Unknown smudge marks on UPO Lite crystal. Comments?

[jitai]

Hi,

My UPO LITE came with UPO case, dial, SS bracelet, modded with Correct "No feet" logo and it is powered by asian DG4813 movt (good movt and keep good time so far).

The design is sleek and nice for a diver watch. The rep looks very close to the gen article from a distance.

Now here comes the problem. See green circle in pic below

There seem to be some unknown smudge marks (Not scratches) appearing within the crystal. I tried to buff it off many times but impossible.

The smudge marks seem to disappear when looking at some other angles. See pic below

So, What could have happen to the crystal? I think this smudge mark will not happen on a gen sapphire crystal except mineral / synthetic crystal.

Anyone experience this? Is there anything I can do to buff it off ? (beside replacing another crystal)

The watch is still in good conditon despite the crystal smudge marks. I tested it by putting my hand into the water and it still work well.

If I going to sell this, what is a fair asking price (knowing that the buyer can source a used or new crystal) ?

Thanks for your help.

[capice]

not clearly visible m8, can you take a macropic, outside would be better light....

[andreww]

My guess is the smudge is on the inside of the crystal, or that the AR on the inside of the crystal has been damaged.

[Rolexman]

Polishing with a too abrasive polish will cause 'smudges' or so called clouds too becaue it's a mineral based crystal.

[andreww]

Polishing with a too abrasive polish will cause 'smudges' or so called clouds too becaue it's a mineral based crystal.

Actually the UPO Lite has a sapphire crystal.

[Rxus]

i thought the UPO lite were out of production? Sorry for the thread-jacking

But yes with some better pics our friendly Pro's will be able to help you out.

Id suggest if it is a smudge on the inside to pull it out and have it AR coated the right way since the crystal is out you will be very happy.

[sssurfer]

Those are unnevenness on the more-or-less-fake internal AR coat. I too have some on my PO. Our best solution is to erase the original AR coat and have the crystal AR coated again by chieftang or jakub.

BTW, great watch you have there. May I ask you who did you buy it from, and - if he was a dealer - price?

[HauteHippie]

A fair number (I would say 5% that I see) of rep crystals simply have defects. These defects become much more apparent after my AR coating goes on and all reflections are eliminated leaving the defects to stand out prominently. So, it could simply be in the crystal itself, or as others have mentioned, it could be an issue with the coating on the interior surface.

[sssurfer]

Thanks for the advice, B!

In this case, I think that removing the rep AR coat may work as a test.

If the defects disappear once the AR is removed, then they were "just" AR defects, and AR coating the crystal again should work.

If they stay, then they are crystal defects, so better looking for a crystal replacement.

[jitai]

Thanks a million guys.

I went to check out with my local watchsmith and he confirm that it is the crystal that is defective not the AR.

BTW, the UPO had stopped production for while now and no longer available.

For me, I simply ordered a silix's dial with the correct logo and do the logo swap. I really feel that this watch is very nice looking and need no mods (Lume is quite good for a rep) other than the logo.

So, how much do you think it's fair to sell this? (considering the cost I put in on silix's dial and watchsmith charges)

Thanks again guys