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refraction: the change of direction of a ray of light, sound, heat, or the like, in passing obliquely from one medium into another in which its wave velocity is different.
I have a couple of watches that have domed crystals that exhibit a refractive quality that I don't see in my other watches. I've been wondering for quite some time what causes it.
When I got my Alpha PO homage, I noticed the tendency of the crystal to refract light when turned at an angle to my eye (see pic below). Initially, I chalked it up to the crystal being mineral glass and, I presumed, low grade. I have a number of Seikos with domed Hardlex crystals that don't seem to refract light quite so severely.
A few months later, I bought an Ocean7 LM-1. I was a little shocked at first to discover that the LM-1, with a sapphire crystal, also refracts light - so much so that it reminds me of a window on a submersible diving bell.
It was at this point that I began to suspect that the refraction might not just be a result of the crystal being cheap, but that it might have to do with thickness, chemical composition, or other properties of which I was not aware. I'm wondering if anyone here knows - what causes some crystals to refract light when turned at angle, whereas others do not?
I have a couple of watches that have domed crystals that exhibit a refractive quality that I don't see in my other watches. I've been wondering for quite some time what causes it.
When I got my Alpha PO homage, I noticed the tendency of the crystal to refract light when turned at an angle to my eye (see pic below). Initially, I chalked it up to the crystal being mineral glass and, I presumed, low grade. I have a number of Seikos with domed Hardlex crystals that don't seem to refract light quite so severely.
A few months later, I bought an Ocean7 LM-1. I was a little shocked at first to discover that the LM-1, with a sapphire crystal, also refracts light - so much so that it reminds me of a window on a submersible diving bell.
It was at this point that I began to suspect that the refraction might not just be a result of the crystal being cheap, but that it might have to do with thickness, chemical composition, or other properties of which I was not aware. I'm wondering if anyone here knows - what causes some crystals to refract light when turned at angle, whereas others do not?
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