Polishing 2531.80 Sapphire

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!

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.