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Tropic 19; New Crystal Replacement Option

hanski

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25/4/18
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Have any of you all seen this new option for aftermarket crystals?

truedome.com

Supposed to be as good as gen and an exact replica of gen. I haven’t gotten on yet but they look pretty good.

Thought I’d share as another to add to the list of crystal suppliers.
 

maestroa12349

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They’re priced at $250 because they are the super dome shape which is incredibly hard to find without crazing in the gen world. Gen super domes fetch $6-700 on the low end and there is still a large amount of risk the buyer takes on of getting ripped off with an aftermarket crystal.

Different world over in the gen pond but with similar problems ironically.


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tripdog

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They are made of acrylic, just like all the other aftermarket crystals out there. Genuine Rolex crystals are made of hesalite, a T19 Superdome only sells for $500 or so because they are very hard to find - rare. An aftermarket version made out of acrylic is not hard to find - they aren't rare, and certainly isn't worth $250.

Michael Youngs crystals are perfectly acceptable and far better value.
 

hanski

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They are made of acrylic, just like all the other aftermarket crystals out there. Genuine Rolex crystals are made of hesalite, a T19 Superdome only sells for $500 or so because they are very hard to find - rare. An aftermarket version made out of acrylic is not hard to find - they aren't rare, and certainly isn't worth $250.

Michael Youngs crystals are perfectly acceptable and far better value.

I'm no scientist but from my rigorous research (quick Google search and skim of Wikipedia) I understand Hesalite is simply a trademark name for PMMA (poly-methyl methacrylate) the same way Lucite or Perspex are also just acrylic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly(methyl_methacrylate)

But anyways, I agree with you. It's all just plastic that's cheap to make and readily available.

For instance, if anyone was ambitious enough GS Supplies will develop a custom mold for $3000-$4000. Depending on quantity produced their only a few dollars per unit. Say you produced 1,000 units and your total cost were $10,000 you could sell yours for $100, undercutting True Dome by more than 50% but making 1000% profit.
 
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yodog

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Also the truedome crystals are marketed for gen owners.

please do not buy one to mount onto your cartel 5513
 

hanski

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Also the truedome crystals are marketed for gen owners.

please do not buy one to mount onto your cartel 5513

Why not??? Then I could post a pic on IG and praise it's quality! ;)
 
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hanski

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because the whole purpose is clarity and light refraction

a cartel dial will look shitty no matter what lol

Honestly, I was thought you might be getting at some dimensional issue. I wasn't even thinking how it would provide clarity to a crap dial.
 

maestroa12349

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Let me rephrase my earlier statements: gen owners who own a watch worth anywhere between $9k to $75k that are considering replacing the crystal want a gen crystal so that they can secure their investment’s safety if exposed to water. They don’t care for the service dome shape however. I have read many posts saying that people don’t trust Clark’s crystals or other offerings, so they’d typically only want gen. If they do find a gen super dome, they don’t want to worry they ended up with an eBay special. Thus comes along jacek and crew and makes an offering that costs around the same as a service dome, has the super dome shape, and has the source credibility of coming from someone they trust rather than risking ending up with a crystal made in a crappy shop. Even if they are buying an aftermarket acrylic, it gives them peace of mind coming from a name they trust. Why people don’t use CWP crystals is beyond me however, but that’s marketing I suppose. Not to mention the target market is made up of people owning well into the 5 figures in a single watch who are likely not very price sensitive, especially when it ‘secures their investment’


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hanski

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Let me rephrase my earlier statements: gen owners who own a watch worth anywhere between $9k to $75k that are considering replacing the crystal want a gen crystal so that they can secure their investment’s safety if exposed to water. They don’t care for the service dome shape however. I have read many posts saying that people don’t trust Clark’s crystals or other offerings, so they’d typically only want gen. If they do find a gen super dome, they don’t want to worry they ended up with an eBay special. Thus comes along jacek and crew and makes an offering that costs around the same as a service dome, has the super dome shape, and has the source credibility of coming from someone they trust rather than risking ending up with a crystal made in a crappy shop. Even if they are buying an aftermarket acrylic, it gives them peace of mind coming from a name they trust. Why people don’t use CWP crystals is beyond me however, but that’s marketing I suppose. Not to mention the target market is made up of people owning well into the 5 figures in a single watch who are likely not very price sensitive, especially when it ‘secures their investment’


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Well said - it's a Veblen good all the way. Like Martha Stewart's pie story. She was selling pies at $5 each at a farmer's market. Never sold out and even had trouble selling. She decided to increase the price to $25 for the same pie. That week she sold out.
 
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thom.son

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Let me rephrase my earlier statements: gen owners who own a watch worth anywhere between $9k to $75k that are considering replacing the crystal want a gen crystal so that they can secure their investment’s safety if exposed to water. They don’t care for the service dome shape however. I have read many posts saying that people don’t trust Clark’s crystals or other offerings, so they’d typically only want gen. If they do find a gen super dome, they don’t want to worry they ended up with an eBay special. Thus comes along jacek and crew and makes an offering that costs around the same as a service dome, has the super dome shape, and has the source credibility of coming from someone they trust rather than risking ending up with a crystal made in a crappy shop. Even if they are buying an aftermarket acrylic, it gives them peace of mind coming from a name they trust. Why people don’t use CWP crystals is beyond me however, but that’s marketing I suppose. Not to mention the target market is made up of people owning well into the 5 figures in a single watch who are likely not very price sensitive, especially when it ‘secures their investment’


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Good point! It's just Marketing.

I also agree with Yodog "
the truedome crystals are marketed for gen owners.".
 

tripdog

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I'm no scientist but from my rigorous research (quick Google search and skim of Wikipedia) I understand Hesalite is simply a trademark name for PMMA (poly-methyl methacrylate) the same way Lucite or Perspex are also just acrylic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly(methyl_methacrylate)

But anyways, I agree with you. It's all just plastic that's cheap to make and readily available.

For instance, if anyone was ambitious enough GS Supplies will develop a custom mold for $3000-$4000. Depending on quantity produced their only a few dollars per unit. Say you produced 1,000 units and your total cost were $10,000 you could sell yours for $100, undercutting True Dome by more than 50% but making 1000% profit.

There's acrylic and there's also polycarbonate, which are not exactly the same apparently, and in terms of transparency there are different grades of PMMA/polycarbontae - go to any professional supplier of PMMA/polycarbonate and you'll have quite a choice of different grades, going from good optical transparency up to very high optical transparency - better than glass.

Hesalite is actually softer than most aftermarket acrylic crystals, meaning it scratches more easily, but it's also easier to polish out the scratches and comes back to a very smooth, optically transparent surface and still remains superior to a new acrylic crystal.

Hésalite obviously has a specific 'recipe', even though it's basically some sort of acrylic.
 
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deadpan

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Over the horizon
There's acrylic and there's also polycarbonate, which are not exactly the same apparently, and in terms of transparency there are different grades of PMMA/polycarbontae - go to any professional supplier of PMMA/polycarbonate and you'll have quite a choice of different grades, going from good optical transparency up to very high optical transparency - better than glass.

Hesalite is actually softer than most aftermarket acrylic crystals, meaning it scratches more easily, but it's also easier to polish out the scratches and comes back to a very smooth, optically transparent surface and still remains superior to a new acrylic crystal.

Hésalite obviously has a specific 'recipe', even though it's basically some sort of acrylic.


This makes perfect sense, and Parallels (in some ways) glass construction for lenses; some (no longer produced) camera lenses are very sought after over others due in part to their use of a rare mix of minerals in the glass, resulting in much more resolving power. I once owned a ‘Docter Optic’ (a sub. Of Carl Zeiss) process lens that was super rare. The physical construction of the lens was the same as other lenses of a similar type. The coating was the same as others. However, the lens would out perform all similar lenses in terms of sharpness and resolution. Most of this could only be seen on test charts, but it would also physically render subjects in a slightly different way to other lenses. This was apparently all down to the unique mix of minerals used in the construction of the glass itself.
 
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Manray

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What about this one?




5513plexi.jpg
 
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