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epalanb

How has your hardlex crystal held up?

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epalanb

I'm about 100% sure I am going to buy at least 1 seiko. I have thought about an skx007 for about 10 years and never got around to it. Now thinking about the srp777 or 1 of the variants. Every time I have bought a watch with anything that wasn't saphire crystal about 10 minutes after I get the watch I bang my new watch into something and then I have to look at some nasty gash. This drives me nuts, so I tend to shy away from anything without a saphire crystal.

 

So, just like the title says, who has this one and what sort of experience have you had with the hardlex crystal?

 

Should I just change it out straight away or is there a chance that I will have a different experience than I have had in the past?

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Daywatch

The SKX007 hardlex is slightly recessed and totally flat. Although my casest has signs of nice wear and little dents all around it the hardlex is pristine (2 years of careless use).

On the SNZH55 it´s curved outside and a totally different story (scratches of even cracks). So it depends on the watch and bezel format.

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andyboy

Have many Seiko`s with hardlex crystals and not had any issues.

 

The SKX would be a good choice as Daywatch has mentioned the crystal is recessed.

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Mazz

never had any issues

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FL13

Hate em. Only own a SARB035 b/c it has sapphire

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fatarms

My son is 14, I bought him a Seiko with the hardlex crystal. Being a young kid, he's hard on his watches. That being said, there are quite a few scratches on his crystal and I tried to polish them out with Polywatch to no avail. So if you're rough on your watches, I'd suggest sapphire.

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trailboss99

The Hardlex is the best tool watch crystal ever developed. Hard as Sapphire on the outside to reduce scratches yet as forgiving of sharp knocks as mineral.

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DrJohnWatsonJr

I have hardlex on all of my seikos and once they're scratched up and I'm not happy, I tend to buy a replacement. Pretty cheap and easy to replace :)

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k3rm87

Very well to answer Ops question. Currently have 3 Seiko's all with Hardlex.. No issues. Including my 4 year old SKX009.

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Genius

I've 2 with hardlex one is new so looks perfect the other has a couple of scratches. Good thing about seiko is the big mod community so most watches you will be able to get an aftermarket sapphire pretty cheap to replace the hardlex if it gets scratches. I'm just trying to decide whether to go for a flat or domed sapphire in mine

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Rx4Time

I've had one Seiko, and the hardlex scratches quite easily. Mine is a dress watch that was lightly worn. It was expensive to repair also. Mine is a kinetic autorelay. The capacitor died and the cost to replace the crystal and capacitor was over $200 from Seiko USA. Only reason I fixed it was the watch has sentimental value. I will only buy sapphire moving forward.

 

 

IMG_20170507_184823_zps9ve9zabw.jpg

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epalanb

You know what? I think the different opinions are interesting. Read back through the thread. Some say hardlex is the best material ever developed for a crystal and others say it scratches very easily and will need to be replaced almost immediately.

 

I guess it is good everyone has different opinioms. It gives options....

 

Maybe some of us are harder on our watches than others. I don't think i am particularly hard on my watches, but at the same time I am going to wear a watch I like.

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Mazz

Hardlex scratches easier than sapphire but it's less likely to shatter which is why it's it's ideal for dive watches

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GenTLe

Take it. At most you can replace it to a domed sapphire:

32354043355_120bfdb3c2_k.jpg

 

I did the same also on the Turtle

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NCRich

Here you go, from the designer of all Seiko dive watches.

 

The materials currently used as watch glass and its main characteristics are shown in the following table. wol_error.gif This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image.

watch_glass_table01.gifReport this image

 

 

Since the acrylic resin (1) has soft hardness and a heat-resistant temperature is very low, concerning the glass of PROSPEX watches which have high durability performance, such as a MARINEMASTER of this question, we couldn't use acrylic glass in which a lot of scratches and deformation are occurred on the surface.

 

 

Although (2) and (3) glass are used by SEIKO with the trademark of "HARDLEX" (glass which raised mechanical intensity by special chemical strengthening processing), they are used for standard watches.

 

 

On the other hand, sapphire glass (4) is used abundantly for the dress watches and high-class water-resistant watches and also diver's watches, such as CREDOR and Grand SEIKO and also some PROSPEX watches, such as LANDMASTER watches, SCUBAMASTER diver's watches of SEIKO brand, and hardness and theoretical intensity are excellent, there is also a problem of being unable to make as theoretical strength by the mechanism in destruction of the glass with which a cut angle control is important and a micro crack being detected in microscopic examination in case of large and thick glass.

 

In SEIKO watches, in addition to the above-mentioned general materials, "High- quality HARDLEX" (the high intensity and highly efficient glass strengthened on (3) Borosilicate glass) and original "SAPPHLEX"(the high cost performance combined glass which adhered thin plate of (4) on (2) or (3) glass) are put in practical use, and those are used according to the aim and specification of the watches.

 

"High- quality HARDLEX" which is the high intensity and the highly efficient article of the glass are used for the PROSPEX watches and ordinary sports watches. Also "SAPPHLEX" glass is used for the sports watches or the sporty watches,

 

In case of diver's watch which are required so many characteristics totally, such as resistance to pressure, water resistance, shock resistance, wear resistance, heat resistance, and durability etc., we usually use "High- quality HARDLEX" glass having the most excellent cost performance and sometimes use sapphire glass as a glass of some PROSPEX diver's watches.

 

 

Ikuo Tokunaga

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scorpion

Hardlex can scratch but its tough and don't break on impact. I have a number of Seikos with Hardlex and all are perfect except my SNA225 Daytona which has quite a lot of scratches that you can clearly see below. . In Seikos defence i bought it in 2006 and it was my only watch for about 6 years and it was worn daily and also during car repairs and building work. It had a lot of scrapes and bashes and a few slipped spanner moments where i was surprised it did not shatter. Its still going strong and the scratches only show up if you look hard in good light and in photo close ups.

 

 

Image1.jpg

 

Image2.jpg

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Bash64

Hardlex scratches.

 

I'm careful with my watches, but my Sumo somehow ended up with a prominent scratch. I replaced the crystal with sapphire and haven't looked back.

 

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epalanb
Hardlex scratches. I'm careful with my watches, but my Sumo somehow ended up with a prominent scratch. I replaced the crystal with sapphire and haven't looked back.

 

I broke down today and ordered a SRP777. I'm sure this is the way I will go too. I think I am going to go with the preemptive strike by ordering a crystal even before I get the watch. I just know it will be scratched within about 5 minutes.

 

Where did you order the sapphire crystal? yobokies? Someone better?

 

Anyone else ordered a crystal for Seiko? Good, Bad?

Edited by epalanb

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Diver Dave

Hardlex is OK, and cheap. I give them away from new watches (I do custom mod builds as a hobby and I replace every crystal with domed sapphire). I buy my sapphires from Dagaz, and suggest you do the same. But there's no shortage of free or almost free hew hardlex crystals from the mod world. In CONUS I do mods including simple crystal changes, and do full waterproofing tests after changing crystals. If you are going to have a crystal changed, make sure your guy can and will do a waterproofing test.

 

But the short answer? Hardlex is fine, and when it's beat up they are dirt cheap to replace. I give them away for free when I have them if you pay labor to install and do a waterproofing test. Turn around is usually same day. I did three this afternoon.

 

 

Dave

Edited by Diver Dave

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epalanb
Hardlex is OK, and cheap. I give them away from new watches (I do custom mod builds as a hobby and I replace every crystal with domed sapphire). I buy my sapphires from Dagaz, and suggest you do the same. But there's no shortage of free or almost free hew hardlex crystals from the mod world. In CONUS I do mods including simple crystal changes, and do full waterproofing tests after changing crystals. If you are going to have a crystal changed, make sure your guy can and will do a waterproofing test.

 

But the short answer? Hardlex is fine, and when it's beat up they are dirt cheap to replace. I give them away for free when I have them if you pay labor to install and do a waterproofing test. Turn around is usually same day. I did three this afternoon.

 

 

Dave

 

Thanks for the info. I will take your advice and order one from dagaz. I have a crystal press and a pressure tester and a little experience so I am planning on giving it a go myself.

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HeavyKrush

My Sumo had a deep scratch and I replaced the crystal with a local Seiko repair shop for less than $20. Possibly that's not the norm, but I doubt I would weigh too heavily the crystal material when deciding on a Seiko purchase. Best of luck.

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Diver Dave

"Thanks for the info. I will take your advice and order one from dagaz. I have a crystal press and a pressure tester and a little experience so I am planning on giving it a go myself."

 

 

 

You'll find it an easy job. Hint: You don't even need to remove the bezel to change the crystal. Warning: Make sure you don't forget to put the chapter ring back in before you set the new crystal with the press... not that I've ever needed to set a crystal twice.... ;-)

 

The thing to note is that the plastic gasket between the crystal and case "can" be squeezed out of place and damaged if you're not careful in pressing the new one into place. The Dagaz crystals have a very well designed chamfer on the bottom corner of the crystal that tends to make them easy to get started correctly, which is one of the reasons I prefer them.

 

 

Dave

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Kleen™

The majority of my Seikos have Hardlex and they've all held up really well...I still prefer sapphire, though...

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Bash64
Hardlex scratches. I'm careful with my watches, but my Sumo somehow ended up with a prominent scratch. I replaced the crystal with sapphire and haven't looked back.

 

I broke down today and ordered a SRP777. I'm sure this is the way I will go too. I think I am going to go with the preemptive strike by ordering a crystal even before I get the watch. I just know it will be scratched within about 5 minutes.

 

Where did you order the sapphire crystal? yobokies? Someone better?

 

Anyone else ordered a crystal for Seiko? Good, Bad?

 

I tried to look it up. I've ordered from both yobokies and Dagaz before. Both are very good. For some reason, I think this one came from eBay.

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epalanb

I know you guys have seen this one, but I just got it and it is really nice. Very high up on the Best bang for buck list without a doubt. Still going to mod it a bit...

34650014710_faab220ea9_b.jpg

 

Holy crap the lume is amaizing!

35037695295_a85b4efb32_b.jpg

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