Hey guys, just wanted to share my recent success at removing scratches from my sapphire crystal that have been bugging me. I purchased this SMP used and it came with a couple mild scratches on the crystal right in the middle of the watch. You can make out the bigger one in the pics.

I didn't act on this for a while because I didn't realize that the 2531.80 only had AR coating on the inside, and I was worried about making my problem worse. I also didn't know if diamond would leave even more scratches. I have read of others using diamond paste, but I wanted to try this .5 micron diamond spray that I use for stropping high end knives.

I almost went straight to the dremel, but decided to try the coarse cloth that came with my acrylic Polywatch first with a dab of the spray. It took about ten minutes of elbow grease, but my scratches are gone and I couldn't be happier. The crystal looks brand new! I am also loving my new navy blue nato strap from Phenomenato.

Before Photos:


The spray:


The result:

 

Nicely done!

 

This thread brings up a question I've wondered about for a while now: since sapphire crystal is a 9 on the Rockwell hardness meter, second to diamond at 10, what the hell is scratching these crystals? Thanks!

P.S. Btw, great job on the crystal, OP!

 

I have also managed to remove scratches from sapphire but it can lead to weird optical effects if you make too much of a flat spot on the crystal. Your results look good.

 

While the Mohs scale is relevant in most cases, when force gets high enough, scratches can occur even in the harder materials. This discussion was the most relevant link I could immediately find: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/127228/254340

 

Phenomenato is a killer strap, watch looks great, thans for sharing.

 

Thanks all. This was not that deep, almost looked more like a smudge in a line than a scratch. I couldn't get a fingernail in it. Omega recently serviced this watch and I declined to get a new crystal, so it was a permanent mark. And Padders I agree, I think if I used a dremel or rubbed for too long it would have warped the crystal, so I started with the least invasive method I could.

Material science gets tricky with hard and soft materials. I am not a physicist, but I think that pressure and energy can allow a softer material to damage a harder. Think of an axe blade wearing from chopping wood. It could be more like micro chipping than "scratching", I don't know. I think rubbing your keys on the sapphire wont have an effect, but if you use pressure and slide it down a concrete wall it might get some scratches or little chips, assuming it doesn't shatter. Hardness is not the same as toughness.

Thanks Vitriol, I am really impressed with this strap.

 

I too have scratches on my sapphire crystal which I wasn't aware of until the TH service center mentioned them on my service quote as a non mandatory replacement.Declined and had a look when it came back after a complete service overhaul, to the naked eye and using my nail I couldn't see/feel the scratches. Only looking through a loupe I was able to see it.

Not sure how it happened although I scuffed it multiple times on all surfaces (except diamond/sapphire) it is a pretty domed crystal.