A watch glass is the cover glass of the watch case. In many models, this is a round glass under which the dial is located and which is surrounded by a bezel. The watch glass can also have a rectangular shape. It is usually made of a scratch-resistant material such as mineral glass, sapphire glass or gorilla glass. But plastics such as plexiglass or acrylic glass can also be used.

The watch glass in smartwatches and sports watches has to be able to withstand a lot. It covers the watch case and the screen - that Watch Face (dial) – usually over a large area. Some smartwatches and sports watches also have a bezel that surrounds the watch glass. Many current wearables also have one on the back Heart sensor, which is also covered with a glass. In everyday life, it is often the first point of contact with numerous everyday objects. You quickly get scratches that damage the watch glass and simply look unsightly.

Fortunately, modern cover glasses are particularly scratch-resistant and also of the Bezel surrounded - which, based on experience, unfortunately doesn't mean that scratches won't occur. Anyone who really likes their smartwatch Scratches If you want to protect yourself, you need to get a high-quality protective cover. Basically, the watch lenses of high-quality smartwatches get a little better with each generation, so that the formation of scratches continues to decrease.

Watch glass in smartwatches – the most important types

When it comes to smartwatch watch glass, costs obviously play an important role. A high-quality and more expensive sports watch will usually also be equipped with a higher quality and more expensive watch glass. Always a very good choice Watches with sapphire crystal because it is particularly strong and scratch-resistant. Smartwatches in the mid-price segment are often equipped with mineral glass, which is also very strong, but not as strong as sapphire glass.

Cheap sports watches often only have a cover glass made of acrylic glass. At Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass, in turn, is a particularly scratch-resistant and impact-resistant aluminosilicate glass. Anyone who pays a little attention to their watch and not constantly with it Smartwatch If it gets bumped somewhere, you shouldn't have any problems with scratches with modern watch glasses. However, you should definitely use a protective cover when doing sports, traveling or during intensive outdoor use.

sapphire crystal

Sapphire crystal is not actually a glass, but a high-purity, synthetic sapphire (single crystal). The material is made from molten alumina. The chemical formula is Al 2O3. Sapphire crystal is the third hardest, transparent material in the world - after diamonds and moissanite. It has a Mohs hardness of 9 - the scale goes up to 10. The material is not only particularly scratch-resistant, but also heat-resistant, pressure-resistant, tensile-strength and acid-resistant. Sapphire crystal is also often referred to as "the diamond among watch glasses". One disadvantage of sapphire crystal is that it can be very reflective. That is why it is also anti-reflective in particularly high-quality watches.

mineral glass

Mineral glass is a crystal glass made of silicon oxide (SiO²). When it comes to mineral glass, the term window glass is often disparaging - but this is not the case. The material is more likely to be attributed to rock crystal or smoky quartz. It is significantly less scratch-resistant and pressure-resistant than sapphire crystal. The surfaces are often treated with an additional alloy in order to additionally chemically harden the surface. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.

Acrylic glass

Smartwatches with acrylic glass are often among the inexpensive models. Because acrylic glass is a plastic: polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The material is significantly softer than sapphire glass or mineral glass. Acrylic watch glass actually has advantages: The material is more translucent than other glasses and also lighter. But it scratches much faster than other watch glass materials used in smartwatches and sports watches.

Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass

At Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass, on the other hand, is a particularly scratch-resistant and impact-resistant aluminosilicate glass, which is supposed to be up to 40 times more stable than conventional glass and, depending on the design, should withstand up to 15 drops without damage. Many smartwatch manufacturers use Corning^® Gorilla^® Glass 3 for their watches.

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FAQs Watch glass for smartwatches and sports watches – the most important questions and answers

Smartwatch Wiki - the most important smartwatch terms at a glance

Letter	Term
A	Smart watch strap
E	EKG (electrocardiogram)
D	Digital crown (multifunction button)
G	GPS tracking (location)
H	Heart sensor
K	Complications (clock)
L	Bezel (rotating ring)
P	Positioning (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou)
	pulse
	Pulse oximeter
S	Measure oxygen saturation
	Smartwatch sensors
T	Touchscreen (touch sensitive screen)
W	Watch Faces (Smartwatch Dial)
U	Watch glass (smartwatch cover glass)

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Which sports watch or smartwatch are you currently using? Which functions do you attach great importance to? Share your experiences in the comments.