How to Remove the Cyclops from any Watch Crystal - Seiko Hardlex, Mineral or Saphire 

I just tried it AND IT WORKED! My pro tip: i "soaked" my Seiko Monster in hot water for a few minutes, applying direct heat on an already warm crystal lowers the risk of it cracking from the termic shock. Its a divers watch after all so it has no problem with it being submerged in water, as long as its not too hot that you damage the rubber gaskets etc...

I did this on my fathers Rolex Submariner. He didnt appreciate it.

Operation cyclop removal went excellent. Now I have one less criteria when searching for watches. Useful!

Great tip. I just used this on my watch. I used a torch lighter for like 5-10 seconds. No damage. These cyclops are really annoying. ;)

You can also use sheets of foil tape or aluminum foil as a heat shield to protect the parts you don’t want to heat.

I tried in the past on my monster and it just wouldn't budge, but I watched your video today and gave it another shot. It popped right off I am so happy!

There is a much easier and safer way, a good soldering iron with a flat tip directly on the magnifier and it will come off the same way and the crystal only gets slightly warm, the heat is much more targeted. i removed all of mine this way.

Thanks for the video. Have the exact same watch so you gave me the confidence to give it a try. Tried soldering iron first but couldn’t get enough heat into it. Used small torch flame and it came off straight away with no damage whatsoever. I cleaned the glue residue off with WD40 which worked really well. Watch is now so much better, date and time much easier to see as there are no reflections coming from the cyclops. Glad I did it! Thanks again!

I did it on a watch using a torch lighter. Took 4 separate 5 second blasts of heat to remove the crystal, which popped off when pushed/pried with a razor blade. WD40 did NOT remove the glue, but Goof Off ultimately did. Soaked a small corner of a folded paper towel with Goof Off, held it on the glue for 5 seconds, then rub with towel. Repeat as necessary. Took me a minute or so. The watch got pretty hot so no idea if the seals are damaged, but the watch seems to be running fine.

Thanks for the video, just did this to my Seiko SNE437 with a Primus Power lighter, and as you said, it looks way better!

It worked! on sapphire with a butane lighter with kitchen foil everywhere else, took about 15 secs and firm push with a case knife

Thanks for posting this. I've been planning to buy this watch for a while now but I couldn't pull the trigger because of that stupid cyclops. I just hate it. Now that I know it can come off relatively easily I can just go ahead and place my order.

Amazing video! I had doubts in doing this to these watches but now will try it out. Cheers!

Thanks for the video. I have a watch with one that I couldn’t stand. Had to be 3x or more. Dumb. Off there now and a usable watch face. Thanks again. 🎉

New here and cool video man even tho the cyclops don’t bother me too much but can be useful in the future if I change my mind. Btw how are doing? Just noticed your last post was 6 years ago!

Thanks for this. Always wondered how to get the irritating cyclops off, in fact didn't know it could be done. I'd got a couple I wanted to do. Mainly a Pagani Design 1682 and a Timex Harborside Coast. Started on the PD1682. It seriously wasn't interested in playing along. Tried all sorts, short blasts, long blasts, upto 10 secs ( or possibly not, was counting quite quick 🙈 ) . Eventually decided to try the Timex. Popped straight off, cleaned up beautifully immediately with nail varnish remover ( acetone) - looks so much better 😁👍. Regards the PD, no idea what they used but I'm gonna find out and build a nuclear shelter out of it - win/win 👍. Unfortunately looks like I'll just have to live with that one - PD quality 😁👍

Worked great ..I used a lighter and a razor blade …jewelers wanted to charge me 40$ and shipped out for couple weeks to install new crystal

Awesome thanks, I hate the cyclops on my submariner and it’s coming off today!!! Who is your insurance provider should things go wrong?

I've done this on three watches. Granted, they're "cheap" watches, but they're expensive to me, so it was just as nerve-wracking. One sapphire, two mineral crystals. My touch flame is unfortunately a lot larger than yours, but I made do. The unfortunate truth is that you just gotta go balls deep and hit the cyclops with the torch for a good 3-5 seconds. But usually they come off relatively easily. One of the watches I've tested, and is running great. The other two I just did, so we'll see if I lost any accuracy. Also unknown is if I somehow compromised the water resistance, but I'm less worried about that. One curious thing is, I've never needed Goo-Gone and all these other fancy things. Some acetone, and then a fingernail and good ol' spit got rid of the glue in all 3 watches. It also helps if you do it while the crystal is still warm from the torch. Maybe glues are different but, I dunno.

This worked for the Monster! You can buy Goo Gone from Dollar Tree for $1.00. And I bought a small torch lighter from Family Dollar for $2.50. I would recommend buying a small torch and not use a bigger torch like the one they sell at Harbor Freight. The smaller flame will target the cyclops better (there's just no reason to unnecessarily heat up the whole crystal, you don't want to risk damaging the gasket. In retrospect, the crystal at no time was too hot to touch, so very unlikely any potential damage occurred) . Also I used painter's tape to cover the bezel (honestly you prob don't need to but it made me feel better). I was nervous bc it wouldn't budge the first few tries. Initially I used a plastic edge tool, I kinda pushed it from the cyclops base - this didn't work. I then used my smallest sharp screwdriver (watch/knife size tools). Kinda did the lift from base technique. I slipped once and jabbed screwdriver into my thumb making it bleed, but more importantly I then slipped and kinda slid the metal screwdriver across my crystal 😫... But not to fear! 😃 Bc the Hardlux crystal seems to have higher hardness (higher mohs) than a metal flathead screwdriver... so basically this means it likely won't scratch this kind of crystal. I was quite impressed. Long story short, after a few attempts of directly applying the micro flame to the cyclops, and lifting the crystal in different places, it finally came off. Cleaning the adhesive off took several minutes - but who cares!! *BC NO MORE CYCLOPS* WOO HOOO!!😃 There's really no point in doing this as I'm going to replace with a double dome sapphire soon anyway. But man is it cool knowing I can remove cyclops 👍!

What was the small torch you used to remove the cyclops, I’m thinking about removing one from a Phoibos.

Good video. Cute dog at the end, like to see more of her

Worked like a charm thanks.

I might have to try this on the SPB121 Alpinist

Fantastic job, im taking mine off today

I went straight into mixed gas after open water advanced + medic , keep it up

Legend!! Thanks for showing that mate :) I'll be sure to do that as soon as it shows up haha

It worked! Thank you - have removed the cyclops from three of my watches now.atb snack.

nice one worked on saphire cheers lot better now

Worked like a charm on my PADI - another second or so and you can flick it off with your fingernail

After some tires, it worked. Thanks:)

You don't need heat at all. Put some Goof Off on the Cyclops and let it sit there for about 30 minutes then give it a light tap and it comes off easy. Just did mine right now.

I have a cyclops that I want to remove. thanks for the vid. and Cute pup!

Great video!

Well done. Took some balls to just go for it.

I do it with a dremel and a fine stone at high speed. Without scratching of even touching the crystal. If you do it with heat, protect the bezel.

Why not use a soldering iron?

I'm with you, i don't like the cyclops on my Mantaray turtle.

I absolutely HATE the cyclops on my watch...gonna do this!!

I have a king samurai and I hate the cyclops. Thinking of doing this

Did mine with a cigarette lighter when my blow torch wouldn't light.

Wow, neat trick! I would probably just get a domed sapphire magnifier glass in place of the stock crystal.

Easier to use your razor blade to get the glue off. But, nice job. I actually use a little bit of lighter fluid if you don’t have goo gone.

Came by to see how you remove this dam ugly cyclops on my Monster PADI...thank you for the tip and I'm steering towards a soldering iron, myself...TIP back at you... the next best thing to Goof Off or, what I prefer because I found it works better is NAPHTHA...better known as lighter fluid... I'm confident to say it's safe on all painted surfaces and all plastics... used as a sticky adhesive remover for more years than I have been using.

the proper way to do this without risking damage would be to pop the crystal out, but at that point you might just replace it with a new one without the cyclops

What about the crystal gasket? Did anyone took that on mind before doing the mod?

Thanks for this video...I recently purchased a micro butane torch and followed the procedure on this video for one of my Invicta Pro Divers, where the lens just didn't look quite right... Used the lowest fine setting...Very impressed by the result.

Hello doggy 🥰

Can you eat the cyclops?

I'm gonna try this on my new King Turtle

I had my butane torch directly over the cyclops for like 30 sec. didnt come off.

Wow. Now I want a little jet torch... Damn I hate Cyclops on watches, they are super tachy and lets be honest, unless you're blind they're totally useless. I can read the date on any watch at full arm's length.

Great video. I can't stand a cyclops on any watch. They are just so ugly and unnecessary. They always look like after market mods to me.

Why the watch manufacturers keep using cyclop as they can see how many people hate it. Very annoying element

Get some brasso on it , cleans and shines ,

Pro Tip: Don't use a torch. use an electric soldering iron with a flat face tip

Are u freaking kidding me?? All this cyclops hate I built up over the years for nothing??😫

Remove the bezel or tape it up

Sapphire isn’t only on Rolex watches, my Hamilton watches have it and so do a lot of value brands like Tissot, Certina, and Longines.

That has melted to O ring and wredked the watch.

Does not work on my watch. Warning for everyone trying this, it DOES NOT WORK on all watches.

Seiko hardlex is mineral pure and simples!

This is the watch I want it done to

Dont do this if you have AR coating

didnt work.

I like the cyclops, but reading the time at 1/4 past the hour sucks.

I hate cyclops' destroy them all...

Send me that cyclops.. I want to glue it to the 9 on my watch so I'll have a cyclops on both sides.. I love cyclops lenses !!!

That lense looks ugly..

Does not work for sapphire

Drum Roll.........................

Oh no! I had to take a while. It's hard to type and "roll on the floor laughing" at the same time. So, you thought that the Seiko "hardlex" was something special? or harder than... I dunno, glass? I guess you know now. Sorry, I am not laughing at you or making fun of you. I am sure lots of people fell for that marketing story. Cheers, Great video!

Garbage quartz watch! Cool video