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AR coating services in UK?


robsa

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Hi All

I am new to the forum so a big 'Hi' to all. I was reading with interest all the kerfuffle about k2222 and his AR coating service and was wondering if anyone provided this in the UK? I assume not as people are sending them abroad to have it done. Having said this, I did a quick search on google and found a few company's that provide AR coating services. They usually talk about lenses but I see no reason why they would not do watch faces? Unless I am wrong in this assumption that is.

Has anyone in the UK contacted these company's to enquire? Perhaps a few of us could pool our stuff together to get this done (I assume they would probably have a minimum quantity, although not sure.) What are the watch glasses made of usually? Glass or some sort of crystal? Sadly, my knowledge is lacking in this area but I am only too happy to maybe make some enquiries if I knew the answer.

This company are in manchester:

http://www.siltint.com/Precision_Products/antireflection.asp

regards,

Robsa

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What are the watch glasses made of usually? Glass or some sort of crystal? Sadly, my knowledge is lacking in this area but I am only too happy to maybe make some enquiries if I knew the answer.

Sapphire.

I await the results of your enquiries.

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Well, I have sent them an email enquiry asking whether they could do them and if so if there is a minimum charge or quantity...

I will let you know as soon as I get an answer!

^_^

Robsa

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Hey fellas

Well, I received an email today:

Dear Robsa

We have a coating process designed for 'sapphire glass' (high index substrate).

Prices for coating boths sides:

4-off -

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Hi i have been in contact with Siltint for a few weeks now,they will and can work with sapphire and offer single or double ar.

The prices i have pinned them down too are

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Ah, sweet! Great minds eh? :D

Well, I am watchless at the moment (I took apart my Submariner LV and now I killed it, sob!) but will be buying 3 in January so I may be interested in the AR coating then. Of course, it would be nice to see a review of one already done...

Actually, that's a point - I could get my sub lens AR'd! Nowt to lose really, as I can always put it on another Sub or perhaps get my one fixed one day.

So I could be up for it before Chrimble, depending on dates and so forth, otherwise I will certainly be up for it in January.

-Robsa!

Edited by robsa
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Ah, sweet! Great minds eh? :D

Well, I am watchless at the moment (I took apart my Submariner LV and now I killed it, sob!) but will be buying 3 in January so I may be interested in the AR coating then. Of course, it would be nice to see a review of one already done...

Actually, that's a point - I could get my sub lens AR'd! Nowt to lose really, as I can always put it on another Sub or perhaps get my one fixed one day.

So I could be up for it before Chrimble, depending on dates and so forth, otherwise I will certainly be up for it in January.

-Robsa!

A good effort both. We should start getting an idea of numbers?

I have at least 3 needed AR.

RR

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I am going away until the 2 of january so i cant do anything till then.

As for taking the crystals out,i have no problems doing the actual legwork but i am afraid i dont want to get involved with the risk of getting crystals removed from watches.

The crystal does need to be out of the watch for it to be coated.

I am getting mine removed by a local wtachsmith.

But i agree a group batch is th eway to go,i can get it far cheaper i reckon,my quote was just to get 2-3 of my own watches done.

I cant see a problem with sending one from belguim.

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I have a 6.75 bentley needs double ar. Its with josh a the mo getting repaired.would be ready jan, and probably another by then. I dont have a clue how to remove the chrystal. suppose we would have to do that?. And I just thought, what if chrystal has a single ar? i.e my bentley. would they remove the single ar and start over like chief? or just coat the other side?

Never understood ar fully. just know it looks awesome when its done. does single ar mean its just on one side thats coated or does it mean the strength of the coating is weaker. as in double ar is 2 coats so to speak. sorry if that sounds pathetic.

bvc.

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Hmn, that's a point. I expect the service is to AR something that hasn't already got it. Would you need to strip the original AR coating off? How can you tell if it has or hasn't got AR already on it? I don't know whether my submariner lens has or not.

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The price i was quoted is for non coated items,but they did say they can remove an old coating at extra charge.

The single is for one side and the double for both sides.

The coating they use has a hard protective coat over it to withstand damage,dont know how strong the coating is but he said it is hard enough for binoculars/telescopes and glasses,so it must be quite resilient.

As for removal of the crystals,i remember a new member coming on th eboard recently who is a qualified watchsmith,worth finding him and see if we can cut a deal/possibley get some mod work done at the same time.

I think his name was something like watchsmithman????

Edited by Ukmerctechie
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Anyone know the technical specifications of the AR coating they propose to use?

It would be useful to see how it compares to the top of the range coating that chieftang uses.

This is the coating the guy recommended for the job of coating watch crystals

coating.jpg

Dont really understand the numbers or graphs though.

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I have contacted the watchmaker guy in the uk asking if he would be willing to remove the crystals and other jobs on the watches,just waiting on a reply from him.

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Ask Siltint to do a sample crystal for you before going too far.

Results from them when I tried them with a test batch in the past had the typical edge lip problems as well as occasional milky patches to the coatings.

There are much better companies in the UK for coating but they do take time and testing to sort them out. A good start is asking if they can meet MIL-C-14806A Rev2 spec.

Edited by Rocketeer
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Ask Siltint to do a sample crystal for you before going too far.

Results from them when I tried them with a test batch in the past had the typical edge lip problems as well as occasional milky patches to the coatings.

There are much better companies in the UK for coating but they do take time and testing to sort them out. A good start is asking if they can meet MIL-C-14806A Rev2 spec.

The edge lip is what I was referring to in regards to fixturing.... So it doesn't sound like Siltint has the proper equipment for watch crystals to avoid it.

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Would it not be a good idea for us EU guys to do a batch run with chieftang? Crystals removed of course? 20-40 crystals would hardly be a problem with customs I reckon. At least we KNOW chief will do it right. My 0.2c though :)

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With the "loss" of K2222 in the EU, (along with one of my reps !), I would be very interested if we can get a deal with a UK company that will AR our crystals - Thanks for your enquiries, guys, I will await your results with interest. :thumbsupsmileyanim:

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Would it not be a good idea for us EU guys to do a batch run with chieftang? Crystals removed of course? 20-40 crystals would hardly be a problem with customs I reckon. At least we KNOW chief will do it right. My 0.2c though :)

If someone in the EU were to organize this, and send me an entire batch of crystals, we could expedite them right to my AR lab. It would allow me to do runs for EU members a lot more regularly and easily. So if anyone out there wants to be a "point man", let me know and we'll work something out.

People just need to be comfortable with the customs issue. "Small glass parts" on the declaration seems to fly right through. Never once has anything been confiscated. The only question in the EU would be tariffs, I suppose.

FWIW

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  • 1 month later...
obviously my first choice would be for chief to do my crystals. from what i hear the quality is far superior than some gen watches.

Seems like this thread has died...or maybe continued in another thread...any news on the test run?

Either way, having a pointman for Chieftang i EU, might be very helpful for us EU citizens....funny to see that no one has replied this.

I could investigate further into customs restrictions and possible constraints for sending saphires to Chief - it the offer still stands from him.

Unfortunately I don't think I have enough credibility, not to say experience within the replica world, else I would be happy to contribute.

/korn

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