Apple was very proud of the fact that they are using a sapphire crystal in their new-and-improved camera.

Since sapphire is such a hard material, it would be sensible that the outermost element of the camera is made of sapphire.

We tried scratching the clear cover with a pair of steel tweezers and the lens remained scratch-free.

While this doesn't confirm that the protective cover is made from sapphire crystal, it does mean that it is quite hard and scratch resistant.

After giving it some thought, we decided that a few passes with a pair of tweezers wasn't a sufficiently thorough scratch test for the camera lens coating.

The rear case of the iPhone 5 doesn't hold up well to a barrage of sandpaper and keys, but the lens cover remains crystal clear. Wow.