Tudor "Submariner" 79090 What is (Mineral crystal) ??

[watches4me]

I walked my new Tudor "submariner" over to my watch guy to replace the acrylic crystal.. The crystal has a giant scratch that is easily visible.

The reference number is "79090"

Serial number is 300,000 - how would you date this ???

The replacement part listed in the Tudor books says (MINERAL CRYSTAL) !!!!

My question is this, is the crystal glass or plastic??

[SAAS]

Your watch should have plexi as does my blue 79090. Looking at your purchase pictures that scratch should buff out. my suggestion, pick up some polywatch online and give it 30 minutes of elbow grease. You should be good to go.

Mine says hi! Congrats on the great piece

[SAAS]

Polywatch!



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[Tools]

Plexi, Mineral Glass, and Sapphire are three different crystals used in watches..

Plexi is plastic and can be polished, but if you get too hot (machine polishing) you can melt it..

Mineral Glass is widely used and is the same glass used in your windows but much thinner. It too can be polished, but deep scratches may be difficult and time consuming to get out.. You would also make the glass very, very thin.

Sapphire is synthetic "stone", grown in a laboratory and is very hard to scratch - 9 on the mohs scale, diamond is a 10. This is used in high-end watches like Rolex and modern Tudor. Very hard to polish, you must use diamond paste.

You can usually tell plexi pretty easily. You might need a jeweler to test your mineral glass to differentiate from sapphire..

[azguy]

You don't need a new crystal, poly watch for those little scratches

[watches4me]

I'll ask the question a little different....

what is correct for this model ??

Acrylic ? Mineral ?

How did the Tudor come from the factory ?

what is the correct age of this Tudor - serial number (300***)

The crystal on the submariner appears to be acrylic and not GLASS, IS THIS PERIOD CORRECT ??

any response would be awesome !!

Thanks a ton,

watches4me

[NKflyer]

Between this thread and your other similar thread, I think you've been sufficiently answered several times. The original crystal was/is acrylic (plastic). Any chart that says otherwise is wrong. The model which came after yours, 79190, uses a sapphire crystal. None used mineral.

The scratches in your crystal are not bad enough to require replacement. They can easily be polished out with polywatch compound.

As far as the age, I believe you are missing the first character of the serial number, which is probably the letter "B". Or you are mistaking the "B" for a "3". B3xxxxx would be early 1990's. Do a google search for "tudor serial numbers" for more info.

[watches4me]

NKflyer - fair enough. I was taking the watchmaker chart as the gospel and why wouldn't i ??.. As for the B being a 3, Not a chance, It is clearly a 3 and there was never a B in front of the 3... I'll post a few pictures when i return to the office Monday and you can see for yourself..

The entire reason for my question was to restore the watch to its original state. Thanks in advance for everyones help..

[NKflyer]

Well, after doing some additional research, it is indeed possible for a six digit serial number 30xxxx for this watch. Would make it a very very early example. Year is 1989.

See:
http://www.rolexforums.com/showpost....48&postcount=1

[watches4me]

NKflyer - I was a tiny step ahead of you and discovered this late yesterday evening. I didn't wanna beat a dead horse, LOL... Thanks for the clarification. either way, I'm excited to have this beauty. My plan is to COA the movement and clean up the crystal. I will then wear this colorful beauty for years to come...

cheers :)

[azguy]

I have a 79090 that starts #258 and I was told it was 1988

[Tcaviglioli]

it is a plastic one.

[iclick]

Originally Posted by watches4me

Acrylic ? Mineral ?

Acrylic

what is the correct age of this Tudor - serial number (300***)

My 310xxx has an invoice date of 1992.

[HunterST]

Does your 310xxx have a B? I have a 3000xx that does not. Dates to late 89 before the B switch over at B330000

Originally Posted by iclick

Acrylic



My 310xxx has an invoice date of 1992.

[Filipão]

Originally Posted by watches4me

I walked my new Tudor "submariner" over to my watch guy to replace the acrylic crystal.. The crystal has a giant scratch that is easily visible.

The reference number is "79090"

Serial number is 300,000 - how would you date this ???

The replacement part listed in the Tudor books says (MINERAL CRYSTAL) !!!!

My question is this, is the crystal glass or plastic??

Here you have it. #144

[mineral]

Originally Posted by watches4me

I walked my new Tudor "submariner" over to my watch guy to replace the acrylic crystal.. The crystal has a giant scratch that is easily visible.



The reference number is "79090"



Serial number is 300,000 - how would you date this ???



The replacement part listed in the Tudor books says (MINERAL CRYSTAL) !!!!



My question is this, is the crystal glass or plastic??

Your sub 79090 should be installed with plexi.

But sometimes the RSC can replace the plexi with sapphire crystal during the service. In my case the plexi on my 75090 sub was replaced by RSC.



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