Corning Pits Gorilla Glass 3 Against Sapphire, Plans Reflection Reduction and Antimicrobial Technology

[DVK916]

Diamond can easily shatter only when the raw diamond is cut and polished. In matter of fact the shattering is not due to the weakness of the diamond but due to the fact when there is a mistake in cutting process. To cleave a diamond, the cutter places a chisel at a point of weakness in the stone and taps it with a mallet, causing the gem to split. If the weakness was misjudged, this can destroy the stone. However, even this process requires specially manufactured tools some of which are coated with diamonds them selves. Therefore, breaking diamond by accident without actually using tools manufactured for the cutting process is not going to happen.

This is completely wrong. You just typed a bunch of made up nonsense, and you clearly do not understand how diamonds are cut. Nor do you actual understand the physical characteristics of a diamond.

FYI if you take a diamond and drop it on the ground it can shatter, take any diamond and strike with a hammer and it will shatter into many pieces.

Diamond are not cut at all the way you are claiming, I don't know were you got that false information.

A diamond has multiple cleavage planes like all crystal structure, and its bond its very weak at these points, any pressure on these points will cause it diamond to crack and even shatter. Tools use split diamonds are not coated with diamonds, that is a myth.

In fact a diamond is more brittle than a Sapphire and will shatter with greater ease.

The Fracture Toughness of a Diamond is only 2 Kic, while a Sapphire is 4 Kic, indicating a diamond will shatter under considerable less force, a diamond is brittle like glass.

 

[RVAgaffer]

While GG is still a glass, my understanding that the final product we see in our devices is not just plain GG. I am not sure of the current process but I know for at least GG1 it was produced in the czech republic, shipped to one of teh carolinas where it was cut and treated (i cannot remember the exact treatment process but i remember it involves converting or stripping and replacing one of the elements in the surface of the glass) to make it much harder, then it was shipped to the manufacturing factories of the devices.

Everything I am finding puts GG at around a 9 on the mohs hardness scale... not a 7.

As to Nuvi's comments about diamonds... no, just no. First off, diamonds are not even cleaved any more in the 'cutting' process... standard cutting involves using a laser to cut the crystal in half and then the diamond is ground, there is no other parts cut off. Before the lasers were common they used a metal blade that diamond powder was applied to. The phrase 'cutting' is really a misnomer since pretty much the entire process is grinding except the one initial cut of the gem.

I worked in a jewelry store specializing in well cut, high quality diamonds. Diamonds have inherent weak spots from the inclusions and extreme hardness of the material. Ask any bench jeweler how easy it is to break the corner off of a perfect princess cut diamond, it is not due to bad cutting, it is just the material. In fact diamonds are pretty freaking easy to crush, I would remove melee diamonds from the gold we bought and sometimes it was not worth the time to unset them so I just would crush them out... not difficult at all.

As to the argument about hardness, just because something is 'softer' on the mohs scale doesn't mean it cannot damage a harder substance... if you ever saw an old sapphire under a loupe you would see how much a 'hard' substance can wear down. heck go to your kitchen and take a piece of green scrubby to a steel pan and see how much the scrubby scratches the steel.

 

[otismotive77]

sapphire is hard, more scratch resistant but it is also very brittle, it shatters into small pieces which can easily cut through skin
another point is that sapphire is very expensive, it's not for everyone.

 

[DVK916]

While GG is still a glass, my understanding that the final product we see in our devices is not just plain GG. I am not sure of the current process but I know for at least GG1 it was produced in the czech republic, shipped to one of teh carolinas where it was cut and treated (i cannot remember the exact treatment process but i remember it involves converting or stripping and replacing one of the elements in the surface of the glass) to make it much harder, then it was shipped to the manufacturing factories of the devices.

Everything I am finding puts GG at around a 9 on the mohs hardness scale... not a 7.

As to Nuvi's comments about diamonds... no, just no. First off, diamonds are not even cleaved any more in the 'cutting' process... standard cutting involves using a laser to cut the crystal in half and then the diamond is ground, there is no other parts cut off. Before the lasers were common they used a metal blade that diamond powder was applied to. The phrase 'cutting' is really a misnomer since pretty much the entire process is grinding except the one initial cut of the gem.

I worked in a jewelry store specializing in well cut, high quality diamonds. Diamonds have inherent weak spots from the inclusions and extreme hardness of the material. Ask any bench jeweler how easy it is to break the corner off of a perfect princess cut diamond, it is not due to bad cutting, it is just the material. In fact diamonds are pretty freaking easy to crush, I would remove melee diamonds from the gold we bought and sometimes it was not worth the time to unset them so I just would crush them out... not difficult at all.

Yes Diamond will a cleavage perfectly and easily along its octahedral plane, I have heard a story about how ill informed miners in the past would use a hammers to test diamonds, without realizing this test doesn't work and destroys many high quality diamonds.

I also heard of women who have had diamonds reevaluated after years, and discovered their diamonds quality has decreased due to cracks developing along the planes, from improper care, such as bumping into walls, dropping the ring, and what not.

 

[bobob]

another point is that sapphire is very expensive, it's not for everyone.

I suppose that depends on how you define "very expensive".

The current cost of a sapphire iPhone screen is $30 (and estimated to decrease to $20 within two years.)

 

[RVAgaffer]

I also heard of women who have had diamonds reevaluated after years, and discovered their diamonds quality has decreased due to cracks developing along the planes, from improper care, such as bumping into walls, dropping the ring, and what not.

Yep, and a good jeweler will check the stone before touching a ring because chips, cracks, etc are very common. It doesn't even need to be 'improper' care, it is just that your hands go through a lot of rough stuff every day. You do not notice how damaging it is since your skin heals.. metal and stones do not.

 

[benjalamelami]

I've never broken or shattered neither the iPhone 4 or the 4S

I've never broken or shattered any of my phones... Not even the iPhone 4 or the 4S and barely saw scratches on them. One must be reckless, me thinks.