Hesalite vs. Sapphire

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Gebbeth

I wonder how many of the people who "like" Hesalite for its warmth and nostalgic feel equally "hate" fauxtina.

I'll stick my hand up as a fully paid up card carrying member of the club

Don't hold back.
Tell us what you really think based on your bias and value judgements.

Like they say.
Everybody seems to know the cost of everything, but they don't understand the value of anything.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by texasmade

Main argument for Hesalite vs sapphire on the Speedy is the milky ring effect. My brother has an 1861 Hesalite while I have a FOIS with sapphire and there's a noticeable visual difference with the milky ring.

On the EW 321, Omega reshaped the sapphire to reduce/eliminate this effect.

That milky ring is a problem for me and for my money it devalues the watch.
So i'm more than happy to pay less for the cheap piece of plastic.
After all, the Saphire doesn't add anything except weight and expence.
My cheap plastic one hasn't got a mark on it over a number of years of regular casual wear and no Polywatch needed.
If it falls on the ground it will potentially land with less force because it's lighter and it won't potentially shatter like Saphire thus forcing a replacement and potentially an unnecessary service. In theory it could trundle along happily with a cracked piece of cheap plastic with some care around water until the next service as long as it doesn't display some degree of fogging.
It also provides a nice clear view of the dial to read the time at a wider angle of perspective than the milky ringed Saphire.
That piece of cheap plastic is much more practical in the day to day of life and with regard to the overall ownership experience with some Polywatch or cheap replacement as required

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Cassian739

And the milky ring around the watch face is almost nonexistent on the 3861 Sapphire watch face.

Agreed
Also the milky ring is virtually a nonexistent issue with the White dialed references.
The movement is definately pleasing to the eye if one likes to see those things, but there are more visually pleasing movements out there which are much more worthy of a see through case back though

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by DaytonaDrifter

I vote hesalite acrylic crystal every time. Most my collection are vintage with only hesalite options. I have a couple of reissues also with hesalite rystals.

I found an Omega AD that recently swapped my First Omega in Space's sapphire crystal with a genuine plexiglass hesalite crystal. I love the look even more than ever expected. No going back for me now.

Very nice

[0nly5iv3Digits]

Purist here - Only the hesalite will do.

[agriculture&watches]

I didn’t own any of those watches but I prefer the sapphire version overall. If I would be buying my first speedy I would go with sapphire definitely

[Andad]

Originally Posted by Dirt

That milky ring is a problem for me and for my money it devalues the watch.
So i'm more than happy to pay less for the cheap piece of plastic.
After all, the Saphire doesn't add anything except weight and expence.
My cheap plastic one hasn't got a mark on it over a number of years of regular casual wear and no Polywatch needed.
If it falls on the ground it will potentially land with less force because it's lighter and it won't potentially shatter like Saphire thus forcing a replacement and potentially an unnecessary service. In theory it could trundle along happily with a cracked piece of cheap plastic with some care around water until the next service as long as it doesn't display some degree of fogging.
It also provides a nice clear view of the dial to read the time at a wider angle of perspective than the milky ringed Saphire.
That piece of cheap plastic is much more practical in the day to day of life and with regard to the overall ownership experience with some Polywatch or cheap replacement as required

The sapphire crystal does not add expence.

[DaytonaDrifter]

Originally Posted by AEC

Wow! First and only report of this that I have ever come across. If it's not a lot of trouble then I'll be interested to hear what was involved.

BTW, the dial in the FOIS is my favorite, and when my Ref. 3570.50 goes for routine service this summer I'm thinking of swapping that dial into my watch

This watch has a dial swap to 3594.50 Dial, which is very nearly a reissue of a 1962 CK2998 Speedmaster dial. Then, I found a watchmaker to complete the hesalite crystal swap.

I described it here https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=944967

[2thdock]

Still can’t make up my mind. I wonder how hard it would be to get a local AD in NJ to put a Hesalite on a sapphire sandwich . Seems like the best iOS everything. I do try to consider that the much desired Ed White has sapphire. Shaped different but sapphire non the less. Also the new white face as sapphire. By friend just got the Hesalite version.

[2thdock]

Scratch that last post. I decided on a Hesalite 3861. Leather strap ( part leather?) Used never worn 2023 from dealer on Chron24. Got a very good deal. Omega warranty. In transit! Honestly, I could have gone either way. This was a great deal so steered me to the Hesalite. My 300M has sapphire open back, so I felt I didn’t need it with the Speedy.

[1William]

Congratulations.

[Gregdaytona997]

Congratulations and great choice!

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by ww2gunguy

Well I sold the hesalite and bought the sapphire …soooo happy I did…while the heslite was nice, and may be closer to Apollo’s original….the sapphire feels more like a 6-7k watch and in my opinion better value for what your buying….very happy with it!

I realize this is very late in reply … but congratulations

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by 2thdock

Scratch that last post. I decided on a Hesalite 3861. Leather strap ( part leather?) Used never worn 2023 from dealer on Chron24. Got a very good deal. Omega warranty. In transit! Honestly, I could have gone either way. This was a great deal so steered me to the Hesalite. My 300M has sapphire open back, so I felt I didn’t need it with the Speedy.

Good choice
At least you won't die wondering now

[usmc_k9_vet]

Originally Posted by Dirt

After all, the Saphire doesn't add anything except weight and expence.

If it falls on the ground it will potentially land with less force because it's lighter and it won't potentially shatter like Saphire thus forcing a replacement and potentially an unnecessary service.

It also provides a nice clear view of the dial to read the time at a wider angle of perspective than the milky ringed Saphire.

That piece of cheap plastic is much more practical in the day to day of life and with regard to the overall ownership experience with some Polywatch or cheap replacement as required

Deleted parts of the quote that I’m not addressing.

Is this a joke? The sapphire adds weight? I’ve got to laugh at that. There’s no way anyone could possibly perceive a weight difference between sapphire and hesalite, nor does the extremely minor difference in weight matter if the watch is dropped (or for any other reason). The watch would potentially land with less force? These are some seriously strange assumptions and address an absolutely fringe and likely never-experienced-by-anyone hypothetical scenario.

It adds a wider angle of perspective? Again, so fringe that it is beyond any real world scenario that would ever matter in any meaningful way.

To each their own, but this is the strangest reasoning to go for the hesalite that I’ve ever encountered.


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[GST15]

I went for the Hesalite because I think the look is much warmer and natural. I have a number of watches with display back cases, and honestly, I never look at them, so the case back means nothing to me.