SMPc Question/Time Sensitive

Marsimaxam

Perhaps this will put your mind at ease about scratches... and if by some miracle you manage to slam the crystal against a diamond (unlikely...voluntarily, anyway) , rub it against another sapphire crystal (the watch world's equivalent of putting two Siamese fighting fish into the same tank) , or grazing it against a brick wall that has a rough pattern to its surface, whatever scratches that occur can be polished out.

• "Synthetic Sapphire: A synthetic sapphire crystal or “glass” is actually not glass at all. It is a very hard, transparent material made of crystallizing pure aluminum oxide at very high temperatures. Synthetic sapphire has the same hardness as natural sapphire gemstones, but without the colouring agents that give the gems their various hues. When it is heated, the synthetic sapphire forms round masses, that are then sliced into pieces with diamond-coated saws. These disks are then ground and polished into watch crystals. (One reason sapphire crystals are relatively expensive is that the tools required to cut and polish this extremely hard material are very costly.) Sapphire (whether natural or synthetic) is one of the hardest substances on earth. It measures 9 on the Mohs scale, which is a system for rating the relative hardness of various materials. (Diamond measures 10, the highest rating.) Watch crystals made of synthetic sapphire are often marketed as “scratch resistant” or “virtually scratchproof” because they are very difficult - but not impossible - to scratch. Diamond can scratch them; so can man-made materials that incorporate silicon carbide, which, with a Mohs rating of between 9 and 10, is harder than sapphire. So, if you accidentally scratch your watch on a simulated-stone surface or a wall that incorporates some of these silicon carbide materials, it could scratch the crystal."

https://www.momentumwatch.com/blogs...-sapphire-crystal-sapphire-vs-mineral-crystal

R Rocinante

So guys is $3500 a good price for a brand new SMPc or would it make more sense to get one on Ebay for around $2800 and take my chances? I have seen them on Chrono 24 for around 3-4k for ones that are a few years old with scratches, etc. Normally I would have more time to think but not sure how long the jewelry store will be able to hold on to the watch. This isn't something I ever thought I would have to think about because I never thought anyone would see a brand new older edition SMPc at an Omega AD again.

R Rocinante

Honestly, if I could find a new one for $2,900 new on the grey market I wouldn't hesitate. I would not stress about the lack of warranty. From the pictures gbesq, your SMPc looks to be in excellent condition. I'm curious if you graduated to the SMPc after having owned the previous Bond.

R Rocinante

Guys, just recently found a black dial SMPc at a jeweler that was never sold still brand new. Its listed at $4400 he will take $880 off the price so will be $3520. I already have a seamaster 300 bond watch quartz with black dial for less than 4 months now. I had been looking more and more at the SMPcs even before this and realized it's probably the watch I should have gotten. The bezel on the bond quartz just seems dated to me and I love the wave dial up close but usually I can't see it in normal conditions. Honestly I didn't want to mess with an automatic as I don't care as much for the horology and I didnt want expensive maintenance but I'm torn. My seamaster is not terrible but I know if I had to do it over I would have gone another way. I will also have to quickly sell my quartz seamaster which is in excellent condition but still I would need to sell it. What would you guys do? Any advice will be helpful. It's of course on the left in the photo.