Spoooooonz

1. In this case the substrate is hard enough to support the coating which is applied by CVD and will be between 10-20 microns thick 2. This isn't DLC, this is polycrstalline diamond, totally different material. This stuff is 10k vickers hardness

No, sapphlex is sapphire bonded onto a glass crystal. Sapphlex is a scratch resistant as sapphire but has the advantage of being tougher, it s used on divers watches a lot. These crystals go one better by bonding polycrystalline diamond onto the glass.

I'd like to know where they are sourcing their diamond coated watch crystals.

http://www.longislandwatch.com/Thunderbird...s_Watches-1.htm These are an offshoot brand of a German company. The glass is has a CVD deposited layer of diamond on. It's funny that they more expensive models still use sapphire because that is what people expect, despite the fact that a diamond coated crystal has the advantage of being harder to scratch and tougher than a sapphire.

no as they are aluminium they cannot be given a PVD coating. There are black anodised iphone backs though... http://cgi.ebay.com/Black-Metal-Back-Cover...id=p3286.c0.m14

http://img387.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg2108hp1.jpg try that instead

I have a mixed lot of 50 of these to sell (15 black, the rest gold). Sales includes units and install kits to go with them. I sell them on the site darthpod.com for $60 a unit. I find myself in need of some quick cash hence the sale of these units. http://img387.imageshack.us/my.php?i...img2108hp1.jpg I am looking for $800 delivered for the lot.

I've been experimenting with lost wax casting of silver and gold. I'm thinking of making some watches cases, nothing too chunky like a submariner, more like dress watches that use leather straps . Anyone have suggestions for a suitable watch?

AR should be on the interior of the glass only. Exterior AR can scratch quite easily. Seems stupid to have a sapphire crystal with easily scratched coating on it.

item number: 250279613795 Sadly eBay don't seem interested in closing the auction. Seem there is some shill bidding going on too.

I do wonder what percentage of fakes sold as gens never get found out. I've seen more than a few where the unsuspecting buyer has left good feedback, despite having been ripped off. I suppose the first time many of the buyers find out is when they stroll into an authorised dealer beaming with pride, only to be told they dropped $5k on a chinese lemon.

If it is a ceramic it's going to be alumina or zirconium oxide based, both are very tough to scratch.

looks like it could be acrylic, the problem being that it will be even less durable than the traditional anodised aluminium bezel. It should be pretty easy to confirm if it is ceramic or not by tapping the surface with something metal.

Someone has said it is plastic, which if true is going to cause problems for people very quickly, as the plastic will look like crap once it gets a swirls of hairline scratches on it. My understanding was that it was alumina or zirconium ceramic bonded to a metal base. Has anyone been able to determine one way or the other?

So more cartel lies?

Has anyone does a scratch test on this bezel? How thick is the ceramic? Curious as to how this was done

My point has been proven here I think, and it has answered my question as to why none of the previous people doing PVD offer the service for long.

I want to offer a PVD service (despite my being convinced that there is very little demand)and my idea was to treat some panny cases as examples. Any of the dealers selling these?

I don't have a watch done as I don't do watches, and i do not have the expertise to disassemble one to coat. I am trying to get hold of some panny cases I can do to show people, but no luck sourcing any yet. If someone can hook me up with some for a reasonable price I can proceed.

I'm not convinced the demand is there to justify the hassle, and this thread has not exactly done a lot to convince me otherwise.

of course.

I'd love to, but the logistics of it concern me. I would really need to work with one of the sellers. I can offer bead blasting, nitriding and then PVD coating for a very tough finish. Problem is I would need to work in reasonable volumes to keep the price under control. I did want to purchase a job lot of panny cases that I could treat to demonstrate what is possible, but can't find a supplier Ps: Can also do proper 'hard chrome' that is very resilient and looks amazing.

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/2492/cimg2108ca0.jpg iPod touch case backs in gold and black. This is just on to normal stainless, but for greater resistance to scratches under load it is always a good idea to nitride harden parts first.

I run a business doing a variety of treatments to consumer level goods, like iPod case backs doing in gold and black PVD. The cost would be

yes