Watch Glass, Crystals & Anti-Reflective Coatings Explained | Armand The Watch Guy

In today's video, I would like to discuss watch crystals and anti-reflective coatings which form the frame for any watch dial or case design and can be seen as some of the most underappreciated aspects of watches. This video discusses the variations in anti-reflective coatings which play a crucial role in legibility as well as plastic crystals such as hesalite or acrylic, mineral and coated mineral crystals, sapphire crystals, and Seiko's proprietary Hardlex.
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[@hahaharchitect]

Very informative and very well explained, great job ! I would have loved to see the differences between flat, domed, bubble domed and double domed crystals.... But I guess that would be the subject of another video.

[@getoffmylawn8986]

I have a higher opinion of Hardlex now. Didn't really know much about it before. Thanks, Armand.

[@007jjr]

Excellent video explaining all the available plastic, mineral, sapphire, etc.,, Watch crystals. The best! I love the factual videos.

[@soundssimple1]

excellent video, very educational, I'll be taking more care now wearing my Sinn, I hadn't realized it was coated outside as well. Thanks.

[@Luca-zq3pi]

Thank you for making such a helpful video that's so in-depth while enjoyable to watch, keep up the great work.

[@burlyonescd]

Excellent info. I was looking for a watch, but wasn't sure about the crystal. I love the seiko009 and now I now l know that Hardlex is a good crystal! Thanks

[@MrAdjaize]

Thank you for clearing up the matter of crystals,i really do enjoy your more technical episodes .How about a episode on the different styles of hands or maybe crowns and pushers and their different locations.

[@skicrz]

Very complete and well explained

[@vmarsch]

Plexiglass are my favorite. I avoided it when I first started buying nice watches, but now I seek it out. My least favorite is sapphire without anti-reflective treatment -- they reflect like crazy, affecting the legibility, and spoil my enjoyment of a timepiece.

[@ainsleyveeran4299]

Interesting video. I have 3 Seiko , 2 hardlex and 1 sapphire. The hardlex is top notch and still no scratches. My sapphire one unfortunately has a deep scratch, ironically, but is highly clear though.

[@paulandsueroberts4121]

Bringing out the Universal with that gorgeous bracelet again......you're such a tease Armand!

[@federicopedata2950]

This is an excellent video explaining 👏

[@richardelyii3672]

Another excellent and understandable technical aspect of watch collecting. I eagerly await the next installment. This is a great follow on to your anti-magnetism video.

[@jameshoward9700]

Thanks. As ever, an educational experience! Always wondered where Hardlex stood in the scheme of things. Useful to get feedback on it's strengths too.

[@patrickjean-philippe7679]

Excellent video. Would you know about the AR coatings sensitivity to sea water, swimming pools chlorinated water and clean water ? I was told by my spectacles providers that the AR coatings did not like water…

[@benwong1111]

Great informative video as always. One thing i still wonder after watching the video is, how are the high quality and low quality AR coating differ. I heard that most of the aftermarket options are nowhere near as clear as those come on Omega or Breitling. I’d love to know why some brand like Rolex prefer to not put any AR coating of the crystal

[@user-lt7xe2gt2k]

Terrific video. Do more of these to share your expertise.

[@Xibinatsu]

Great one, keep up the good work.

[@patrickjean-philippe7679]

Your Dan Henry watch looks really nice. Its case and crowns reminds me my JLC Memovox Tribute to Polaris 1968 to the point that I wonder if it was not made by JLC…

[@ashwinkumart8642]

Thanks for explaining. Understood Hardlex now

[@sunilgarbuja]

Thanks for the amazing video! Q: Can AR coating be applied to mineral crystal? I am thinking of getting my watches mineral crystal replaced, so I was wondering if I could ask for AR coating on top (either inside or outside). Thanks.

[@111ark]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how good that strap looks on that Sinn? Thank you.

[@bluejay4069]

Great to have a video from him that's more than just constantIy stiII pictures !

[@Danne1040]

Damn that strap looks so good on the Sinn

[@MrShinobi797]

Very Informative...THANK YOU for sharing. I always wondered however, about Crystals with a Sapphire or Diamond Coating on them. Can you give some details, as to HOW this is done??

[@rowdyron4111]

Excellent presentation. Thanks Armand.

[@IAmScottD]

Great video! Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge.! I concur with some of the other views concerning a follow-up on types of crystals, what they look like and your opinion of each ...in terms of pluses and minuses.

[@flawlessstrategy9972]

Very informative. Thanks! Thumbs up!

[@justbob7828]

Very informative Armand, thank you for the content. Finally I understand the nature behind hardlex crystals. With regard to the blue hue that some AR coatings produce, is there a way to remove this? More specifically, I bought a Dan Henry 1964 which I believe has a mineral crystal with AR coating that does provide the blueish tint as described. I love the watch but being a vintage inspired design, the blue effect does really put me off sometimes an takes away the charm of the polarity found on the panda dial (imo), I'd much prefer the watch without it. To your knowledge, could this be in any way removed? Thanks again!

[@ArmandTheWatchGuy]

+ Just Bob: Thank you very much for the kind words. With regards to your question, I fear that there is little that I can suggest. The reason for this is that Dan Henry uses sapphire coated mineral crystal on his watches which gives a high surface hardness at a lower price to sapphire. The issue with this is that the blue tint may be the sapphire coating, which may destroy the crystal if removes with abrasion. However, if this is just an anti-reflective coating over the crystal, you may be able to remove it with toothpaste and a cloth. I would worry about using polywatch for such a job due to the fear of damaging the crystal and required professional help to repolish it.

[@justbob7828]

WATCH CHRONICLER thank your for your thoughts. I’d assume the sapphire coating is done on the outside but I’ll email him to make sure. So if I understand correctly, if it were the case that there is only an AR coating on the outside and the sapphire coating were to be on the inside, then I could proceed to apply toothpaste to remove it? (Without much worry)

[@MrDoggerDog]

Beautiful Sinn. Not sure about the band though! Thanks for the explanations!

[@kohort1]

I have that same SNZ and the day after I was telling my buddy about the hardlex crystal, I put scratch on it. I can't remember what I did to scratch it, I just discovered it. So, I don't think it was anything too rough.

[@yasindemir]

That explains the scratch on my Seiko Astron GPS. AR coating on sapphire got damaged obviously. I need to get it polished... Any advice?

[@izayus11]

the best double IR coatings I have seen are on the SARX033,35,55,57 from seiko. Strangely, they seem to even have an orangepeel texture, but they are nearly invisible.

[@LesterLovesWatches]

Great informative video. But just to clarify. Does the rough treatment you give your watch involve riding a bike ‘over’ it or just riding around?

[@Markainman]

This as a very good video. Very informative!!

[@morgan97475]

Tell us more about the Dan Henry watch. It looks great.

[@alanr353]

Wonderful video mate Keep up the good work

[@hawk00055]

Very informative. Thank you!

[@wick-trimmer1980]

Excellent explanation a well done Video!

[@20lee20lee]

Hi my question is can I polish with (polywatch)my Omega ?It will damage the ar coating more if I polish it ?

[@ArmandTheWatchGuy]

@20lee20lee : That's a very good question and the result will be the removal of the outer AR coating. This will slightly reduce legibility, but many owners have chosen to have this removed anyway to avoid scratches. Really, it's a matter of preference.

[@harrizzaini7324]

My junghans max bill use plexiglass, does that mean if i accidentally drop it, the impact wont break the glass?

[@doublearon9942]

My experience with Hardlex is that it scratches rather easily. I have rubbed up against an aluminium door handle, scratch. I've reached into the glove box of my car and come out with a scratch. Digging around in my backpack and hitting my cook cup, scratch. I have yet to experience this with any of my Seikos that sport a sapphire crystal. I have never had a Hardlex crystal shatter, but those things are scratch magnets for someone wearing one for normal everyday use...but no more than any other mineral crystal.

[@mgmmaze]

Nodus on their contrail have a green tinge I seen a pic of it today def a good change

[@SarcastSempervirens]

a superb video, thank you for the info!

[@tariqmutair1446]

Hi I really like your channel. And I am wondering why no any trace of any Raymond weil whatch what so ever . Even in other watches blogger also . Is it not good enough?

[@ogarzabello]

Are there firms that offer aftermarket Anti-Reflective Coatings?

[@EternalBreton82]

Very informative!

[@terryfranks7521]

Hi Armand great information on this topic ps do you know why Rolex only uses on coating on there watches kind regards Terry

[@terryfranks7521]

One coating sorry

[@jimbegin6554]

Very informative 👍

[@ihabkahnung]

Very interesting video. And i tried toothpaste. Blendax rules. But as i own some russian pieces i have to admit Polywatch is the bestest. My watchmaker uses it too, so what would i know... Have fun times. ( I am considering the Sinn Die Zeit Edition, my fav paper in the german market...)

[@willtothewong]

Very good video!

[@briand6386]

Flat crystals have more reflections than domed??

[@bradenclick5126]

Great video

[@coehorn]

Thank you very much!

[@moriahmolotovschroeder-hug5632]

as always excellent and informative video. constantly moving your hands over the watches was rather distracting however

[@johnrossell3201]

Brasso takes scratch's out works very well

[@alext2933]

I have certainly scratched my seiko crystal. Takes a beating though.

[@diegoog3654]

From personal experience, you should pull the crown out if one of the hands come out of it's pivot. It could get caught on another hand and damage the dial.

[@diegoog3654]

And if you do decide to send it to manufacturer for a re-dial, keep your old one! They will NOT give it back to you guys...

[@lukamesic1062]

Its like your hands are talking........ hahahahah Great video. 🙏🏼🙏🏼👌

[@benko7ab]

Oh that explains what looks like a very light scratch on my Sinn 104. You can only see it when you play with the angle of the light on the glass. Probably not worth doing anything.

[@markplayford5836]

Interesting, for some reason Hardlex always gets a bad press which it really does not deserve. For some it's an excuse Not to buy a Seiko, those people are missing out Big time!

[@federicopedata2950]

I'll be honest.. whenever I find a watch with internal and external AR, I remove the external one immediately even as soon as I buy the watch. this is because I don't like it and I don't even want to wait for it to get damaged, I remove it first with a dremel and the abrasive paste for cars

[@varanid9]

Yeah, I just shake my head any time I hear about another Seiko buyer mindlessly swapping out his brand new hardlex for sapphire.

[@seanm3226]

Mindlessly?

[@jamesm3060]

I've never really understood why Rolex won't put AR on their watches - it makes them much less legible IMHO.

[@Jeff-mj1nl]

That strap on your sinn looks goofy! :D

[@jaisbr]

I’ve tried toothpaste... doesn’t compare to poly watch.

[@Redbirdsfan1970]

Way too many details. This video could have been done in half the time or less.

[@ilovegongsmygongsongs2094]

3 rd !

[@hockingham7160]

1st

[@CharlieTangoAlfa]

hockingham Gongrats, 12-year old boy...

[@hockingham7160]

@@CharlieTangoAlfa jealousy will get you nowhere in life bitter old man.

[@geisteswissenschaft]

hockingham I could have been first but I didn't.

[@aussie8114]

I hate blue AR coating.

[@micksumo]

Great video