Jump to content
When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
  • Current Donation Goals

Group Ar Run 1 Completed


HauteHippie

Recommended Posts

I'd like to organize a group AR coating run ASAP. I've previously posted some details and have received significant interest. Having recently been extremely busy at work, I've had to ignore some PMs regarding the AR run, but with a more favorable work schedule on the horizon, I'd like to get the ball rolling....

This coating lab is excellent. The owner is very willing to meet our needs and has a business model very well suited to our (relatively) low volume. He has already sent me samples, which I have posted on RWG. He has been very responsive and motivated, and is quoting me 1 week turn times (excluding transit times). Here are the details:

The Coating

- Optically clear with slight Blue/Purple hue

- Approx. 1% reflectance of visible light on the coated side

- Durability: This will be a DURABLE AR COATING. Let's put this in perspective: Our coating will meet military spec Mil-C-675 for durability. As such, it can be handled with bare hands and very easily cleaned, if required. However.... it WILL NOT withstand the "screwdriver test" as uncoated sapphire will. So... it is durable, but it can and will scratch if you're not careful!!!

- Single sided OR Double sided coating is available. There will be no price difference, but before deciding to go with a double side coating please refer to gen forums and RWG posts where people are actually removing the outer AR coating on their watches for various reasons!!!

The Pricing

I think the pricing has improved since my initial post. They are very eager to work with us!! Here is the price schedule:

- 25 crystals = $45 USD per crystal

- 40 crystals = $30 USD per crystal

- 50 crystals = $25 USD per crystal

Prices include return shipping without insurance inside the CONUS. Insurance, international shipping (outside CONUS), etc will cost extra.

How this will work

Please post your intent to commit here. If you have any uncertainty about honoring your commitment, then do not post. If/when we have enough of a commitment to begin a run (40 crystals is a nice sweet spot), then I will provide an address (my address) to everyone participating. I will provide shipping instructions and you will ship your crystals to me. I will not be removing crystals from watches for anyone. I will package the crystals, label them, and then send them to the coating house as a single lot. The coating house will return them to me, and I will then ship them back to their owners.

Payment: At this time I would like to avoid paypal. The easiest thing (for me) is probably going to be a bank check (either money order or cashier's check) that is mailed to me along with the crystals.

So, that's about it... Hopefully the interest in this is still out there! Questions/comments, let me know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 91
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

my main challenge will be to get the crystals removed - I am very clumsy and don't even want to try to remove a movement. Once I have figured out how to do that I will commit

thanks for all your efforts

Perhaps there is someone who wants in on the coating run and would offer to remove crystals for those who can't do it? I simply don't want to deal with it, since I'll have enough to deal with as is. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you going to be doing another run later or is this a one time thing?

I have a press comming but it probably won't be till end of next week :(

We can do additional runs. Next week is no sweat. Which press did you get?

BTW, I have one crystal up in Canada (along with the watch) that I'm going to ask The Zigmeister to ship down to me assuming we get 40 crystals lined up. That will take at least a week from then!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's the deal with crystals that are already AR? Is it possible to have that removed during this process?

Also anyone got any info on how hard it is to buff off the second side if you don't like it?

And what about adding a second side to a crystal that already has one side?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would be in for two ar coatings on 196 and Inge crystals. Is there a deadline for sending them in? I am in EU and I have to disassemble the crystals first....

Probably I would order a third ar coating but I need an info: It is a PAM239 with cyclops. I guess I will have to remove the cyclops first before the ar coating process can start?

I want to be honestly: I am a bit worrying about broken crystals: I asked a german optician recently for ar coating. He told me that he asked some companies but they don't want to do that job because of a significant risk of damage by clamping the crystal for the coating process....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would be in for two ar coatings on 196 and Inge crystals. Is there a deadline for sending them in? I am in EU and I have to disassemble the crystals first....

Probably I would order a third ar coating but I need an info: It is a PAM239 with cyclops. I guess I will have to remove the cyclops first before the ar coating process can start?

I want to be honestly: I am a bit worrying about broken crystals: I asked a german optician recently for ar coating. He told me that he asked some companies but they don't want to do that job because of a significant risk of damage by clamping the crystal for the coating process....

I think once we have 40, I'll just cut it off and send everyone shipping instructions. It will then just be a matter of receiving all the crystals. Those mailing crystals from the EU would hopefully use some sort of expedited shipping method.

As far as the cyclops goes, I had already asked my AR guy about this. He didn't mention any risk of the clamping mechanism cause a problem, but he wasn't willing to guarantee that the glue wouldn't pop under the high temperature vacuum inside the chamber. I will double check this though and post his response....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's the deal with crystals that are already AR? Is it possible to have that removed during this process?

Also anyone got any info on how hard it is to buff off the second side if you don't like it?

And what about adding a second side to a crystal that already has one side?

My AR guy will strip existing AR coats at a cost of $100 per lot using an acid wash. But this extra cost would be yours to bear, unless there are others who would be willing to split the cost with you. Both crystals of mine have no existing AR, so I wouldn't be contributing to the $100.

There should be no issue adding a second side to a crystal that already has one side, but I'll need to be aware of it so I can make him aware of it. I don't know what kind of AR coating your crystal will have, but it's probably a cheap one that can't be touched with bare hands - so care would have to be taken.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crystals With Cyclops: The crystals are not clamped in the machine, so there should be no risk of damage due to pressure. However, this AR coating is a high temperature (600F / 315C degrees) process in a vacuum chamber. There *is* a risk that the glue joint could fail during the coating process. My AR company doesn't know how high this risk is, either. So this is something to be aware of!!!

That said, anyone who does lose a cyclops during the coating process would have the opportunity to buy a replacement from me when the 7mm cyclopes are available early next month :p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up