Explorer 2 42 mm crystal options

[Ruprekt]

My old Noob Ex 2 has been around the block more than a few times, and I"m looking at getting a new one when CNY holiday is over. One thing that always bugged the hell out of me is the weak A/R on the cyclops. Since finding one of the gen 295-318c crystals is like finding an honest man in congress, I figured I'd look at a few options to try to correct this. An expensive and semi-crazy fix would be to take the cyclops off a gen crystal for a Sub. That's about a $350 gamble but it might work if the heat taking it off didn't screw the A/R somehow. Option 2 is sending some generic 2.5x cyclops out to be A/R'd by some guys who know what their doing. Of course option 3 is just living with the weak ass blue tinted excuse the Chinese call A/R. Probably not.... Any opinions or thoughts? Pictures?

Gen

Not gen

 

[Cronus4]

Can't answer the cyclops question, but just wanted to give you kudos for your choice. I have an EXP2 and I love it.

 

[Garyb]

I "think" the ar is on the Crystal under the cyclops. I have seen a pic of what was said to be a gen Crystal with the ar cyclops removed and the ar was still on the Crystal in the shape of the cyclops.
And of course I can't find that pic now.

 

[Ruprekt]

I've heard that before. Not sure if it's true or not, but replicating that would be pretty much impossible.

 

[Garyb]

I've heard that before. Not sure if it's true or not, but replicating that would be pretty much impossible.

I found it.
https://rwg.cc/topic/144761-11-rolex-sports-model-crystals-with-ar-under-the-cyclops

 

[alessandri]

I "think" the ar is on the Crystal under the cyclops. I have seen a pic of what was said to be a gen Crystal with the ar cyclops removed and the ar was still on the Crystal in the shape of the cyclops.
And of course I can't find that pic now.

I have seen it on TRF somewhere. The picture you are talking about. The Cyclops gone and AR still there. It is under the crystal, not just under the cyclops. If I am remembering correctly.


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[Garyb]

I have seen it on TRF somewhere. The picture you are talking about. The Cyclops gone and AR still there. It is under the crystal, not just under the cyclops. If I am remembering correctly.


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I found it, look above your post.

 

[Ruprekt]

That picture says it all. Not much of a chance replicating that. About the best you can do without a gen crystal is an A/R cyclops I guess. I ordered a WO crystal for the EXP2 that's supposed to have an A/R cyclops. I don't expect much from it at all, but figured before I drop $90 on a loose A/R cyclops I'd see what it looks like. Can't be worse than the stock rep crystal!

 

[Garyb]

I put a gen ar Crystal on a white dial explorer and it didn't do much with a white dial, same with a platinum dial YM. I took them out and put a gen non ar in the YM and a BK in the explorer, still couldn't tell the difference. On a black or blue dial they make a huge difference but not on a light color dial, at least to my eyes.

 

[Ruprekt]

Look at the pictures I posted. I think it makes a big difference.

 

[Garyb]

Ever consider having the whole underside of the Crystal ar'd? I have but would love to see some before and after pics.

 

[Ruprekt]

The gen crystal does have A/R under the cyclops and underneath the crystal, but only where the cyclops is. If it had the whole underside coated You may loose the black hole effect. Wonder if you could mask the crystal off above and below the cyclops so you just had the A/R footprint when it went through the A/R process?

Gen crystal underside showing the A/R footprint.

 

[Garyb]

Just found this from BK(had to take a screen shot so no link). Guess he fixes the AR issue you may be having.

 

[alessandri]

Ever consider having the whole underside of the Crystal ar'd? I have but would love to see some before and after pics.

There was a hulk in M2M yesterday with AR inside and out on the whole crystal. Looked incredible. The member calls it "his" AR, so I doubt it is available from anyone else. I did not ask.
The difference was night and day. Crystal disappeared in some pics. Looking for it now.-the post, not the crystal.[emoji4]


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[Garyb]

There was a hulk in M2M yesterday with AR inside and out on the whole crystal. Looked incredible. The member calls it "his" AR, so I doubt it is available from anyone else. I did not ask.
The difference was night and day. Crystal disappeared in some pics. Looking for it now.-the post, not the crystal.[emoji4]


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Nope, he sells them. Send him a pm. Makes the watch look like it has no crystal. I have never been a fan of AR on the top side because it can scratch off and look terrible but I have no idea how durable his are. I'm going to try one. His user name is rnrprof

 

[alessandri]

Nope, he sells them. Send him a pm. Makes the watch look like it has no crystal. I have never been a fan of AR on the top side because it can scratch off and look terrible but I have no idea how durable his are. I'm going to try one. His user name is rnrprof

I feel the same. I think outer AR looks horrible when scratched. And it tends to happen easily sometimes. You cannot deny it looks good on his when new though. I wonder if he has considered trying a double treatment to the underside only? Someone had some double dome seiko crystals they were doing that to on WUS. It was not yobokies or anyone like that I don't think?


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[Garyb]

Here is a before and after pic.

I'm going to try one in my TC. (Sorry if I hijacked your tread, I just learned about these while researching about your problem but it doesn't actually answer your question either)

 

[ronin007]

http://www.repgeek.com/showthread.php?t=252190&highlight=explorer+crystal

 

[ronin007]

i fancy trying a gen crystal on my one but hard to find i think,mines the white dial

 

[d4m.test]

Is it just me or do gen crystals not look that impressive in pics like the post on RG? In person (which is all that matters) it does look like an improvement, but hard for me to tell in pics.

Profs crystals are amazing and a great addition to any watch, but I prefer AR