Acrylic to sapphire conversion?

[watchnoob307]

My daily beater is a 1979 16014 which I love to death but the acrylic crystal is kind of annoying me. I see some aftermarket 'replacement' parts out there which claim to be able to fit a sapphire crystal onto the watches where an acrylic would normally be appropriate but wanted to see if anyone had any experience/details on these things. Want to check before I shell out a few hundred on the bezel clamp, press, and crystal for my watch.

[Dr.Smellody]

Don't do it. Please.

[Dan S]

It's not generally recommended, ruins the vintage look and compromises water resistance.

[1675-David]

Better to trade in for a 16200 perhaps?

[TuRo]

Think you’ll regret it. The warmth and softness the plexiglass gives and the inherent lightness will be lost, to a more clinical finish with a wider flat top with a a harsh edge and a weirdly noticeably heavier wrist feel. The dial will look different too as a result.

# notwithstanding all the comments above too….

[TimeLord2]

Is the acrylic annoying you because of scratches? If that is the case, try some polywatch to buff out the scratches or even some McGuires automotive plastic headlight polish as I have used that to the same effect. Modification is not recommended but you are in the Vintage section. Shouldn't be a surprise.

[swish77]

The vintage Rolex police will hunt you down if you do this and force you to wear a Hublot for a year.

Seriously, though, not a good idea. First of all, acrylic crystals are cooler. And secondly, you'd be creating a Frankenwatch.

Have you tried polishing the acrylic with PolyWatch? It's a great product that will make your acrylic crystal look like new.

[tekno]

Let’s see the watch.

Don’t do it, it will make it look like and old watch with a fake crystal. They fit like crap, they are used by EBay sellers and strip mall jewelry stores.

Vintage is cooler, polish the crystal. Be proud of your watch. If you want a sapphire crystal buy a newer watch. The gasket hangs out of the top and could make the watch less waterproof.


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[designer_wrench]

I've heard across the board not to do it bc the water tightness is not guaranteed. While it's a vintage watch, I try and buy into the keep it OEM mentality.

[Classique Breguet]

Originally Posted by swish77

The vintage Rolex police will hunt you down if you do this and force you to wear a Hublot for a year.

.

That literally made me laugh out loud.

I like my acrylic crystal watches, but also don't like scratching the crystal, so my solution was a 16800 matte dial as a daily wear ( Because I wanted less glare I did modify it with an aftermarket fully AR undercoated high quality Clark AR sapphire with no cyclops-which seals just fine, passed the pressure test)

The acrylic domes fit on the outside, the sapphire fits on the inside. The 55xx series just weren't made for the sapphire. Might as well build a complete Pholex instead.
The thing about the 'real' vs 'fake' is the real ones work better, the parts fit better, fewer problems.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by watchnoob307

My daily beater is a 1979 16014 which I love to death but the acrylic crystal is kind of annoying me. I see some aftermarket 'replacement' parts out there which claim to be able to fit a sapphire crystal onto the watches where an acrylic would normally be appropriate but wanted to see if anyone had any experience/details on these things. Want to check before I shell out a few hundred on the bezel clamp, press, and crystal for my watch.

Acyclic crystals are a totally different fit to sapphire and will not work 100%, and will not be guaranteed waterproof. Acrylic crystals can scratch but polywatch even some car metal polish in tubes can make them like new.On normal routine RSC service acrylic crystals are always replaced as part of service same for seals and crown tubes.