HauteHippie

Now that you've posted pics, I'd have to say that crystal looks permanently ruined. Those scratches look to be deep, and not merely surface swirl marks. And, honestly, I can't understand how you could have done that without realizing it. In fact, out of 200 or so crystals that I've coated now, this is the first time I've seen one ruined like this. The fact is that this coating is very durable. You can touch it, and clean it with relative ease. In technical terms, this coating meets US Military Specification MIL-C-675 for durability. MIL-C-675 specifies that the coating will not show degradation to the naked eye after 20 strokes with a rubber pumice eraser. MIL-C-675 coatings can be cleaned repeatedly and survive moderate to severe handling. They will not, however, resist scratches in the same way as uncoated sapphire. If you do not use common sense when cleaning the coated crystal, you CAN scratch the coating. Your crystal looks to have been rubbed on or with an abrasive material. As for my own coated crystals, I routinely wipe them off with spit and a T shirt. I've been doing this for months and have no scratches to speak of. Now with all that said, if you are able to strip the damaged coating and would like to resubmit it for re-coating I'll send it off in the current round due to ship in two weeks at no charge. At the very least, I would like to see the damaged crystal in person to make a better evaluation. Let me know.

Those swirls should go away when cleaned. I clean my own AR coated crystals with spit and a T shirt most of the time and have never had a problem.

Bosk, glad to hear you're happy. On the scratch.... how did this happen? This coating does not scratch with a lens cloth... or any other cloth for that matter.

The PVD looks very good.

You know what they say... When the going gets tough, quit. When life gives you lemons, quit. At some point it ceases to be a hobby, after all. Seriously though, as long as you're doing this to your own watch and not turning into the second coming of RBJ, why don't you take a step back, collect yourself, and then come back and finish the job, whether that means buying a new $80 movement or not.

Great looking vacation and even better pics. I assume the 050 stood up to scrutiny.

I may have to commission a tootall bony croc strap......

Sounds interesting! Which exotic leather site?

Not being a personal fan of HKTAN's straps from a fit and finish standpoint, this doesn't concern me too much... The comment about using two different hides on the same strap is interesting, and I suppose that it's far more noticeable off the wrist than on....

I've decided I'm long past due for adding an alligator strap to my collection. While I've always thought that'd be an OEM strap, I recently noticed this tan bony Walter strap, and really like it. It's different. Does anyone out there have a Walter strap, and if so, how's the quality, softness, etc? I don't like how the alligator doesn't come all the way to the end on the lug side. But these are made for tang buckles, which I much prefer over deployants. And they available non-tapered, which I also prefer. Oh and by the way, if you're a fan of alligator (but not if you aren't ), how do you like this one?

What an original idea.

Go with Ruby's and add AR later.

I charge $40 USD for double AR.

This is not true. AR scratches when sapphire doesn't.

I've always wanted an Oris TT1.

I'd go C3 at 100% on a 111E

That's the important question. Straps with fillers are not so hot...

A hilarious and awesome post all in one... archibald style! That 2007 Fifty-Fathoms is indeed an under-appreciated beaut!!!

Well said.

My oh my.

We here at RWG tend to know more about watches than papers. But I can guarantee that if you buy a watch from a Rolex dealer, you WILL get a spiffy set of papers to go along with it.

The Ingy does look great coated. The amazing disappearing crystal act is hard to photograph. But once you have it, it's tough to live without it. I'd say the Ingy and the VC Overseas are my two favorite AR'd crystals. The textured dials pop. One thing that'd be interesting to see commentary on, Pug, is how the pro AR coating compares to your SFSO's coating.

Further reading into this "TeClube" indicates that it is in fact TiAlN. Will be interesting to see how it turns out.

If you want my $0.02, then I think you need to stick with either TiAlN or AlTiN, as it's really the right coating to use. It outperforms TiN (which is gold anyhow), and TiCN. So, what I think what you need to do is obtain TiAlN samples from various coaters. There will be noticeable color variances between them because the Al doping percentages are different from coater to coater. And the color of TiAlN is a direct result of the Ti:Al ratio. Of course, I'm thinking of PAMs, and am not entirely familiar with B&R. If what you seek is a darker black, then you need an even higher Aluminum percentage and then they call it AlTiN. Some rather poor pictures illustrate the difference below: AlTiN: TiAlN:

Ah shame... We should get a collection plate going for the owner of this watch so it can undergo a full teardown!