1952 Seamaster Bumper Spa Update

[CBM1590]

The old girl left me in October to get serviced, including some custom lathe work to breathe new life into her. The movement has been run through the cleaner and the upper barrel arbor bushing has been made and installed. All that remains now is to re-assemble, oil and adjust the movement, lightly refinish the case without harming the edges on the lugs, re-case (including a new crystal) and time the watch. Attached are some pics the WM sent as a progress report along with the original pic of the watch when she left. I’ll be excited to get her home in a few weeks! Now to find that elusive tan pig-skin strap…

 

[__ryan__]

Nice update. Opinions vary, and it's up to you, but I might pass on the "light" refinishing of the case. Especially if it involves polishing. It's difficult to tell from the photo above, but from what I recall your watch has a nice and honest case. Whatever they do will be irreversible and "light" is a subjective term. Part of the charm of vintage watches (at least for me) is the original case finish -- scratches and all.

 

[CBM1590]

__ryan__

Nice update. Opinions vary, and it's up to you, but I might pass on the "light" refinishing of the case. Especially if it involves polishing. It's difficult to tell from the photo above, but from what I recall your watch has a nice and honest case. Whatever they do will be irreversible and "light" is a subjective term. Part of the charm of vintage watches (at least for me) is the original case finish -- scratches and all.

I’m still debating. The case (and watch) was heavily worn in its day. The scratches are ubiquitous. Lightly giving it a shine while maintaining most of the scratches and retaining the sharp lugs might not be a bad thing, especially with a new crystal. Others please chime in. This ain’t my first rodeo, but it’s my first rodeo with a vintage Omega.

 

[ghce]

CBM1590

I’m still debating. The case (and watch) was heavily worn in its day. The scratches are ubiquitous. Lightly giving it a shine while maintaining most of the scratches and retaining the sharp lugs might not be a bad thing. Others please chime in. This ain’t my first rodeo, but it’s my first rodeo with a vintage Omega.

As has been said there is no going back once you polish.
I would not.
As far as I would go is cleaning with a tooth brush.
I only have one watch that I requested a little light refinishing to and that was a case back of a late model Tissot that some one had deeply scratched trying to open ( single scratch) and it was only polished such that the severity was lessened though the scratch was still visible.

 

[Dan S]

Very few people have the skill and patience to refinish cases, removing scratches while maintaining the condition of the case, and it's not necessarily something that watchmakers specialize in. Specialists who can refinish watches properly generally charge at least a few hundred dollars to do it.

Of course, most watch owners don't really have the ability to judge whether a case is sharp or not, and they typically don't care. Usually, as a collector becomes more discerning, scratches bother them less than soft edges.

 

[CBM1590]

Yall are a convincing lot with far more experience. I’ll message the WM and ask him not to polish, even lightly, the case. Thanks for the requested advice.