RE: Crystal types: sapphire, mineral and acrylic trade-offs for daily wear · RWI-03936

The core trade-off is scratch resistance versus shatter resistance. Sapphire is very hard to scratch but can chip or crack from a sharp impact on an edge. Acrylic scratches easily but flexes, rarely shatters, and light scratches can be polished out at home. Mineral glass sits in between and is often the cheapest to replace.