal the defects more easily.

[@Happyfacehotwheels]

Removing the scratch is half of the job, the other half is making it look good.

[@stevenwymor1398]

@@Happyfacehotwheels yes, but nearly impossible to make a flat crystal look good when removing scratches due to it no longer being flat afterwards. You’re removing material from the area where you’re removing the scratch. The only real way to do it on a flat crystal would be to polish the ENTIRE surface down to below the the scratch with a large polishing wheel that would evenly remove the entire surface. But then, you’re thinning the thickness of the crystal. I just don’t think it’s worth it unless the crystal can’t be replaced. But I’m sure Jody could have just ordered a replacement or even upgraded to sapphire. There are countless sources to get the correct replacement or upgraded parts. I’ve done it dozens of times on various watches over the years. And I believe my point was that the curved surface of Jody’s crystal somewhat obscures the marginal polishing effort. And maybe Jody shouldn’t wear mechanical watches if he has such a penchant for constantly slamming them into door jambs and other hard inert objects. The crystal in that case is the least of his worries as far as the watch’s performance is concerned. He’s abusing the balance far more than the crystal or the case. But that’s a whole separate discussion. The problem really isn’t Hardlex. It’s the person wearing the watch.

[@Jelloc]

Dremel would actually be a pretty decent name for a new watch company

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Ha! Might get into a bit of trouble there though......

[@mercster]

When I saw this video title and thumbnail, I initially thought maybe Dremel teamed up for a Drill Swatch or something. (I didn't see the second part of the title)

[@MattoDesigno]

​​@@mercster you weren't the only one

[@mercster]

@@MattoDesigno Thanks, I feel better! 😂

[@bogrot69]

I've had my Dremel for a few years now. They're really do come in handy. That's one beautiful watch but I have to agree. I own the Cocktail Time Fuyugeshiki and it was one of the last Seiko's I purchased. There's no reason a watch at that price, not to mention a so called limited edition should come with anything but sapphire. Seiko must be the only brand holding out at this point. Yet they used it in the solar Coutura I picked up on ebay??

[@ZnakeTech]

Also you can get knockoff "Dremels" for 30 bucks or less, which does the job just fine, it's a pretty simple tool, but really handy to have around when you occasionally need it. So I think it's a decent investment regardless of whether you need to polish a watch or not. But the point about when do you have to do it again seems very valid, looking at the way my Seiko 5 is accumulating scratches, I would likely have to do it every two months or so, if I wanted to keep it looking pristine, and it's not even really a daily driver, although one of the watches that sees a decent amount of wear in my collection, but I definitely switch to one of my cheap Casios if I have to do something where I think the watch is "at risk".

[@neilschuster8252]

Worked surprising well for me on a deep scratch that almost looked like a crack. Got it 90% removed with about an hour of work, including masking. Thanks for the confidence to dig into it! My first attempt was a success

[@DieLeeu01]

Thank you Kobus, from a fellow South African.

[@kobusvanrensburg4092]

Cheers 👍

[@scottbeckett4190]

At this stage having hammered most of my favourite watches on our outdoor dining chairs (the backs are exactly watch height on my wrist) and every door jam in the house and as an avid gardener I am pretty much sapphire exclusive at this point. As I muck up my Duros, for a few dollars and about 10 minutes the conversion is imminent. Jody once again you have videoed what we are all thinking. Well done sir. Another perfect vid from the master. Merci!!!

[@czguy3045]

Well, you convinced me. Already have a Dremel and a bunch of the polishing tools so I ordered a set of the diamond paste. I have two with Hardlex including my beloved SNK809, an original Orient Mako with the two crowns and a couple Citizen watches that are a bit scratched. I tend to be pretty gentle with watches but one SNK and the Orient I used for many years doing concrete work and... any watch is going to get scratched. I'll give the first one a whirl next weekend starting with the SNK.

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Good luck mate!

[@WatchWitt]

Nice save! And that’s the most beautiful Presage dial I’ve seen!

[@jarowinti9274]

Some time ago I made it with my crystal (sapphire) on Omega and it worked. About 1-2 hours of work but it worked !! Great video!

[@Engineersoldinterstingstuff]

Always go from rough to finer grit when polishing. Get rid of the grove and move on to a finer grade. After som practice I am sure the polishing steps would have been donein max 10 minutes. Also there are plenty of cheaper altenatives to dreml to start with.

[@kabdu68]

Well done, Jody. I feel your pain.

[@TheTimeFarm]

The smoke is the cotton in the buffing wheel burning. Not a huge problem on glass but it will definately melt plastic.

[@e28forever30]

“definitely “

[@JamesMH]

I bought a Sapphire upgrade for my Presage during Long Island Watches Black Friday sale and I couldn’t be happier

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Yeah sadly they don't do one for this smaller size..... Yet!

[@michaelkaliski7651]

Any unprotected domed crystal is liable to pick up scratches, Hardlex or Sapphire can be equally vulnerable. A blow sufficient to put a scratch on Hardlex may be sufficient to shatter Sapphire though, so there are advantages and disadvantages to each material. I would venture to suggest that a flat Sapphire crystal protected by a slightly raised bezel offers the ultimate protection from scratches in harsh use. Domed crystal displays are really only suitable for dress watches and at the more formal occasions where these are worn, there should be rather fewer opportunities for damage. Of course it does rather depend on what sort of social gatherings you attend I guess.😊

[@stefpix]

Hardlex is not scratchless, it’s Scratchlex! On my flat mineral crystal watches I now put a round tempered glass protector.

[@CheezeGoblin]

Would you as a collector actually care if the previous owner just replaced the crystal with sapphire, or would it bother you that it is not 100% original? As long as they picked a good (fits the style) replacement crystal, I would always think they did me a favor.

[@prescottlange]

Not 100% original? That would be seikrolegious!

[@acftmxman]

Jody, looking at the thumbnail and watching the beginning of the video, I was cringing at the disaster about to happen. I’ve worked with Dremmels before. We used to use them on bare aircraft skin to take out scratches. And seeing what first timers did to something as big as an airplane, I figured that crystal was toast. But I am glad you took it easy and it worked out. Once you get used to it, you will be able to buff out scratches on the polished parts of a watch. And one you become REALLY good at it, you’ll be putting cotes de Genève on bridge plates. All the best-Mark

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Ha! I'm not sure I've got the skill or the patience for that mate, but definitely will do this again if required, learning each time. Cheers!

[@esotericman22]

You can buy 'no name' rotary tools really cheap. About £20 in uk. They work just as well as Dremel.

[@RobertOrtiz1015]

My wife and I absolutely love this watch! We got the green matcha as well and we share them between the both of us. We even got the opportunity to go to the star bar in Tokyo and Kyoto and get the drinks they are based on. The bar has glasses with seiko presage on them! Really cool

[@seanparks1629]

It really came out nice. Now that you bought the Drexel it looks like you can now have a “side hustle”. “Jody’s Watch Polishing Service” 😅

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Ha! Noooo waaaay! My elbow is still sore!

[@Reptilia12]

@@JustOneMoreWatch you forgot to buy the elbow grease? It should have been listed in the "frequently bought together" section...

[@philmckie243]

​@@Reptilia12right next to the tartan paint.😂

[@herbcraven7146]

Great job on the crystal, Jody! Dremel brand rotary tools are rather overpriced these days. I got a knock-off at Harbor Freight Tools here in the US a couple of years ago for $30 USD with fully variable speed and which included a bunch of attachments and even a flex shaft. Nonetheless, you've got it now, so every future repair makes the investment more of a bargain, right?

[@K1ngfunK]

Ryobi make better 'dremel' rotary tools than Dremel themselves, IMHO. I can't speak to overseas, but that's definitely the case state-side.

[@andrewstewart8754]

I am an engineer and have used the same paste. It's diamond paste used to use for grinding valves. It works I have repaired a few siekos with it. Got fed up with no longer buy seiko watches.

[@briantalley8415]

Thanks for this - you may have just revived a couple Seiko 5's of mine that don't get worn much because of scratched Hardlex. I'll track down some diamond paste and a polishing kit for my Dremmel.

[@CiderPang27]

Tried that once with a 9" grinder, no idea where the watch went but the blade had a nice shine.

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Ahaha!

[@awlonghurst]

Totally agree Jody, if Cronos, Pagani and San Martin can use sapphire on all their watches, why can't Seiko? Even my modestly priced JDM Casio Lineage watches both have sapphire and both cost less than £160

[@zwerko]

I have a Casio Edifice EFR-S107D-1AVUEF which I paid €79 for that has a sapphire crystal with AR coating (and hits every marker spot-on!) so no excuse for Seiko.

[@mikeellis4345]

Oh! I used polywatch and a cotton pad by hand to remove some rather deep scratches on my Casio Royale. A dremel even on low speed can build a lot of heat very quickly on a mineral crystal. Use a dremel on a watch mineral crystal with extreme caution. I’m staying with the polywatch by hand for my repair work especially at $AUD 10 all up. 😊

[@heiner71]

I tried that in the past but was never able to make any difference with Polywatch on Mineral crystal. It works always great on acrylic crystal though.

[@mercster]

Casio Royale has acrylic, not mineral crystal (i.e. glass.) Well, mine has sapphire... cuz I bought a goofy $180 stainless steel case+bracelet+crystal mod kit. 😏

[@heiner71]

@@mercster, ah that also explains what he meant about the heat. Mineral should be able to handle it but acrylic will melt quickly when a Dremel is used.

[@mercster]

@@heiner71 Yeah he may be under the impression that the casio royale has mineral crystal. I dunno.

[@davidrosenblum2178]

Glad to see it worked! I have a Recraft retro chrono that I've nicked the crystal of. I have all the Dremel gubbins and will source the polish. Now you should attempt to dress out some scratches on the stainless steel case of a watch you've nicked. That would get plenty of views I'm sure! Cheers!

[@jb6027]

Nice to know! I don't believe that this information has been presented before by anyone.

[@mattgoodtube]

Thanks for the video. Sapphire is 100% better, but I do have a first-gen orange monster and a dremel just waiting for a $25 set of diamond polish to get back to factory showroom condition.... I didn't know you could do this, so that's great news for me.

[@barryvercueil2346]

Well done Kobus 👏 I've had a Dremel 3000 for many Years and a Seiko 5 with a scratch..... they are about to get intimate as soon as I get some diamond paste.

[@kobusvanrensburg4092]

Cheers 👍

[@glennpettersson9002]

The really good thing is you have learned a new skill set that has set you on the path to watch restoration. The future looks bright 😎.

[@davidstewart3868]

If you have any automotive ceramic coating sitting on the shelf, put a couple of coats in the Watch crystal. It will look fantastic and protect against minor scratches. You can put it on the case too.

[@simonwright6882]

Good work Jody. I'm guessing you couldn't get a sapphire for this one, it definitely would have been cheaper to replace it.

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Sadly not. Long Island do one of the 40.5mm but not this size.

[@MrGeirSteinar]

Good job - it’s almost like I would want to schratch up a watch just to buy a Dremel and polish it back to perfection 😵‍💫😇

[@thisisscotts]

Excellent result!

[@TerminusVox]

To be frank, I'd prefer one of the 'hundreds' I had already paid would have covered the cost of sapphire crystal instead of paying yet another 'hundred' for something that should have been part of the original specifications of the watch.

[@nikc1313]

I have a no brand amazon dremmel type tool specifically for polishing my watches. Combined with a tube of autosol its great for polishing up cases when required.

[@AstroVanTribe]

Thank you for this one - I have a Seiko Turtle that was worn every day in a machine shop that I've been on the fence about replacing the crystal but I'll give this a shot first. BTW, you could find a sapphire crystal for your watch, they aren't "that" costly and replacing is something you could also do yourself.

[@Starlord85]

Yes, that's the point.

[@m2pozad]

I have a manual polishing kit that I bought for scratches, but got used to the scratches on the crystal and forgotaboutit. About $15.

[@davelowey3074]

Hi Jody, after you've done polishing it would be an idea to de-magnetize your watch lad, if it runs fast, that Seiko looks very much like a Bambino great video. Cheers

[@prescottlange]

Buying a drill was the right move. Because replacing the crystal with more Hardlex would just mean more scratches. Then you'd be right back at square one. So consider it a long-term investment. Heck, maybe you can even start taking polishing orders, lol.

[@bazm1786]

great job 😊 there is hope for our seikos😊

[@jodyclaborn]

I refuse to purchase a watch without sapphire. Period!!! No matter how wonderful the watch may be in all other aspects.

[@claytonberg721]

Yeah that bullhead chrono on ali express... why is it a mineral crystal?

[@davidbruce5682]

Exactly Seiko need to ditch the hardlex apart from entry level.

[@johnsrabe]

I do own a Dremel! Awesome. Thanks.

[@martinrea8548]

Great job! Like you, I got a Seiko with a scratch on it, so I might be doing the same as you did here. Nice watch by the way.

[@thebetamaxman]

You can also get any scratches off the polished stainless extremely easy with mothers aluminum polish and a micro fiber cloth or watch polish cloth by hand. Takes about 5 minutes. Why it annoys me when anyone complains about scratches on the polished areas of a case or bracelet when it is easy peasy to remove them with mothers or even poly watch. But I find the mothers aluminum wheel polish even better for watches than poly watch, even for plastic crystals. Also a warning, a dremel will quickly burn through a poly crystal on any setting so hope no one tries that on a plastic crystal.

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Looks like my next video is sorted....

[@-Astro--]

I use to use cape cod cloth but then found mother's aluminium polish and it is the best going for fine high shine finishing and a small tub lasts a lifetime 👍

[@thebetamaxman]

@@-Astro-- also a green Scotch Brite is a very close match for most of the brushing on watches.

[@-Astro--]

yeah I use one for brushing 👍👊

[@ifnyou]

That dial looks great!

[@michaelkeefer4293]

I think it would have been less effort and cost just to replace the scratched mineral crystal with a new sapphire crystal. But still pretty cool that you can actually buff out scratches in mineral crystal if you really want to put in the time and effort.

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Not so easy if no one makes sapphire for it!

[@stoned9874]

@@JustOneMoreWatch can u plz do a review on Boderry Voyager, for a $97 field watch you got sapphire crystal, Seiko movement and titanium case

[@rsaha999]

Are there none for this dial size aftermarket that might be 'compatible' in any way? :(

[@spookmineer]

Not so easy to change the glass. Tomas made a vid about that not too long ago. His advice after breaking one glass, just buy a watch that does have sapphire, rather than replace it.

[@dunderhay9169]

My daughter scratched her 34mm presage, no sapphire available and a replacement hardlex is £50 +VAT

[@5naxalotl]

doubt you need diamond polish for hardlex. i'd save that for sapphire and use the relatively cheap blocks of waxy buffing compounds ... often labelled as rouge despite red being the only true rouge. i'd guess "yellow rouge" is good for the final optically flat polish. if you need a harder polish (unlikely) cerium oxide is a very hard and fine powder ... probably comes premixed but you can mix your own paste. i'm also guessing this is a far, *far* shorter job if you use large buffing wheels on a bench grinder, and this will be a better geometry for maintaining a flat surface during earlier passes, but note you should keep separate buffers for different grades of compound. also note you can you can do a very good job for a few bucks working your way through progressive grades of black carborundum paper, starting as course as you need to remove your scratch, ending at 3000 to 5000 for an optical finish, and not skipping too many grades because you can spend all day pointlessly trying to remove opacity from the previous grade with too fine of an abrasive. final note, i bought a dremel knock-off for about $30 (aud) at a Supercheap Auto sale (after i got about ten years out of an aldi knock-off) and the most important thing to know is that you can buy a teeny chuck for a few bucks on ebay instead of working with goddam collets which you only need for precision work and you're probably not doing that with a dremel

[@mahazroko6753]

Mark from Long Island Watches is selling a sapphire replacement crystal for the previous versions of Cocktail Time.

[@darrendackly4754]

Absolutely gorgeous watch.

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

And much better looking now!

[@rleiro]

Thanks for the video, Jody. Personally rather than investing in a Dremel, polishing compounds, and pads, I would have spent that money on an actual sapphire crystal from Long Island Watch.

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Well, you would have been sadly disappointed when it arrived and it didn't fit. Long Island do one for the 40.5mm models, but not this one.

[@rleiro]

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the clarification.

[@Halfhoff]

Beautiful watch!

[@MichaelAguila]

What a beautiful dial though! 🙌

[@calnative4904]

Try some very fine wet and dry sandpaper first then the diamond polish, faster and better results.

[@dommerdom]

I wonder what the actual impact you the bill of materials would be if they used sapphire instead of scratchlex across the board. $5 per watch?

[@sweetcorn1968]

Hi Jodie, if you do wear it this afternoon and put a big scratch in it then it won’t cost you anything next time as you don’t have to buy the stuff.

[@JustOneMoreWatch]

Ha! Well, it'll cost me another half hour of my time! And I can't polish it forever, I'll end up polishing a hole in it.

[@sweetcorn1968]

Perfection is the enemy of good enough.

[@spavliskojr]

When you are taping cases for polishing, always best practice to use the kaptan plastic tape. its heat resistant and is highly protective against polishing. Its what professionals use when polishing and refinishing watches. The other thing is to be careful of heat buildup. it is possible to have the crystal crack if you really burn in the dremel and keep it there.

[@dylvasey]

I've been polishing my own mineral crystal for years and have= always had great success. There are two golden rules, One of which you did not mention. 1 .. Take your time. Do not rush. But more importantly, keep the dremel moving. If you stay in one area of the crystal you will heat it up so much you will go straight through it!!!!! I got distracted once whilst cleaning a Speedy Reduced and put a hole right through it. Don't make my mistake!

[@earthenjadis8199]

Great video.

[@danielleavitt5411]

I have used diamond paste for a while. Getting that wave pattern out of the glass is almost impossible no matter how much you polish. Generally, I use the 10-micron paste first, followed by 5, 2.5, and finally .5. This can also remove scratches from the sapphire or the AR coating on the sapphire if it gets scratched up. On the plus side, you never need to buy this equipment again.

[@dj_laundry_list]

Those 4k macro shots look great. Say, how about you rent some of my old hardlex seikos for review and buff the scratches out of them in return?

[@marktibbetts3799]

Beautiful watch.

[@HuyPham-io4vu]

Informative, but I agree with just finding a sapphire crystal and replace it.

[@zumalot]

Good work with the Dremel, Jody. That Presage is a real looker. I will not get to a Dremel as I'm now 68 along with the lack of dexterity and fading eyesight. Seems the lower to mid level watch brand that starts with an S is either misaligned somewhere, too slow or fast or both misaligned and too slow or fast. I've had luck in the past adjusting time + or - and this 7s26 was slow, around 15 sec/day slow. I know this doesn't bother many, but to me a slow watch is a broke watch. Long story short this 7s26 is even slower now to the point it is not moving at all. I assume there was a slip. To bring this off topic back to on topic I'll just say I may as well been using a Dremel. For scoring I award you, Jody with the usual thumbs up and a finger to S company. If a certain watch movement is capable of a certain accuracy, then it should be that accurate. The key word is capable, not the crazy ranges used where the maker can say "well the timepiece is within tolerance". We all know how capable the old 7s26 is so why isn't it? Now to be fair I am awarding myself a thumbs down for even attempting something I shouldn't even have to do. Also I've wasted some time and space here so I'll say a heart felt good day or night folks. Pray for peace.

[@colinw7496]

The Dremel is a good investment. I use mine all the time for all kinds of stuff. Now I'm going to add polishing watch crystals to the list.

[@masudashizue777]

A Dremel tool is a nice thing to have but it's hard to justify the cost if you don't have too many jobs to do.

[@retroransom9861]

I agree with you, but once you get one you will find so many things to use it on. I know this from personal experience.

[@ElderPinto254]

now trying to polish a saffier it took me 3 hours but you can do it !! opower to dremel and now you have the set you dont look back

[@Ekstraordynaryjny]

Did it countless times with my G-Shocks. I'd recommend cerium oxide powder instead of diamond polish. You can do it by hand, no need for power tools, except for the most egregious gashes.

[@e28forever30]

Thanks, good tip.

[@davect01]

Fun video. I have a few scratches on one of my Bulovas and been thinking of polishing it but have no experience

[@cokentutes]

I love my seiko. I wear it most days. But the crystal scratched within a month. More than a year in it still keeps great time, but tons of scratches.

[@barrettwbenton]

I must bectgst outlier who's rarely done a number on Hardlex-equipped Seikos - I agree that sapphire *would* be somewhat preferable, but many of my fave watches over the decades (not just Seiko) didn’t come so-equipped. That said, I *did* come across a nice, 90s-era Seiko SUS chronograph that did have some noticeable scratches its (presumed) Hardlex domed crystal. A little KZbin sleuthing brought forth a video of someone using a Polywatch kit made for mineral crystals - yep, they do make one - and using a Dremel tool instead of the hand-application tools supplied in the kit. Luckily, I already had a cordless Dremel tool among my other tools, so I ordered the PolyWatch kit and got to work...and, yes, my results were similar to yours: about 95% scratch-free. As we say in the States, "close enough for government work." Not too worried about future scratches, since (1) if anything on my watches gets scratched, it's almost always the case rather than the crystal, and (2) now I have the means to handle any crystal-defacing that does happen. And now, so do you. 😊

[@sl8ight_yt]

I've had a bunch of Seikos with hardlex (including the Old Clock cocktail time with the same case/crystal as this) and never had a single scratch.

[@Mile-long-list]

Good thing it's a disposable seiko those vibrations will ruin the movement which is an improvement to a seiko !

[@CollaborativeDataAccounts]

I will now have to try this.

[@artemorbid]

When you say give it a wash? what does it mean? thank you

[@greamespens1460]

Dremels are great for hard skin or removing the crusty bits on washing.

[@paulhopkins1905]

There is absolutely zero reason, any watch costing more than $150 should ever have a mineral crystal at all. The price difference, especially in bulk is minimal, and everyone would happily pay an extra 10 to 20 bucks extra for sapphire

[@PietroCozziTinin]

I don't understand the remark on the strap. I learned that you have to be able to hang the watch from it's belt buckle and still read the time right side up. So what you do should be the right way yes?