Acrylic crystal for Soviet Pobeda

[Henry1129]

I recently bought an old Soviet Pobeda watch off eBay, and it came with a cracked crystal. I took it to my local watch repair shop, who said they’d charge me upwards of $100 to replace it. I figured I could just do it myself, but upon further research, I can’t seem to find a crystal that’ll fit. The distance from the top of the case to where the crystal sits is about 0.6mm(the edge measurement of the crystal), but I’m not sure what the measurement under the lip is. The diameter of the original crystal is 30.5mm, but you could spin it around in the case, and it wiggled a little from side to side, so I’m thinking it should’ve been closer to 31mm. It also had a dark brown substance around the edge; I couldn’t figure out if it was glue or just crud built up over the decades. My questions are these: Are there any crystals that would fit these dimensions? Is it possible for me to use a mineral glass or sapphire crystal with some glue instead of an acrylic one? Also, is $100 a normal cost for a crystal repair, or should I find somewhere else that’ll do it for cheap? Hoping not to spend a ton of money on this one(max $50).

[Neverenoughwatches]

3 hours ago, Henry1129 said:

I recently bought an old Soviet Pobeda watch off eBay, and it came with a cracked crystal. I took it to my local watch repair shop, who said they’d charge me upwards of $100 to replace it. I figured I could just do it myself, but upon further research, I can’t seem to find a crystal that’ll fit. The distance from the top of the case to where the crystal sits is about 0.6mm(the edge measurement of the crystal), but I’m not sure what the measurement under the lip is. The diameter of the original crystal is 30.5mm, but you could spin it around in the case, and it wiggled a little from side to side, so I’m thinking it should’ve been closer to 31mm. It also had a dark brown substance around the edge; I couldn’t figure out if it was glue or just crud built up over the decades. My questions are these: Are there any crystals that would fit these dimensions? Is it possible for me to use a mineral glass or sapphire crystal with some glue instead of an acrylic one? Also, is $100 a normal cost for a crystal repair, or should I find somewhere else that’ll do it for cheap? Hoping not to spend a ton of money on this one(max $50).

I think we need to see what you have henry. Need to know crystal type and it's removal method.

[Henry1129]

16 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

I think we need to see what you have henry. Need to know crystal type and it's removal method.

Here are some pictures of the case and the crystal. The crystal sat on that lip on the inside of the case, which is 0.6mm from the top edge of the case.

[Neverenoughwatches]

8 hours ago, Henry1129 said:

Here are some pictures of the case and the crystal. The crystal sat on that lip on the inside of the case, which is 0.6mm from the top edge of the case.

Just look like a low dome snap in acrylic crystal henry. When say you cant find one....where have you looked ? and what is it specifically about the crystal that you've found in your research that has prevented you from finsding one ?

[nevenbekriev]

Well, this case is meant for normal plexiglass pan shaped crystal of the type that crab-tool is needed for installing it. The crystal shown is not original. 0.5mm is huge step, so may be 31mm crystal will break if shrank enough to get in.

[Henry1129]

6 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Just look like a low dome snap in acrylic crystal henry. When say you cant find one....where have you looked ? and what is it specifically about the crystal that you've found in your research that has prevented you from finsding one ?

Mainly the edge thickness. I’m not sure how far above the case the edge of the crystal should be.