Victoria Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 I am posting this on the Gen Discussion part, rather than just the Panerai part, to get more info. When I shot this photo for my wrist-check: To my horror, I must've scratched the sapphire crystal of the PAM 111h from Andrew. Top left corner, near the 10. Tiny scratch. Thing of it is, it REALLY is sapphire not mineral glass, or "synthetic sapphire". Water bead test and sound test (hard sound when tapping, rather than the hollow plasticky sound of mineral glass) absolutely confirms it. How on earth then, could a sapphire crystal scratch, since I always thought it was nearly impossible to do so? Is it visible? To me, yes, and therefore very frustrating. I don't plan on selling any of my watches, so that's not a consideration. I just genuinely want to know if one can scratch sapphire crystal?? Can I fix this, short of replacing the crystal? TIA. *sad* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyster Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 I would have thought that you could only scratch sapphire crystal with something very hard, a diamond for instance. I suspect it has either been marked with a diamond ring or its not sapphire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted September 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 I would have thought that you could only scratch sapphire crystal with something very hard, a diamond for instance. THAT'S IT! Do you see my first wrist-shot in that thread? Those are real diamonds. I STUPIDLY, stupidly just remembered that I put the PAM in the same "case" as the diamond ring -- since I brought down 3 different ring changes, to mix things up a bit for you guys visually. God what a BERK. Pride cometh before a fall. Vain, vain woman... Thanks, Hyster. (I'm guessing there is no fix, unless it's total replacement, yes?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranium Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 vbarrett ... sorry to hear about the scratch! measures 9 on the Mohs scale (on a scale of 1-10). Mohs is a system for rating the relative hardness of materials. Theoretically, anything higher than a 9 on the Mohs scale is capable of scratching the crystal. There are several man-made materials that rate higher than 9 on the scale, and the most obvious - a diamond - rates a 10. So yes, sapphire is scratch "resistant" ... not scratch "proof". Remember, it just gives it character!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranium Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 Wow ... looks like I was late to the party Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted September 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 So yes, sapphire is scratch "resistant" ... not scratch "proof". Remember, it just gives it character!!! Thanks, Cranium, for your consolation and information. I officially hate this ring. Yuck. (Dings add character to a PAM. I am learning to live with one or two I have made. But scratches on watch crystals just look awful, IMHO. Ah well...licking my wounds just now, but I shall be fine soon. Thanks again) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaedo Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 On the plus side it is so small I can't even see the scratch. And that wrist shot has made me realize I have to get a metal bracelet for my Pams. Looks fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted September 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 On the plus side it is so small I can't even see the scratch. No, what happened was that the moment I had finished shooting this watch for the Wristies, I put it into the small felt case I received from Narikaa. Inside that was the diamond ring. TO MY UTTER HORROR JUST NOW, I realised I had briefly placed the DSN PAM 112 inside that same pouch. I had already logged off now, but I ran like Jesse Owens to my watch case -- Davidsen PAM not scratched. Heilige Maria, Mutter von Jesus...! Whew, guys, I have step back from this hobby, maybe. This is madness. Imagine if I lose a watch?? I would commit ritual seppukku! And that wrist shot has made me realize I have to get a metal bracelet for my Pams. Looks fantastic. Well, at least some good came out of the wrist-shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TTK Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 (edited) Ordinary seppuku would suffice....no need to follow your usual trend by making a ritual out of it.....! Incidentally......genuine sapphire as mentioned already registers 9 on the Mohs scale......you have to be pretty determined to scratch it....even with a diamond......it requires considerable force to scratch......I don't think just placing it in a soft felt pouch would produce the 'ouch' of a visible scratch.....it might register some 'hairline' scratches on the case....but not on the sapphire......but hey...what do I know....?...only what my diamond tester tells me.....! Edited September 15, 2007 by TTK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 Yep, it's difficult for me to believe that you've got sapphire there. You could always send it in for AR. The glass crystals stick out like a sore thumb after AR coating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 yeah TTK is right. It would take some force to scratch even with a diamond. Just dropping the watch in a bag with some diamonds and shaking it up wouldnt stratch the crystal, not a chance. I would be willing to bet that its mineral glass except i have seen some pretty nasty scratchs on real saphire.. A friend of mine bought a used BCE and its got a big scratch across the crystal and it needs to be replaced. Those 'water drop' tests and such seem to yield some pretty random results sometimes and i would never trust them... if its actually saphire, then you must have smacked it pretty hard against either a diamond or against another saphire crystal on someones watch. Lonnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 Sapphire is Mohs 9, Diamond is 10 - that'll do it. The other thing that can scratch Sapphire is stone walls made of artificial or simulated stone as they contain silicon carbide. Diamond is used to polish sapphire, so it'll scratch it with effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everythingape Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 Scratches are no fun, but I have stopped caring about them. I wear my replica watches anywhere, even at work. Just read what's in my signature and go out get some gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Manny Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 What Pug said! I was trying to think of the name of the stuff that did a number on a gen a few years ago. I wacked the crap out of it on the corner of a wall in San Francisco. I took a look at it suspecting to see some damage to the metal but all the damage was to the crystal. The dealer told me of this evil stuff the call "silicon carbide" and I lost my watch for a couple months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m4rcus Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 I'm sorry to hear about your scratch, but look at it this way...at least it's a rep and not a gen. After a night of too much beer and vodka I awoke to find my two month old genuine Rolex Submariner had a scratch on the crystal right at nine o'clock. I have no idea how it got there. And yes, it is a genuine Rolex...I got it from an AD last May. As you might expect, I was p!ssed. I did some research and found this article about repairing sapphire crystal scratches: hxxp://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=tree&goto=1932539&rid=0 (don't know it the anonymizer is working, so I replaced the tt in http with xx) here is a link to the diamond past: hxxp://www.mtixtl.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=322 I haven't tried this yet and kind of forgot about the scratch, but one day plan on trying it. Anyway, sorry to hear about your misfortune. You could always send the watch up to me in North Florida if it bothers you too much. -- marcus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryyannon Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 In the future, just wear your sapphires, rubies and emeralds when playing with your fake watches: shimple good shense, dahling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section8 Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 I came in here expecting some Sean Connery encounter based on the thread title. i want my click back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilingbear Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 I can't even see it from the photo! And I gaurantee that nobody but you is looking at your watches under a loup If you ever send it in for a mod (like lume) have the crystal replaced then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobs1971 Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 @Vic: sorry to hear, but is there maybe a slight chance that you've scratched the AR coating and not the glass itself? It's a theory, though, but you never know. Any experts on this?? By the way, I don't see anything on the pic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratchpot Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 More worryingly than the scratch, there is a strange ghostly figure in the reflection of your PAM... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryyannon Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 More worryingly than the scratch, there is a strange ghostly figure in the reflection of your PAM... Not to worry: it's just Uncle Nosferatu: (Stop moving the goal posts, Vicky - you know that this was the photo being referred to!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pix Posted September 15, 2007 Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 This problem justifies that you invest in some...rep rings ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted September 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 I can't even see it from the photo! And I gaurantee that nobody but you is looking at your watches under a loup Guys, thanks so much for the continued replies!! But to reiterate, the scratch is NOT visible in the photo -- it hadn't happened yet. I put this watch briefly into a bag containing two diamond rings and a gold ring (all of which are in my Wrist-check) directly after shooting the Wrist-shot seen above. And it's not a gash. It's a TINY scratch, which I'm embarrassed I feel so badly about, but there you are. I just came back from my watchmaker, and he tested it -- real sapphire crystal. When I showed him the ring, he said, yes it's possible that's what happened. Didn't mention the stone because I hadn't read that post, although it could've been the reason too, I'm now wondering. He said one can replace the sapphire crystal with another, but I demurred at the price. If you ever send it in for a mod (like lume) have the crystal replaced then. Not quite at the modding stage yet. I even turned down very kind assistance on another matter from a member. I just don't like my watches out of my sight (yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted September 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 This problem justifies that you invest in some...rep rings ! LOL! My mother adores jewelry, and has no difficulties wearing paste jewelry at all. But Miss Rep Watch collector here refuses. Odd how tastes work... @Scoobs: Drat, I should've asked about AR coating. I believe Andrew advertises this as "light AR coating" whatever that is. I could be wrong though. @All: My mother said just now, "I can't see anything. And I am wearing my 4x magnifying reading glasses I got at CVS last night. Where is my loupe!". I'm embarrassed to be making such a palavah about such an insignificant scratch. Hopefully, should a more significant scratch happen to anyone, there is a thread they can research about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted September 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2007 More worryingly than the scratch, there is a strange ghostly figure in the reflection of your PAM... It's the Ghost of Davidsen's Past!! Only ghost I know which wears a wife-beater. Muy caliente. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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