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Dumb Questions About Crystal Scratches

F
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I've been wearing watches for 3 months spare me any abuse! I have a SMP 300m (AR coating of course) and am getting a hesalite Speedy next.

I know AR coatings can get scratched up. Will wiping the crystal with a paper towel, tissue or t-shirt scratch it up? I've been using microfiber at home but don't carry a cloth with me. Will sliding on or off long sleeve shirts while wearing the watch lead to scratching the dome? Does polywatch work on AR coatings?

Same question for hesitate minis polywatch.

Many thanks!
 
ducatiti
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Same exact situation as you. SMP on hand and 3861 arriving on Wednesday. I already have Polywatch on hand 馃榾

I plan to use a clean microfiber at all times especially on the hesalite. Do not use Polywatch on SMP as it will remove the AR coating.
 
rhr321
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Paper towel, or a t shirt will not harm the AR coating on a modern seamaster, but I probably wouldn鈥檛 use paper towel. The coating is pretty tough. Don鈥檛 use any abrasive polishes on the AR coated crystal. Polywatch is safe on the hesalite
 
JwRosenthal
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Sapphire crystals are pretty tough- wiping on your T-shirt or dress shirt material isn鈥檛 a problem. On the few sapphire I have I usually just wipe on my opposing shirt sleeve). Avoid chemicals or sprays on coatings- plain water is all you usually need if it鈥檚 really grungy.
Acrylic/ Hestalite is gonna scratch, its part of the charm. Don鈥檛 sweat every little scratch, just wait until it become pretty heavily scratched and use the poly or any other plastic polish. Deeper scratches can be wet-sanded out to a point.
 
3rdstringholder
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Some people say that AR coatings scratch easily, others say they've worn for years with no problems. My guess is that a paper towel might be risky to use on AR or hesalite. As stated, Polywatch is a no go on AR. I've had starched shirt cuffs and coarse fabrics on jackets scratch hesalite, but the Polywatch takes care of that. AR seems to be tricky....May want to stick with your microfiber method as much as possible.
 
SkunkPrince
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I frequently wipe down my watches with the Zeiss lens cleaning wipe after I clean my glasses.

I wish you guys would pay attention and get a real plastic polishing kit, I recommend Novus, which costs 1/100th of the price gram for gram than freaking Polywatch.
 
noelekal
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Remind me not to draw against you SkunkPrince.

Showdown+at+high+noon_7d12ce_4833213.jpg
 
SkunkPrince
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Now, mind you, I am not saying Polywatch does not work; it works perfectly fine. You just pay way too much for it as if it were magic... which it's not. 馃榾
 
noelekal
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I actually use Mothers more often than I do the Poly Watch. Works just as well as Poly Watch best I can tell. If it makes one feel better he can follow up with CD scratch remover or headlight lens polish.

"What grit is Mothers mag polish?

It is a polish, of about 3-4000 grit."

loergur0hxcqh43vgwzh_1024x1024.png
 
SkunkPrince
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That'll work too but I think the Novus cleaner does a pretty good job.
 
SkunkPrince
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By the way, how did I learn about Novus? I worked as a student employee at a state research university somewhere there are lots of cows. A local company that made small engines, its initials might have B and S in them, had said university research different designs of heads for these small engines, and they had to be made of Lucite, because how else are you going to see inside to know whether they work better and why?

So my friend down the hall, a machinist, would cut these heads out of solid Lucite using a milling machine, and after he was done, he polished them to make them as transparent as they could get.

He used the same Novus kit Amazon sells, except using a machine buffer and much larger quantities.
 
gbesq
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I use Novus primarily to polish scratches out of the thermoform acrylic hull on my sea kayak, but it works great on hesalite watch crystals too and it is much less expensive than PolyWatch. The AR coating on the SMP鈥檚 sapphire crystal is reasonably tough, but it will scratch just like eyeglass lenses can and the scratches cannot be polished out except by removing the AR coating.
864B0090-1765-4203-B5C0-B2CFB83BF217.jpeg
 
Bugbait
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I use any cloth to clean my watches and never had an issue scratching the AR coating. My preference is a microfibre cloth but when that's not readily available then a shirt, shorts, t-shirt, dish cloth, jeans, whatever. All of my AR scratches have been from impact with hard objects like steel table corners, wall edges, etc. When it gets bad enough (only X-33 G2 so far) then I will remove the outer coating with Autosol.
 
Archer
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A tube of Polywatch will last me a very long time, and I polish crystals more frequently than any collector would. If you want to buy some other polish that's fine, but the small tube of Polywatch is going to last you a decade easily. In a hobby where people spend thousands, the few bucks for a tube of Polywatch certainly isn't going to break the bank.
 
Archer
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F FL23833
I know AR coatings can get scratched up. Will wiping the crystal with a paper towel, tissue or t-shirt scratch it up? I've been using microfiber at home but don't carry a cloth with me.

I would use a soft microfiber cloth (small sizes are available that you can carry), and if you need more cleaning, use some lens cleaner for eyeglasses.
 
gbesq
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All of the products recommended in this thread will work on hesalite. For that matter, so will toothpaste and it will leave your watch with a minty fresh scent. Personally I haven鈥檛 had any issues with scratches on the AR coating of my 2017 SMPc, but I don鈥檛 routinely bash it into things like door frames. I do clean it regularly with eyeglass lens cleaner and a microfiber cloth which does the job just fine. I鈥檓 not convinced of the wisdom of coating the exterior of a highly scratch resistant sapphire crystal with an AR coating that will scratch, but I鈥檓 not one of Omega鈥檚 design engineers.
 
DaveK
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Archer Archer
A tube of Polywatch will last me a very long time, and I polish crystals more frequently than any collector would. If you want to buy some other polish that's fine, but the small tube of Polywatch is going to last you a decade easily. In a hobby where people spend thousands, the few bucks for a tube of Polywatch certainly isn't going to break the bank.

I must be using way too much for each application 馃槵
 
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