What can be more disturbing than a broken watch crystal? It is shattering for every watch enthusiast to witness even the slightest scratch on their timepiece. As it is said that luxury comes with refinement and grace, a faultless and crystal-clear glass is the top-most priority for every watch lover. The glass cover is marked as the face of the watch which is why transparent and clear crystal glass adds to the timeless beauty of your elegant timepiece.
When it comes to watches, their lost time can never be regained but the same cannot be said about their scratched glass. In fact, all it takes to repair a scratched glass are some simple DIY techniques. You must be wondering whether it’s even possible to get rid of a scratched watch glass with some home remedies? Is it even possible to get rid of scratches from watches? Well, yes it is. In this article, we will be sharing some of the methods and techniques that will help you to remove scratches from the watch glass.
Read on to find some amazing tips and let your watch crystal dazzle!
While finding the solution to the problem of how to fix scratched watch glass, the first and the most important thing to determine is the type of crystal used in the watch. There are different kinds of crystals used as shields for the watch face such as acrylic crystal, mineral glass, sapphire crystal, etc. Each of these crystal types requires a somewhat different method of removing the scratches.
Therefore, prior to removing the scratches from your watch glass, you need to first identify the type of crystal present. Let’s take a look at them.
Acrylic crystal is cheaper as compared to the other kinds of crystals used in watches. Acrylic crystal is lightweight and translucent but it can be cracked very easily. Fortunately, it is simple to get scratches out of them as long as the scratches are not too deep.
For repairing the watch face scratches, follow some easy steps mentioned below:
Mineral glass is the most common kind of crystal used in watches these days due to its qualities such as durability, reliability, strength, and hardness. The production process of mineral glass makes it much harder as compared to acrylic crystal due to which it has high scratch and shock resistance. It is hardened by heating up at a very high temperature and then smeared with a hardening material which increases its strength. But this quality brings a drawback that it can’t be polished easily for removing the scratches from mineral glass watch crystal. Therefore, it is recommended to replace the watch crystal instead of trying to remove the existing scratches as it will involve greater manual labor with insignificant effects.
Sapphire crystal is the most desirable form of watch crystal amongst all. It is the most luxurious, yet refined type mostly used in the expensive and premium quality watches. It has been rated 9 out of 10 on the Mohs hardness scale and it is the second hardest material on the earth after diamond. So, it can be said that only diamond can dare to scratch sapphire. Therefore, it is the best crystal for a scratch-proof watch face.
It is cheaper to get scratches out of the sapphire crystal as compared to replacing it. Its replacement can cost almost $80 to $250 depending upon the watch kind and size of the watch glass. Therefore, it is better to buff out scratches on the watch glass with the help of some polishing agent and remedies.
As the sapphire crystal is harder than the mineral glass it might require some extra effort but will save you a lot of money. Before diving into the repairing procedure, it is advised to analyze and rank the type of scratches as tiny or huge. Because these tricks work better for shallow scratches, therefore, rigorous labor for considerably non-repairable scratch will cost you time and may result in smashed crystal.
Let’s have a deep insight of the procedure for fixing this scratched crystal.
Firstly, cover the watch ring or bezel with tape or straps to protect it from the polishing paste otherwise it can cause damage to the watch parts while applying the paste or rubbing it for the polishing.
After covering the bezel, put on some modest amount of polishing paste over the area where there are scratches on the watch glass face. Now, use a soft polishing cloth and start rubbing in a rotary motion to remove the scratches. It may take a few minutes. Don’t give up at this point. After some time, you will notice the scratches from your watch glass will start vanishing.
The scratches will start disappearing slowly but don’t stop yet, it still requires some polishing. Now again apply a small amount of polishing paste on the scratches and continue buffing your watch glass but use a new or clean piece of polishing cloth to give a more finessed and elegant look to your watch glass. Once the crystal is back in its original essence, wipe out the extra paste and look for any discrepancy left for a crystal-clear glass.
If the scratches have not disappeared, repeat the second and third step. But if all the scratches are gone remove the remains of the polishing agents from the glass. Clean it properly and then you are good to go!
This is all about how you can fix the scratched watch glass. Hope you found this article interesting and informative!
