04-19-12: Dhl93449
Mechans:
Diamond and sapphire are extremely brittle, in that you cannot bend or flex them without breakage. I did not mean they were not strong materials.
In a long needle shaped (ie length>>>diameter) structure like a cantalever, they would be very fragile. As used in jewelry in bulk crystal form, of course not.
In a cantalever, they are probably attached to an elastomer of some sort to allow flexing and movement. This allows some degree of freedom but I still suggest that these must be handled with the utmost care.
While any cantilever should be treated with care, my experience is that sapphire/ruby are not particularly fragile.
My Talisman Sapphire survived many years of heavy use without needing to exercise 'utmost' care (its still in one piece). I've been using my Denon 103R with a modded Soundsmith ruby cantilever for about 18 months - and that 'feels' quite robust too.
On the other hand I've managed to snap a few boron cantilevers over the years.
Although this is not solid data, I suspect boron cantilevers are more 'fragile' than ruby/sapphire.
I think aluminium cantilevers are quite fragile too - they won't 'snap', but they will bend, after which they're ruined. YMMV.