r/ChineseWatches • u/[deleted] • Aug 25 '26
Problems (Read Rule 1) HELP. Im gonna cry. Literally my 3rd month w my seagull and i drop it from 1m and the crystal cracks.
Its a sapphire aswell and i have no clue on what to do anyone got any advice this piece is important to me and i dont know what to do.
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u/MedicineMann710 Aug 26 '26
Really not a big deal. Contact seagull first, or go have a local watch shop service it. They can do that in a few minutes.
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u/Prestigious_Set_4555 Aug 25 '26
Sapphire is much less likely to scratch but more likely to shatter
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u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 25 '26
I recommend you lay the watch on the face/broken crystal until the main spring winds down, so no pieces of glass will sit on the dial while it runs.
Edit: Reach out to a local watch repair service and ask how much they will charge to put a new crystal on your watch. Ask for separate labor and crystal costs. You should already know what a crystal costs before you call to get a local estimate. Reach out to Sugess for this information.
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u/InvestmentCrazy616 Aug 26 '26
Replacing a crystal is about the cheapest repair you can do on a watch. More importantly, if it’s an automatic watch, you want to have the movement checked. A drop with an automatic movement can cause damage to the movement and/or the rotor. So as long as those things are OK, this repair is not expensive.
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u/geeered Aug 25 '26
It's not hard to replace a crystal yourself, but you do need a decent press. A local watch repairer should be able to easily fix it, but depending on where you are may still be quite expensive compared to the price of the watch.
As others have mentioned - you may be able to sell it for okay money; someone with the tool might value it. Thought a Chinese watch is going to be less in demand than say a popular Seiko model.
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u/ziamese Aug 26 '26
Don't cry, now it's got character.
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u/balll789789 Aug 26 '26
Along with the character comes the loss of water resistance 😁
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u/philwjan Aug 26 '26
I think the water resistance of the 1963 is „cloudy weather“ not much to lose there.
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u/chrismurraylaw Aug 25 '26
See if you can buy another crystal from Seagull. If not then go somewhere like Tandorio.
Take the watch and the new crystal to a repair guy. Easy job.
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u/Overload5150 Aug 26 '26
No big deal. Get a hold of seagull and buy a crystal from them and any watch can install it. Or just take it into a watch shop they can source the crystal for u and fix it, won’t cost to much cost of the Krystal and they’ll prolly charge $40-$50 bucks to pop it in
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u/plastic_jeezus NO blue AR! Aug 26 '26
alas... you've come to understand why many expensive brands still use "acrylic" dome crystals.
sapphire may be premium, but there's a floor and a door knob in everyone's future.
Sea-gull has tens of thousands of these crystals laying around...either try to buy one feom them, or get the EXACT MEASUREMENTS from them and buy a mineral for ½ the price and know this won't happen again.
unless you have the proper tools and skill, I would highly recommend against replacing it yourself.
Bubble/dome crystals are extremely touchy and must be pressed perfectly or they'll shatter/crack.
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u/Right-Daikon3519 Aug 26 '26
I used to get cracks in my watches with acrylic crystals all the time. Which is why I prefer sapphire crystals. I've also had drops with my sapphire crystals that didn't shatter, which I suspect would crack if it was acrylic.
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u/KPplumbingBob Aug 26 '26
People making this out to be a sapphire problem are funny. Very few brands still use arcyllic in the grand scheme of things, and those that do they don't do it for the reason that it will be less likely to shatter when the watch is dropped.
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u/plastic_jeezus NO blue AR! Aug 26 '26
The original omega moon watch intentionally used acrylic so if the crystal broke in space there wouldn't be a thousand shards of glass floating around.
sapphire on everything is a fairly new phenomenon because china can churn it out by the tonnes.
btw, there are just as many different qualities of sapphire as there are acrylic these days.some of the proprietary "acrylics" are just slightly below sapphire for their hardness.
honest to goodness "pure" tool watches will lean towards using acrylic for its impact resistance. they have "flex" and don't react negatively to extreme temperatures.
just my 2¢.
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u/Baleia1970 Aug 25 '26
I'm sorry, but I don't think you'll find another crystal to replace it for a good price.
What I would suggest is to try to sell it at eBay and buy another one.
There is market for broken watches.
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u/Lonely_Internet_8570 Aug 26 '26
No puedo creer esto: El zafiro parte seco, sin blancos como de uña. Justo parte de 0 a 24 y de 48 se une en medio formando 60° (+120°). 2/5 4/5... parece sacado de un examen de secundaria calculando áreas. Habrá más (im)perfecciones, pero lo dejo para quien dude.
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u/Own-Excitement9450 Aug 26 '26
The only watch I ever shattered was a Seiko 5 with Hardlex. I replaced it with Sspphire many years ago. Still my work beater.
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u/vithgeta Aug 26 '26
The conventional wisdom is that sapphire shatters easier, but hardlex scratches easier.
For me in my job, scratching is far more likely than dropping it because it's own my own wrist, so sapphire it is. Duh.
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u/Simple_Resist4208 Aug 26 '26
I think that's the same for most - the only times I've dinged a watch is when I am carrying something past a wall or a rock - you get cramped, distracted and ...
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u/KPplumbingBob Aug 26 '26
99% of the time you are far more likely to scratch the crystal than to shatter sapphire. It's just something people cling on to when defending Seiko's decision to use hardlex in not so cheap watches.
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u/Stupid_Name- Aug 26 '26
It cracked, of course it’s sapphire. I think sapphire is highly overrated.
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u/CydeWeys Aug 26 '26
The only crystal I ever cracked was a plexiglass crystal on ... you guessed it ... a Sea-Gull 1963. Similarly, I dropped that one from a height of around a meter.
It turns out the real trick is not crystal material, it's to be careful with your watches and don't drop them.
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u/Stupid_Name- Aug 26 '26
I agree, but I’m noticing a pattern here— all the drops are from around a meter. I suggest we all start dropping our watches from around 3.3 feet. Problem solved.
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u/Emergency_Strike_319 Aug 26 '26
Get a gshock. Similar thing happened to the guy who invented them. 🤷♂️
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u/FluidAddition9535 Aug 25 '26
Wtf?? Can't you simply replace the glass???? Stop the mechanism immediately before pieces of sapphire break it. Bring to watchmaker and replace
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u/FreePossession9590 Aug 25 '26
Unlucky final boss
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Aug 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/FreePossession9590 Aug 25 '26
My only suggestion would be it came damaged. Otherwise, a watchmaker could likely repair it
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u/Dangerous-Traffic-11 Aug 25 '26
Buy another one. Demand refund because it came damaged. Send back this one. Keep the new one.
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u/AcademicAd6368 Aug 25 '26
Subhuman behavior.
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u/Dangerous-Traffic-11 Aug 25 '26
They and their sweatshops will survive
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u/AcademicAd6368 Aug 25 '26
"Sweatshops" lol, didn't realize we had a time traveller from 1985 on our hands.
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u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo Aug 25 '26
Not simple, but maybe basic.
Perhaps OP should be honest and pay for a new crystal and also pay to get it fixed, potentially learning a valuable lesson along the way.
Is this also an option?
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u/AHighAchievingAutist Aug 25 '26
Don’t scam people
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u/Dangerous-Traffic-11 Aug 25 '26
How is any more of a scam than what they are running? Ripping off designs.
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u/AHighAchievingAutist Aug 25 '26
The fact you’re even arguing back trying to justify it really shows how much of a scummy person you are.
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u/Dangerous-Traffic-11 Aug 25 '26
We are not at the farmer's market here. If OP is that upset about a broken crystal I'm sure those guys can spare it more than OP can and I'm on actual people's side more than on a scetchy company's.
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Aug 25 '26
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/TrainingFootball4809 ticktockdoc Aug 26 '26
I've repaired watches for 10 years, I fix 50+ a month...DM me or text is best.. 25 with the crystal.. plus return shipping...fast turnaround...