The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Just discovered a few minor hairline scratches on the crystal of my Chronomat Blackbird. I thought Crystal is scratch sproof?
Brought it down to Breitling Service Centre and they said it cannot be fixed. Only option is to change the crystal.

Any suggestion for repair if possible?

Crystal is scratch proof, you can damage it only with another sapphire or diamond. You scratched the AR coating. It can be fixed by removing it and applying it over again which is more costly than changing the whole crystal.

THe AR coating is very tough, but not quite up to the toughness of the underlying sapphire. That is part of the reason you see some (generally non-Breitling) "watch people" moaning about the use of AR coating on the outer surface of the cystal. Some people have been known to remove the AR coating from new , which seems like a daft thing to do IMHO. Perszonally I really like the AR on both sides as it makes the cystal seem to disappear.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

As I said the second time that you posted this question, I answered this question the first time that you asked it.

I'll repeat the comment now on the third time you have asked it, and you'll see why. We now have two threads answering the same question with no opportunity for members to see the full picture.

Please only post questions once. The link to the other response is here - http://www.breitlingsource.com/phpBB2/v ... php?t=5624

I got a quote from Breitling Singapore to change the crystal of my Blackbird for S$205, around Euro 103. That seems ok.

Breitling told me to be careful in future as the coating will come off again after a few years. So what's the use of having scratch resistance sapphire crystal with a fragile coating that can be easily scratched?

I also own 2 Omega watches, a Seamaster Chrono and a Planet Ocean Chrono. Worn both for several years and the crystal still spotless. Does that mean Omega has better coating on their crystal?

Firstly it's certainly not a fragile coating, and I've never heard of the coating "coming off in a few years" through normal wear. I'm surprised an AD would tell you that. There are plenty of 10 to 15 year old watches on eBay with perfect crystals.

It is very tough coating but just as steel isn't indestructible, neither is the AR.

On the second point, Omega don't put AR on the outer surface of the crystal on the Seamaster Pro - hence why you will tend to get more reflection on that watch. The PO is double AR, but I've never been that impressed with AR qualities on the PO - it's better than none, but not as good as Breitling IMHO. There are different types of material used by the different manufacturers in the AR process, and thus properties vary accordingly. So in some cases you may have a trade off between how well it works in actually reducing reflection, and how hard it is. Breitling watches are designed with professionals (i.e. pilots, and the like) in mind, and it is obviously deemed more important to make the dial as legible as possible in all conditions. Reflection is much higher on sapphire crystal than with glass, but the outer AR coating reduces the reflection considerably, and is hence safer in situations where readibility is all important. Personally I've never come across any stories of the Breitling AR coating being any worse in terms of scratch resistance than any other brand.

Just don't mix any concrete with your watch on, and try to avoid hitting brick walls with it and it should be fine!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

...and, if you dont want to pay for a new crystal you can just remove the rest of the coating.