Can replace Acrylic Crystal to Sapphire?

[eooojj]

I am eyeing on a Rolex 16014 but the online store says its crystal is Acrylic.
Does anyone know if i can get it changed to Sapphire?
If so, where can i change it?
This will be my first luxury watch and my first Rolex. :P
Appreciate any help. Thank you.
Ed

[eooojj]

Another question would be - does it means that the acrylic will get scratched easily?
If so, is there a place in singapore to "restore" the acrylic?

[Watcha]

possible to change acrylic to sapphire through 3rd party crystals.
usually not advisable as:

1. loss of the original look
2. may not fit well. water issue, hands touching the crystal..

acrylic crystal quite cheap to change.

regular minor scratches on crystal can polish yourself with brasso and soft cloth.

[eooojj]

Hi Watcha,
Thanks! Do you know/recommend where in Singapore can i
1) get others to polish or buff my rolex well.
2) change 3rd party crystals?

Does this look like a professional/trusted site? :/
http://www.horologist.com/rolex_crystals.htm

possible to change acrylic to sapphire through 3rd party crystals.
usually not advisable as:

1. loss of the original look
2. may not fit well. water issue, hands touching the crystal..

acrylic crystal quite cheap to change.


regular minor scratches on crystal can polish yourself with brasso and soft cloth.

[Watcha]

Hi Watcha,
Thanks! Do you know/recommend where in Singapore can i
1) get others to polish or buff my rolex well.
2) change 3rd party crystals?

Does this look like a professional/trusted site? :/
http://www.horologist.com/rolex_crystals.htm

1) RSC itself should be under 200. there are a lot of shops in SG. look at the lobang thread.

if unsure go for bigger shop like JW...

2) never deal with 3rd party sapphire, got to ask around.

[daytona 6263]

I am eyeing on a Rolex 16014 but the online store says its crystal is Acrylic.
Does anyone know if i can get it changed to Sapphire?
If so, where can i change it?
This will be my first luxury watch and my first Rolex. :P
Appreciate any help. Thank you.
Ed

Cannot see why you would want to change the originality of your watch,there is nothing wrong with Acrylic crystals. Yes they can get scratched but very easy to remove scratches with products like Polywatch and Autosolve metal polish.And Acrylic very cheap to replace they are replaced as part of normal Rolex routine service.And sapphire although has a high scratch resistance they can get scratched and chipped around the edges and then very expensive to replace.While there are a few watchmakers that will offer the sapphire conversion be warned they are not always 100% waterproof after if I was you stick with the acrylic.Rolex will not under any circumstances change a watch from acrylic to sapphire

[eooojj]

Hi daytona,
Thank you for your advise.
This is must first plunge into Luxwatches so am ignorant about stuff like this.
Coming from a construction industry background, acrylic doesn't sounds durable to me.
But will trust you in this and just get this watch without conversion!
Btw, will it be a big problem if the watch doesn't comes with Box+Card?
Even though its from a reputable shop? :/

Cannot see why you would want to change the originality of your watch,there is nothing wrong with Acrylic crystals. Yes they can get scratched but very easy to remove scratches with products like Polywatch and Autosolve metal polish.And Acrylic very cheap to replace they are replaced as part of normal Rolex routine service.And sapphire although has a high scratch resistance they can get scratched and chipped around the edges and then very expensive to replace.While there are a few watchmakers that will offer the sapphire conversion be warned they are not always 100% waterproof after if I was you stick with the acrylic.Rolex will not under any circumstances change a watch from acrylic to sapphire

[Oceanklassik]

It is not a big problem if:

a) the watch is authentic
b) you do not intend to sell the watch

Happy shopping!

[taxico]

Coming from a construction industry background, acrylic doesn't sounds durable to me.
But will trust you in this and just get this watch without conversion!

acrylic crystals withstand "stress" better than sapphire crystals.

acrylic will bend and flex before slowly cracking under excessive force.

though scratch resistant, sapphire will simply shatter and break into pieces.

the moonwatch STILL uses an acrylic crystal for that (safety) reason.

an original replacement acrylic crystal for a 1601 datejust costs $30 from RSC (service charge for changing that crystal is an additional $60).