Original owner of my 4 month old SM300 and I’ll admit I don’t baby it but I was surprised to see scratches on the sapphire or AR coating - just not sure which one. I can’t feel it and it’s only visible at certain angles. A few years ago I did have a scratch on a Seamaster that was definitely on the sapphire as it made contact with my wife’s diamond ring - there was no question about that as it was visible from every angle and had a depth to it.

With this one, I’m not so sure if it’s the AR coating or the sapphire. Picture attached (it’s close to the 1 o'clock marker). Are there any ways to definitely tell without taking it to a watchmaker? Either way, I didn’t think the watch would be this delicate. It’s definitely a let down for a $5k+ watch.

 

Yes it's scratches on Ar coating...you replace Crystal or move ar coating...
I know it's crazy because you spend mutch money but this is the real truth.

 

You have three choices. Live with the scratch, replace the crystal or remove the AR coating with polywatch. If you decide to remove the AR coating, make sure that you tape off the bezel first. The AR coating is similar to the coating on prescription eye glass lenses. It’s reasonably durable, but it’s far from scratch proof. It makes one appreciate the hesalite crystal on the Speedy Pro - prone to picking up scratches, but they polish right out.

 

Have you tried wiping it vigorously with a damp microfiber towel? I always get some hard water stains from my tap if I don't wipe it off quickly enough. They're not easy to remove. With a Rolex crystal, I could just use a razor and shave off the residual minerals without fear of scratching, but not an option for AR-coated sapphire.

 

I've definitely vigorously wiping with damp microfober towels, but it's still there. I'm totally ok living with it. I just want to know, how do I know it's on the AR coating and not the sapphire itself?

 

Put your finger in scratch ..if you feel it it's from sapphire...if not from ar coating..
I am sure it's from Ar coating..

But why put this Ar coating to sapphire crystall? For scratches?

 

It might be something to do with stopping reflections from the crystal so you can tell the time in bright environments. I could be wrong though.

 

Yes but take the Ar coating so easy scratches?

 

I once saw a $420,000 platinum wrist minute repeater, I don’t remember the make. The watch was sold out of a store in our province because there is no sales tax, but the owner lived out of province. I heard that, several months later, he was fly fishing, and slipped on an algae covered rock. His watch was demolished! Crystal, dial, hands, and the arbors for the hands, The case was cosmetically damaged. How could that happen to a $420,000 watch, you might ask! It should be a lot tougher than a $5,000 SM 300! Wear anything beyond reasonable limits, and suffer the consequences. You don’t baby it, you said. You might want to take another look at how you wear it.

 

Hopefully it was insured! It would be about the cost of an SMP annually to insure that watch!

 

Really?

 

A tongue in cheek retort to the assertion of the OP that a $5,000 watch should survive “enthusiastic” wear without scratching. I suspect you had an idea what I meant!

 

Yes I don’t baby it but don’t get that confused with me abusing it. I don’t go to great lengths to ensure it stays in new condition all the time, but at the same time this watch has never been banged or rubbed against anytime. That much I can confidently say. So it’s a head scratcher why those scratches are there.

Again, the purpose of the question isn’t to get feedback on how I wear the watch. The question was whether or not this looks to be a scratch in the AR or sapphire, which I only got one reply. Ill take it to the OB one day and have them confirm

 

To me it looks like a scratch. That said, I would think you might remember an encounter where a scratch to sapphire would've occurred as opposed to AR, but perhaps not. What do the marks look like compared to the rest of the crystal when light is on them? You can see the blue effect of the AR in your original pics, I would guess that scratches would appear whitish and AR scratches would just glare.

Of course, I could have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about.

 

If you scratch your car against the wall, you will get a damage, no matter the price of the car.
What is the point when you say “it’s a 5.000$ watch”?

 

So what’s your cutoff? $5,999? $6,999? I understand a lot of you spend way more on a watch and that’s fine, but for $5k I expect a watch crystal to not scratch easily ESPECIALLY IF NO HARD KNOCKS WERE ENDURED. Is that so unreasonable? Read 2 posts above yours.

If I knowingly scratched it then I wouldn’t make this post. A lot of you are not addressing the question posted here.

 

I think your question was addressed and answered, your AR coating is scratched. The crystal is fine, it's the coating that's scratched. It doesn't matter the value of the watch, an AR coating is the same regardless of the price of the watch. Personally, I don't like AR coatings, especially on sports watches, as they can be damaged in normal wear even though the rest of the watch remains near perfect. It is one of the downsides of AR coatings. It may make the crystal almost disappear in normal light conditions which is great for viewing, but you do have the issue of scratches. Remove the AR coating and you'll be fine, your sapphire crystal is pretty resistant to scratches.

 

FWIW, you can remove the AR on the exterior of the crystal as I believe Omega does coat AR on the interior as well.
Also, this may be a bit of a tangent, but for sapphire watches, if you happen to have a diamond ring or know someone who wears one, it is actually very easy for the sapphire to be scratched without realizing it.

 

I’d just wear it and have the sapphire replaced at service. If it bothers you you can always have the AR coating replaced on your existing one. I’ve used a guy in the States who is very very good. From memory he charged around $100 each to double AR coat my crystals.

 

I've often wondered why AR coating is applied on the outside of the crystal, a watch is designed to be worn, unfortunately we will inevitably end up getting too close to something which usually results in a scuff or scratch on the case or bracelet, in normal circumstances the crystal will survive without a mark as it is much harder, but if the AR coating is applied outside it is always at risk of being scratched and showing up on the face of the watch.

What is the purpose of the external AR on a crystal, does it not undo the benefit of a sapphire crystal?