How much do you know about the Rolex Crystal?

What is the Rolex Plexiglas Crystal, and what's so special about it? What is the Rolex Sapphire Crystal? What is the difference between these two Crystal? What was the first Rolex model to use a Sapphire Crystal? When did Rolex start phasing out the Plexiglas Crystal and replacing the Sapphire Crystal for most of its models?

How much do You know about the Rolex Crystal?

• What is the Rolex Plexiglas Crystal?

• What is the Rolex Sapphire Crystal?

• When did Rolex introduce the Sapphire Crystal?

What is the Rolex Plexiglas Crystal?

The Rolex Plexiglas Crystal (polymethyl methacrylate) is highly durable and impact-resistant plastic. It's sometimes referred to as acrylic glass. It was synthesised independently by several different labs in the late 1920s.

The Röhm and Haas chemical company developed the process of polymerising acrylic between two sheets of glass, creating Plexiglas in 1933. The initial goal was to create a safety glass for car windows to prevent splintering from real glass.

The Rolex Plexiglas Crystal's benefits include high optical clarity, dimensional stability, and lightweight nature. Given that it is a type of plastic, it is also less apt to shatter than conventional glass. It is easy to manufacture and inexpensive.

The Rolex Plexiglas Crystal is not scratch-resistant. It can gather many scratches, especially one worn often.

Rolex used the Plexiglas Crystal in their vintage watches.

What is the Rolex Sapphire Crystal?

The Rolex Sapphire Crystal is scratch-resistant. It has greater clarity than other crystals. Rolex added a layer of anti-reflective coating to give the glass to improve the clarity, making the timepiece visible day and night.

The Sapphire gets ranking at 9. The diamond is harder on the Mohs scale, ranking at 10. It is less susceptible to scratching than nearly any substance in the world, other than the rare substance such as diamonds.

The Rolex Sapphire Crystal can be cracked or shattered easier than acrylic. Rolex does increase the thickness of the sapphire crystal used on this timepiece to improve its overall durability.

When did Rolex introduce the Sapphire Crystal?

Rolex introduced the Sapphire Crystal in the early 1970s. The Rolex Oyster Quartz 5100 was the first Rolex model to use a Sapphire Crystal. The use of sapphire crystal on the gold quartz Rolex with a Beta 21 quartz movement was an innovation at that time.

Rolex started phasing out the Plexiglas Crystal and replacing the Sapphire Crystal for most of its models from the years 1978. Now, all Rolex watches feature the Sapphire Crystal.