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From: wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin )
Newsgroups: net.consumers,net.misc,net.sci
Subject: Sapphire crystals
Message-ID: <6987@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 4-Jan-85 11:32:03 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.6987
Posted: Fri Jan  4 11:32:03 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 6-Jan-85 00:40:58 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: USAMC ALMSA
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Xref: watmath net.consumers:1634 net.misc:7225 net.sci:267

I think this might be best directed to a chemist, so I'm trying the general
distribution selected to see if it reaches someone knowledgeable about the
subject:

I recently saw an ad in the New Yorker magazine for RADO watches, of
Switzerland, which was lauding their "scratchproof" case made of sapphire
crystal. They illustrate it as being un-marrable by a file, due to the
hard surface. Now, these watches cost $850 up, which I find to be a 
ridiculous sum to pay for a watch (and I know that there are much more
expensive ones available, too, for conspicious consumption purposes).
I wouldn't want to pay more for a watch than I cn afford to lose (the one
I'm now wearing cost $3.99, I think...) (down with "dress for success"!).
Anyway... I'm writing this because I want to find out how expensive such
a sapphire crystal really is.

The idea of the sapphire unscratchable crystal seeems a good one. I know that
such crystals are being produced synthetically for many purposes, and I'm
wondering what they actually cost. I would think that they would be used
for instrument windows and various purposes that polished natural quartz
crystals used to be used for, so I would think they would be available
commercially in some standard size ranges as catalog items from a number
of vendors. Am I right in this supposition? What cost range are we speaking of?
I would think a watch crystal would need a blank about 3 cm on a side (square
or thereabouts), so nothing larger would be required.

So, is such a raw crystal a 10-cent item? a $10 item? $100? As you can see,
I have no idea. I would assume a large part of the final cost will be the labor
to polish and shape this hard material into final form, but I am trying to 
discover if it would be feasible to put such a sensible cystal on a $100
watch, or even a cheaper one. 

Thanks for your help!

Regards,

Will Martin

USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin     or   ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA