# Do NOT polish the Max Bill crystal ?



## pjwoma2 (Jun 9, 2014)

As a courteous public service announcement, I wanted to let everyone know that buffing/polishing the Max Bill crystal with polywatch is apparently a bad idea. I tried buffing out a small scratch and ended up rubbing off the SICRALAN coating and creating a mess. Then I found this :

https://www.watchuseek.com/f8/junghans-max-bill-polywatch-mishap-new-strap-bonus-pics-856503.html

I called a few dealers and service centers, as well as the junghans US website, and the consensus was that one should never try to buff the plexiglass acrylic of the max bill - in fact, the two service centers I spoke with said that if the watch gets scratched the only alternative to living with it would be to replace with crystal (due to the coating). I find this a bit misleading, especially as the Watchbuys description states the Max Bill is susceptible to scratches, and that the "Light scratches, however, can be buffed out and removed" (http://www.watchbuys.com/store/pc/Max-Bill-Germany-Silver-Dial-with-Arabic-Numerals-19p1854.htm).

Does anyone else have this problem? One reason I purchased the watch with the acrylic was with the incentive of being able to buff out scratches, if you have been successful with using polywatch with the Max Bill, could you please describe your technique?


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## StufflerMike (Mar 23, 2010)

I had the crystal removed on a ladies Max Bill and it was just 20 Euro. Not an OEM part. The good thing however is that PW can be used now. That being said I do not know what a watchmaker charges in the US (or elsewhere).


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## pjwoma2 (Jun 9, 2014)

Thanks for the reply. Are you saying you got the coating removed or you got a new aftermarket crystal. If the former, how'd you remove it. If the latter, where did you get the crystal and have it replaced?


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## StufflerMike (Mar 23, 2010)

pjwoma2 said:


> Thanks for the reply. Are you saying you got the coating removed or you got a new aftermarket crystal. If the former, how'd you remove it. If the latter, where did you get the crystal and have it replaced?


The latter. The crystal was sourced by my watchmaker, he usually orders spare parts at Flume.de


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## Nokie (Jul 4, 2011)

Tough lesson to learn. Hope you get it back to normal soon. 

I have found the coating on mine to be pretty tough to date with no visible scratches that I can notice, but I was lucky enough to see the older thread posted above before I even thought about trying to polish the crystal down the road if it did become marred, so I dodged that bullet.


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## Churlish (Oct 9, 2013)

Thank you for your post pjwoma2. I'm a new owner of a Max Bill and I appreciate this information. Given bits of information scattered about I suspected that the Max Bill acrylic might not be polish-able, but it is very helpful to get confirmation.


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## sduford (Nov 24, 2013)

This has been discussed here several times before. However, the Watchbuys site is definitely very misleading, that statement should be taken down.


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## Oblongata (Mar 29, 2012)

You can polish acrylic crystals with the right technique. I've read plenty of threads of people polishing their Speedmasters and so on. 

Anyways, Junghans USA have quoted me $70 for replacing the crystal dome.


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## sduford (Nov 24, 2013)

Yes you can, but not the Junghans ones, because you will damage the Sicralan coating and make things worse.


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## EHV (Mar 30, 2010)

I've seen older threads where people mention successfully polishing this crystal. Perhaps this was before Junghans started to use Sicralan?

"The SICRALAN MRL UV coating process was developed by the GfO in Schwäbisch Gmünd for suppliers in the automotive industry. Both German manufacturers - the GfO and the Junghans watch factory - transferred this proven process to timepiece glasses and have agreed on exclusivity. This transparent coating ensures functional and aesthetic added value: increased scratch-resistance, improved UV and chemical resistance, as well as a more intense plexiglass gloss."

And it looks like Sicralan was release in 2010. Providing scratchproof anti-fingerprint coating

I guess this is the acrylic crystal equivalent to a double coated-anti reflective sapphire crystal which is possible to scratch as well. It is possible to remove the outer AR layer on sapphire but it requires a lot of work. It does not appear that the Sicralan can be removed though but crystal replacement is less expensive.

I still find the watch so intriguing that it's worth all of the fuss.


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## pjwoma2 (Jun 9, 2014)

It seems logical that if you are able to accidentally scrape off the coating that it could possibly be removed from the entire watch. Has anyone tried this? 

I will ill likely get a new crystal at some point and might do some experimenting. Does anyone have any tips/expericence with this?


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## sduford (Nov 24, 2013)

Not if the coating chemically bonds with and modifies the plexiglass


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## Oblongata (Mar 29, 2012)

@EHV good research. My MB is more than 5 years old so hopefully it doesn't have Sicralan as I've been meaning to polish my watch soon with Brasso. Now I just have to research into the right technique for polishing.


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## Churlish (Oct 9, 2013)

This post is the very definition of temping fate, but I thought I'd report in on my experiences with the sicralan-coated Max Bill thus far. 

Like others on this thread, I was worried about the coating prior to purchasing the watch as it seemed to trade a known benefit of the acrylic crystal (the ability to polish out scratches) for the uncertain benefits of the coating. I am also a klutz and a hand-talker, all of which put acrylic crystals in peril. However, I got the watch anyways in early October, because it's the Max Bill!

To date, my experiences have been similar to those of Nokie (above). I have yet to put a scratch or blemish on the Max Bill crystal in three months of regular wear; for comparison, another watch I own with an ordinary acrylic crystal rapidly acquired a network of faint scratches early into my ownership. While I have been careful with my Max Bill and generally worn it under sleeves, my clumsiness means that the coating has definitely resisted some insults. 

While this is one person's experience and I do not know how the sicralan-coated acrylic systematically compares to mineral or sapphire, I've been happily surprised (so far) by the scratch resistance of this watch. It's definitely less of an issue than I initially feared. I now hope that I don't smack my Max Bill into a stucco wall tomorrow.


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## pjwoma2 (Jun 9, 2014)

Just to follow up on this, several months ago I got a couple scratches on the crystal and decided to get some fine sandpaper and see if I could scrape off the coating where it had already been coming off from the scrapes. After about 1 hour of constant attention I successfully took off the sicralan and used Polywatch to buff out the crystal. I also rubbed a bit too hard and put some compression cracks in the crystal, but hey at least I know I can get the coating off. Anyways I am going to get a new crystal for it due to the cracks.


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## rosborn (Oct 30, 2011)

Precisely the reason I would never buy a watch with an acrylic crystal. Beautiful watches and the crystals do look amazing but I need something much more durable - hence the Aquis and the UX (sapphire crystals). I can pick up dings and scratches with the watches in their cases I am that much of a doofus. So, I have to purchase watches that are safe from me.


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## dhtjr (Feb 7, 2013)

Replacing it with an uncoated crystal shouldn't be that hard; just need to find the matching size and shape. Ever thought of seeing if an optometrist can strip the coating? I think they use Sicralan on eyeglasses, so maybe they have a substance that easily removes it. Just a thought. I'm sure the Sicralan is fairly durable, but obviously it can scratch, so I'd rather have a plain domed acrylic and know I can Polywatch out scratches myself.


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## BabyJoe (Jul 20, 2007)

For reference:
Guy on the Dutch watch forum did cautiously polish the whole coating off, and the result is good.

https://www.horlogeforum.nl/t/junghans-max-bill-plexi-sicralan-polijsten/229414


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