Monday, June 16, 2008

What is Sapphire Crystal Glass?


Sapphire Crystal - the most hardest oxide crystal,which is the basic crystal morphology of alumina (Al2O3) . It posseses the characters of high strength, high hardness, high heat-resistance, wearability, corrosion resistance and light transmittance performance,which is the preferred watch glass material for the luxury watches.

When it is heated, the synthetic sapphire forms round masses that are sliced into pieces with diamond-coated saws. These disks are then ground and polished into watch crystals. (One reason sapphire crystals are relatively expensive is that the tools required to make them are costly.)

Sapphire (whether natural or synthetic) is one of the hardest substances on earth. It measures 9 on the Mohs scale, which is a system for rating the relative hardness of various materials. (Diamond measures 10, the highest rating.) Watch crystals made of synthetic sapphire are often marketed as "scratch resistant", meaning they are very difficult - but not impossible - to scratch. Diamond can scratch them; so can man-made materials that incorporate silicon carbide, with, with a Mohs rating of between 9 and 10, is, like diamond, harder than sapphire. These materials are sometimes used to make simulated-stone surfaces for furniture or walls. The watch wearer should note that accidentally scraping a sapphire crystal against such a surface could cause a scratch.

2 comments:

Dr.Steve said...

Thanks for this, i know now what this means on my new watch

חיכמאת said...

is it scrachable by iron or anything else except diamond !?