# Mineral crystal versus Sapphire



## VEV 1138

Hello,

Just as a non-scientific look at this question, I was wondering how important a Sapphire crystal versus Mineral is to the forum members. This is more about purchasing new watches than vintage. And, this doesn't have to be about only the Russians. Just general watch purchases. Thanks for participating!

Craig


----------



## Kurt Behm

*Hi Craig ...........*

As we discussed before, to me all things being equal, Sapphire is a 'no-brainer'. With so many manufacturers putting sapphire on very inexpensive watches these days,the cost had obvously come down. I think the benefits of sapphire outweighs any slight incremental rise in cost.

I also like acrylic (you can polish it). It mineral I don't like.

Thanks for the survey.

Kurt


----------



## GMT-II

*Re: Hi Craig ...........*



Kurt Behm said:


> As we discussed before, to me all things being equal, Sapphire is a 'no-brainer'. With so many manufacturers putting sapphire on very inexpensive watches these days,the cost had obvously come down. I think the benefits of sapphire outweighs any slight incremental rise in cost.
> 
> I also like acrylic (you can polish it). It mineral I don't like.
> 
> Thanks for the survey.
> 
> Kurt


Unless u like polishing so much and got plenty of free time, acrylic is rubbish and used on those cheap skate watch. It get hair line scratch so easily <|

I will prefer mineral glass for lower cost and better shattering resistant.

Yes, Sapphire is harder but when u drop it, chances of shattering it is higher. Sapphire also cost more to get it.


----------



## Militarywatchdude

I like sapphire on non-military watches. But on military watches I just assume I'm going to wear them rough and scratch them. It's nice to have a mineral crystal so you can get the scratches buffed out!


----------



## Kurt Behm

*Re: Hi Craig ...........*

After hundreds of Watches (some with very hard use) I've never 'shattered' a Sapphire Crystal. I have seriously scratched several mineral crystals though.

Kurt


----------



## cavallino33

I prefer sapphire. However if I like the watch a lot otherwise and the price is not super high I'm ok with buying a watch with a mineral crystal. The majority of my watches are mineral. 

To be honest I've never had a problem with scratching a mineral crystal,sapphire is better but I think mineral is durable enough for my kind use.


----------



## AlbertaTime

I'm _OK_ with anything but prefer sapphire or acrylic (acrylic is easy to keep looking nice!).


----------



## michele

I have no preference, any type of crystal is good if placed in the right purpose.

I like a lot the acrylic crystal of the old Amphibia, very thick and solid. 

Mineral or sapphire, it's the same to me, of course a glass crystal that is not easy to scratch is better, but cosmetically they are the same thing.


----------



## dedatos

In principle,if I do remember something of my optics'physics, sapphire should be more luminous than glass or conventional acrylic since it has a very good index of diffraction.....
But since we are in the Russian watches forum, I believe we cannot find sapphire fitting our soviet watches design at afforable prices. Or not?
dedatos


----------



## OKEAH

Real Comrades prefer Acrylic!

It is much less brittle than both mineral and sapphire (very difficult to break even if it deforms under pressure) hence the best choice for military watches.

It is easy to scratch but very easy to polish!


----------



## Sparks

OKEAH said:


> Real Comrades prefer Acrylic!
> 
> It is much less brittle than both mineral and sapphire (very difficult to break even if it deforms under pressure) hence the best choice for military watches.
> 
> It is easy to scratch but very easy to polish!


Yes. :-! 
Had one of my Amfibias onboard a ship. Tough enviroment and it was slammed against steel structures. The scratches was easily removed with tooth paste.


----------



## colt

OKEAH said:


> Real Comrades prefer Acrylic!


I do like the acrylic on my amphibians, easy to live with, safe to bang around.
For higher end watches, I'll prefer spahire, which can really be beautiful (I'm thinking about Breitling).

Anyway, I voted that I don't care b-)


----------



## milotime

I'm looking at a couple of Burans right now...a 3133 with mineral crystal and a 31681 with Sapphire. I'm not too concerned with the movement since I would love both! But is it really worth spending the extra for the sapphire glass?
I'm assuming both watches are built to the high quality I've read about Burans. 
cheers,
Milo


----------



## Frode

Militarywatchdude said:


> I like sapphire on non-military watches. But on military watches I just assume I'm going to wear them rough and scratch them. It's nice to have a mineral crystal so you can get the scratches buffed out!


How do you buff out mineral crystal? I scratched my Sturmanskie Zivil today :-x, and assumed I had to live with it....o|


----------



## Kurt Behm

My Son just got 2 Buran's with Sapphire and if you have the option, I think that's the way to go. I've never had a mineral crystal that I haven't scrateched.

Best of Luck

Kurt

My Son's two Burans


----------



## cavallino33

Every time I see those somewhere I think about getting one. I'm not a huge fan of quartz or Russian watches with Swiss movements but they have a very nice style.

Maybe it's my imagination but the dial always seems clearer when it has a sapphire crystal. I don't know if there's any scientific reason or proof of that or if it's just my own mental justification for spending more on a sapphire. :-d


----------



## milotime

Just got my Vostok-Europe Expedition Trophy 2009 and the crystal (mineral) is no way as nice as the sapphire on my Tissot. This won't stop me since some of the nicest watches out there including a number of pilot watches are mineral...will just have to live with it! :-!


----------



## Huertecilla

I do not have a preference as all have pros and cons.

For a tool watch however a properly designed sapphire is the benchmark in ruggedness.
When thick enough, stressfree and protected around the edge it is amazingly resistant.
The crystal of an Enzo p.e. would resist just about anything and neither miniral not synthetic would stand a chance.
This does not come ´cheap´ as there are several downsides which in other applications would make this a NoNo. It is a horror to gallop your horse through terrain with an Enzo on your wrist p.e. :-d
Therefore: it depends.

As for ship-use. The Mühle Glashütte S.A.R. was extensively and intensively tested aboard east sea coast guard rescue boats. It was given the |>
I have one of the pre-series test watches and wear it when fire-fighting, mountain rescue, etc. It has a rubber ring instead of a bezel and that is briljant. I would change the bezel for a rubber bumper on any tool watch. It would prevent most of the scratches on amphibians too. Vostok amphibians have pretty useless bezels anyway so it would hardly be a loss in funcionality....
The light weight of acrylic would then be less downweighed by the softness.

Petrus


----------



## dctokyo

Sapphire is the way to go.


----------



## R_T_H

Why, oh why, is this poll still open? It just keeps popping up to the top - and I think the votes are already fairly representative of what people on the forum think.


----------



## lvt

+1 Sapphire.

Many Chinese watches use sapphire for a very affordable price, and sapphire is scientifically proven to be the best.


----------



## Stone Hill

The poll answers are lacking. I would rather have something that cant be scratched or marred. But since that cant happen, having something I can repair at home is the way to go!


----------



## AID

lvt said:


> +1 Sapphire.
> 
> ...sapphire is scientifically proven to be the best.


While sapphire is scientifically proven to be the best there is not that much difference in real world of wearing watches between sapphire and mineral glass. Normal user can not tell them apart as far as one being clearer than other. Sapphire is more scratch resistant, but mineral glass is "scratch resistant enough", unless you do something really funky. But of course, for the same price or for 10-20 bucks difference I would take sapphire over mineral glass too...

Now that I said it, I must admit that my current every day watch has acrylic, go figure! :roll:


----------



## Conchita Turtle

VEV 1138 said:


> Hello,
> 
> Just as a non-scientific look at this question, I was wondering how important a Sapphire crystal versus Mineral is to the forum members. This is more about purchasing new watches than vintage. And, this doesn't have to be about only the Russians. Just general watch purchases. Thanks for participating!
> 
> Craig


I prefer sapphire, and I would pay more for it.

In classic design watches, I prefer hesalite to sapphire. It has a warmer look, shock resist, and easy to polish.


----------



## timanthes

i stick with sapphire as well!


----------



## Mister Mike

Most of my watches have acrylic crystals. My only two Russian watches with glass crystals are mineral (a Poljot Buran from the 90s and a new Vostok K-43. I have a Movado with sapphire, but that doesn't count). Since I agree that sapphire is superior to mineral, I'd pick sapphire over mineral all things being equal; but since most watches I buy are pre-Volmax Russians, the opportunity for sapphire crystals doesn't come up that often!


----------



## chadness

I have all 3 types of crystal. I have chipped, shattered or scratched all 3 types. Old vintage watches were made with acrylic and i would prefer them as a period piece and keep originality. I have a tissot calibre 17 and accidentally dropped it and chipped the sapphire. to be honest the acrylic can be buffed the easiest.:roll:


----------



## putnam dan

AID said:


> While sapphire is scientifically proven to be the best


Oh dear, what proof, under what tests, and to what standard?


----------



## DM71

I think there are many different qualities in mineral crystal, some being better than others, but if I can chose, 100% of the time I will go with sapphire. Simply because more durable. I heard many times that mineral crystal are less prone to chatter if hit and therefore better for diver's watches, but I don't see how I could brake a 4 or 5mm sapphire just wearing it, to do so, I would probably brake or loose my arm as well! So, sapphire wins for me!


----------



## colt

Hi All,

Just a word after a pretty serious fall off my skateboard: I slammed my amphibia really hard against the pavement and the result is... 3 scratches. Had I been wearing my Breitling (sapphire) or SKX009 (hardlex=mineral), I'm quite sure I'd be picking up pieces all over town.

Interesting to note that a Vostok Amphibian is tougher than an ankle: bi malleolar fracture and 2 months without walking :roll: ... my amphibia is still going strong |>


----------



## Mister Mike

colt said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Just a word after a pretty serious fall off my skateboard: I slammed my amphibia really hard against the pavement and the result is... 3 scratches. Had I been wearing my Breitling (sapphire) or SKX009 (hardlex=mineral), I'm quite sure I'd be picking up pieces all over town.
> 
> Interesting to note that a Vostok Amphibian is tougher than an ankle: bi malleolar fracture and 2 months without walking :roll: ... my amphibia is still going strong |>


Agreed. Acrylic has fallen out of style (in large part because it scratches easily, and most people simply aren't aware of how easy it is to polish). When I was new to watches, I would have dismissed acrylic as well, but now I can really appreciate it. Nothing like getting a scratched up old watch for next to nothing, and making it like new with a tube of toothpaste and a paper towel!

Colt -- sorry about the fall. Hope you're back on your feet (and board) very soon!


----------



## Andy the Squirrel

When there is a choice, I will go for Sapphire.


----------



## watch_start

sapphire all the way!
I own such a watch for 2 years and not a single scratch!


----------



## nectarios73

when i buy watches the last thing i am looking is the nature of the glass! when i wear 1 i am carefull with it and i respect it! iam not banging them or hit them. so i am a common user!all in all i believe thats purely pscycollogical matter!


----------



## IanC

The question is moot most of the time, how many companies will offer a watch in both mineral and sapphire?


----------

