blade007 Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 Hiya guys, I was trying to find someone in UK/EU who might be able to do an AR job on seiko crystals. I made contact with 2 professional optics companies that are willing to carry out the job. Now, i dont really know much about the "technical" aspects of the quality or strength of the AR service they provide. After a bit of communication (as a gesture of goodwill and betchmark of quality), both companies have ageed to "slip" my watche crystals into their next AR run for FREE. I might have to wait for a bit but its great and FREE. I am gonna pick up a couple of seiko sapphire crystals to test this out. It is a big possibility that the AR is nowhere near the services already on offer here. Will upload pics when I get mine done. If this is of any interest to any EU/UK members, i can probe this further.... Hopefully if it all works out we might have another EU based AR service. Although, someone will have to organise the batch AR run and collect crystals, sadly it cant be me due to time, wife and life restrictions... Cheers D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b16a2 Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 If one of them is Spectrum Coatings don't send your crystal there, you'd be very lucky to get it back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmastah12 Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 Although, someone will have to organise the batch AR run and collect crystals D That would be really cool for us UK guys if it works out, now as long as the ONE who organises the batch AR and collect crystals doesnt do a jacub on us, I am game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yacht_master Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 It would be great to have an integer alternative in the EU, keep us informed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capice Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 very interesting, which companies are involved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blade007 Posted October 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 If one of them is Spectrum Coatings don't send your crystal there, you'd be very lucky to get it back! Cheers for the heads up mate. i will certainly avoid them, they are not one of the companies i contacted anyway. very interesting, which companies are involved? Sadly i cannot name the companies on a replica forums. Google lists almost every post in their search results despite the "members only" nature of this board. A simple search result from a replica or replica related site could be a turn off for a company to not go ahead with the AR service. Once the results are in, perhaps the best way forward is to appoint one person who will be the "buffer" between the forum members and the "AR company", perhaps we can use both of them. I had a positive confirmation from both companies to provide a "sample service" for me in their next batch. There is a good chance that I might never see the crystal again, for this reason I am going to send a couple of spare seiko sapphire crystals to them. Once I get the results back (hopefully), we could perhaps work out a way this can work for the benifit of everyone here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watcher Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 I dealt with Siltint in Manchester a couple of years ago but they were not up to the standard produced by Jakub and Cheiftang. The coating was good but inconsistent and I stopped with them after a few crystals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blade007 Posted October 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 (edited) I dealt with Siltint in Manchester a couple of years ago but they were not up to the standard produced by Jakub and Cheiftang. The coating was good but inconsistent and I stopped with them after a few crystals. Cool, I wasnt aware of that company! Mind if I ask how much did that cost you? My main concern is the quality of the AR as well. I am not sure how industrial AR/Optical AR etc compares to the AR on the watches. I received an e-mail back from the techies at one of the companies in question stating that if I send them a sample of the type of AR required they might be able to match it! Now, i dont own any gens with AR and certainly do not want to remove the sapphire from my swiss SOSF hehe... I guess I will just have to try it out and see.. Edited October 8, 2008 by blade007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watcher Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 They charged around 25 pounds per crystal but I had problems with uneven coating and no colour choice. They all had a purle tinge to them but the reflection reduction was very good. They are a very well known company in the spectacles industry, my optician has used them in the past with success. The other problem I remember was the clamping method they used which did leave a small area around the crystal uncoated and could be seen in certain artificial light sources. Here is a pic of my PAM187 done by them on both sides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokedose Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 The Optics industry in the UK use 3 main companies, Sinclair Coatings, Siltint and Spectrum for out of house MAR coating. Optical lenses are made a little bigger than needed usually to allow for the ring of uneven coating at the very outer of the lens that is caused by the clamping method. I also think that the hardness of the coating would be an issue and would probably scratch allot easier than the AR offered by Chieftang or the AWOL Jakub( He has 2 of my crystals ) Having had a chat some time ago with Chief about the differences between Optical MAR coatings and the one he provides, i can tell you this guy knows his stuff! Be lucky @ll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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