A few years ago I bought a Submariner homage watch, the Nettuno 3 from the strangely-named Marcello C brand. I was heavily attracted to the Sub, but never having worn a diver I wasn't sure how comfortable I'd find it or whether having worn one for a while I'd simply get fed up and move on. Let's be honest, at that time I wasn't too keen on spending several thousand pounds on a watch anyway. As it turned out I liked it and some time later, after making a decent sum of money from something I'd been working on, I went off and bought myself a Sub C Date which I continue to use as my daily wearer.
I'd like to un-retire the Nettuno 3 for occasional use in situations where there's a higher risk of damage than I should probably be taking with the Sub. However, ideally I'd now like to remove the cyclops lens from the sapphire crystal as it has become quite badly scratched to the point where it partially obscures the date when viewed at a normal angle. I'd also prefer the Nettuno to look a little less like the Sub knock-off which it undoubtedly is (though to be fair it does have a few styling cues of its own such as the indices). I should mention that the Nettuno is a solid watch - the bracelet being particularly impressive - but the cyclops lets the side down badly. It's either a poor quality mineral glass or perhaps a plexiglass-like material, I'm not sure.
I've seen a YouTube video demonstrating how to remove the cyclops by first applying strong heat to it to break the glue's bond before prising it off with a knife. I'm really not attracted to this idea given the potential for cracking the crystal and / or damaging the gaskets and would be interested in anyone's suggestions for an alternative method, if there is one.
FWIW, here are some photos of the Nettuno 3 complete with scratched cyclops - though as this is my first post pls bear with me if it doesn't work ...
I will start by saying it is obviously entirely up to you if you go ahead with this. I removed a cyclops using a stanley knife and just chipped away at it until it was gone. I then cleaned up the residue with some polywatch and you would never have known there had been a cyclops fitted.
That sounds more appealing to me than the high heat method - many thanks!Originally Posted by midgetda
If the sapphire crystal does get damaged on this one then it's unfortunate but I'm not going to lay awake at night fretting about it, so as I have a stanley knife in the house and in the knowledge that somebody else managed to succeed with a simple low-skill (?) approach, I'll have a go at it over the weekend.
I successfully removed the cyclops from my Tudor chrono's sapphire crystal, using a sharp wood chisel and hammer. I placed the watch on the kitchen worktop, against the wall with a piece of MDF and a rag to protect the case side, placed the sharp edge of the chisel on the crystal / cyclops junction and 'tapped'. Job done. It really was that easy.
The Stanley knife blade should do exactly the same thing but I expect that the mass of the chisel / hammer combination helped make a clean job.
I masked mine and applied a little acetone then a chiseler and pin hammer
What about getting the crystal changed at a watch shop – must be a better idea than jabbing a hot knife at it!
I did the same with this ...
To this
I've never needed heat, just a sharp blade held at a shallow angle against the Cyclops and hit the blade edge using a pin hammer. You shouldn't get any damage on the sapphire crystal. BTW I used a curved end scalpel blade :)
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