Buying watch crystals can be a chore, especially for Wrist Watches. I’ve linked to some sites that act as good External References but basically if you want to order a crystal you will be reasonably well educated on what of crystal you want. To aid in that process I offer the following easy information for Wrist and Pocket Crystals.
Wrist Watches
The majority of the crystals we carry are from GS (Formerly known as the Germanow-Simon Co.) which are Acrylic. We also have other manufacturers like Electro Seal and SUC (Rocket) as well as the some of the glass crystal brands like Watchcraft, B.B. and others. We recommend Acrylic crystals above others because they are cheaper, easier to fit, and don’t break nearly as easily as glass crystals do. Plus polishing a light scratch out of an Acrylic crystals is a breeze.
Examples of vintage crystals:
LC 340 Elgin
LF 370 Illinois
LF 390 Gruen
LF 400 Wadsworth
N 550 Elgin
T 1272 New Haven
Y 837 1939 Mickey Mouse Watch
Now, having said all that we probably do have several hundred thousand glass wrist watch crystals. The trick is finding the one you want. If your heart is set on a glass crystal, send us a note and we’ll figure it out.
Pocket Crystals
99.9% of Pocket Watch Crystals are round. That makes identification easier, right? Wrong.
Just as with Wrist Watch Crystals, Pocket Watch Crystals come in all different varieties and the one you need can vary quite widely if you are fitting a hunting case watch vs an old 18s open face case that has a beveled crystal.
This requires a fair amount of guidance which I think is best represented in the images; 1) The types of Glass Crystals we can supply and 2) The process for providing us the proper size.
If all else fails drop us a note and we will tell you how we can help.
