My one request for design focus…

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Robotaz
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My one request for design focus…

Post by Robotaz »

… is with anti-reflective crystal coating. I keep finding myself with only one complaint on my CW watches and that’s wishing for more AR.

I think the status quo is fine with dress watches, but I’d like to see a much more aggressive AR offering on sport watches.

If CW came out and said, “hey, we made an investment in AR and it really shows”, I’d trust they really did their homework and that it would be great. If it turned out great, I’d pay whatever they ask. $100 for awesome AR? No problem. Sign me up.

Not a rant. Just a request.
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Robotaz wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 5:19 pm I think the status quo is fine with dress watches, but I’d like to see a much more aggressive AR offering on sport watches.
Interesting. I wasn’t aware that the AR on dress watches was better than that on sports watches. I have both and I’m not aware of any great difference.
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by golfjunky »

The double blue’y AR on my Breitling is the best I have ever seen on any watch. Has CW improved their ar over the past few years?
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by nbg »

I am probably in the minority - whether a watch has an AR coating has never been on my list of priorities when considering a watch purchase. Just as well as my favourite watches don’t have any AR coating. :)

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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

golfjunky wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 6:00 pm Has CW improved their ar over the past few years?
Yes, they took a course in piracy and they now all sound like Long John Silver.
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by Kip »

AR coating on both sides of the crystal most definitely presents a more clear and sharper image of the dial and virtually eliminates reflections. The "Museum Grade" crystals that CW has used on occasion, such as the C11's are and example of the "Museum Grade" crystals.

The issue with AR s that it can be easily scratched and the only sensible repair is a crystal replacement. I don't know currently, but Breitling used to use crystals with AR coatings on both sides. When I was doing watch service, Breitling crystals were a frequent service.

Edit: I should add that CW does use AR coatings on the underside of the crystals.
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by golfjunky »

Yep, I just had my Aero Crystal done at a cost of £300gbp. Trust me to scratch the watch with the best Crystal.
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Re: My one request for design focus…

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Amor Vincit Omnia wrote:
Robotaz wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 5:19 pm I think the status quo is fine with dress watches, but I’d like to see a much more aggressive AR offering on sport watches.
Interesting. I wasn’t aware that the AR on dress watches was better than that on sports watches. I have both and I’m not aware of any great difference.
I’m saying the AR they use currently would be fine to continue using on dress watches. You don’t want AR dominating what you see indoors with a suit.
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by iain »

My thoughts on this are that it comes down to the ongoing availability of spare parts years down the line.

Breitling are mentioned above by Kip but it is the same with all the big established brands that use AR coating. If a watch is scratched then you need to rely on being able to replace the crystal at some point, either during routine service, or on its own if the damage is too bad.

Where CW fall down at present is not holding that stock to be able to commit to refurbishing a watch several years after the production ends. There has been talk by Mike France about CW improving in this regard, but until they do I wouldn’t want a CW watch with external AR coating that I couldn’t repair if it got damaged. I don’t mind case dents and scractches, but I like my crystals to look new.
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Robotaz wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 8:53 pm I’m saying the AR they use currently would be fine to continue using on dress watches. You don’t want AR dominating what you see indoors with a suit.
Maybe I’m being a bit dense here, or I just misunderstand what you’re saying. Surely AR doesn’t dominate anything as the whole idea of it is to make the crystal and any reflections thereon virtually disappear? Therefore good AR is as suitable for a dress watch as it is for a GADA/sports watch?
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by gaf1958 »

Rolex managed to go without AR on their watches for decades, even on the underside of the crystal. Not a major reason I no longer own any, but it certainly contributed in part. Possibly the best AR on any watch I’ve owned or seen was that on my Zenith El Primero Hand Wound. Beautiful. Mind you, the museum grade crystals used in the CW C10 were no slouches either.
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by missF »

The C11 ‘museum grade’ Crystal was absolutely stunning. But back then I knew nothing about the potential downsides of external AR coatings.

Was there not a post recently about sanding off the external coating if it became scratched? I made the inference that it was a ‘relatively’ easy thing to do???
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by StrappedUp »

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 9:39 am Maybe I’m being a bit dense here, or I just misunderstand what you’re saying. Surely AR doesn’t dominate anything as the whole idea of it is to make the crystal and any reflections thereon virtually disappear? Therefore good AR is as suitable for a dress watch as it is for a GADA/sports watch?
I think Robotaz may be referring to tinted AR Steve, similar to which CW have used on their C65 range.

You probably wouldn't want a blue hue (or similar) on the crystal of a dress watch I wouldn't think. Or maybe I'm also misunderstanding :D
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My one request for design focus…

Post by Robotaz »

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote:
Robotaz wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 8:53 pm I’m saying the AR they use currently would be fine to continue using on dress watches. You don’t want AR dominating what you see indoors with a suit.
Maybe I’m being a bit dense here, or I just misunderstand what you’re saying. Surely AR doesn’t dominate anything as the whole idea of it is to make the crystal and any reflections thereon virtually disappear? Therefore good AR is as suitable for a dress watch as it is for a GADA/sports watch?
Really prominent AR on a dress watch, to me, is distracting when your wrist hits the light right and people see blue or purple instead of your watch face. Some AR is good even on a dress watch, but thick applications seem inappropriate to me.

Outside with a big chunky diver? I want gobs of AR, and on some don’t even mind if it’s on the outside, too. I like Damasko inside/outside AR. When they first started it was amazing and much better than now. It would scratch over time, and watch nerds on the forums always said we’d just polish it off the outside if the time came.
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Re: My one request for design focus…

Post by Robotaz »

Kip wrote:AR coating on both sides of the crystal most definitely presents a more clear and sharper image of the dial and virtually eliminates reflections. The "Museum Grade" crystals that CW has used on occasion, such as the C11's are and example of the "Museum Grade" crystals.

The issue with AR s that it can be easily scratched and the only sensible repair is a crystal replacement. I don't know currently, but Breitling used to use crystals with AR coatings on both sides. When I was doing watch service, Breitling crystals were a frequent service.

Edit: I should add that CW does use AR coatings on the underside of the crystals.
I’ve assumed so, but it’s so faint I don’t notice its presence. It may do something, but I get terrible glares and don’t notice the AR working. My sapphire can barely be read outdoors.

I’m not recommending they coat the outside, although I’d be in heaven if they allowed me to pay for it if I want it on certain models. I’d just like to see AR that noticeably reduces glare outdoors on sport watches.
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