Nothing special, but an always fascinating old Omega pink gold case ref. 2709.

 

Thanks for the nice, detailed photos!

A stainless steel Omega with a 344 movement was my first foray into the world of bumper winds. It's enjoyable to study your photos, even if I don't half understand what I'm looking at.

 

Same as noelekal cal 344 was my first introduction to bumper watches, beautiful movement and great photos, thanks for showing.

 

Neat watch, great pics! Love the parts shots.

 

Ohh that dial is sweet! Wish it was... in a better condition ? Can it not be cleaned ? Like... with lemon and water or something ?

 

Lemon water? Does that work?

 

Yes lemon and water will clean certain types of residue and stains, other times it does nothing. I believe you're supposed to let it sink in it a little, but it depends on whether you removed all parts or not from it. Water and dish soap can also work, but it depends on what is staining the dial.

 

Interesting. I would probably a bit sheepish to try this myself. I can only imagine the cleaning agent in lemon juice is the citric acid which I'm sure can eat away more than just stains. Perhaps diluted it is relatively safe. Time to find a dirty watch I don't mind experimenting on!

 

Yes the citric acid is the agent involved here. It depends on a lot of factors:
- what is staining the part in cause
- how deep is it
- how long you leave said part in the water and lemon juice mix

The dial will indeed be a bit more sensitive than raw metal, but if you have an old watch around, give it a try. Some dial paints will resist, some might not. It depends on what compounds they're made of, how were they applied, etc.

But just wiping a part with this mixture should not do any harm.

If you want to be on the safe side, try a mixture of dishwasher/soap and water first.

 

I would encourage anyone who is thinking of cleaning dials with various liquids to think twice. Unless you really understand the composition of the dial and what it is you are trying to remove, it's best to just leave it be.

Cleaning dials is a very risky proposition...

Cheers, Al

 

Thanks to all !
@Archer : totally agreed, it's very risky, sometimes all seem well fixed, indexes, minutes rail, in a while happens that a part of paint slips away like a decal, dial destroyed.
I like patina and in this particulary case i suggested my customer to leave dial as is.

 

Welcome Aldo, glad to see you here!

 

Have a go - I need to stock up on cheap movement parts.

 

I remember the satisfaction I felt seeing years of crud and buildup gently wash away from the dial of a Seamaster I was working on.
(mild soap solution in warm water, gentle warm rinse).

It was almost pristine, only a slight blemish near the centre. Feeling full of myself after just seeing the results, I decided on one more dip and rinse would bring the dial to perfection. Just one more.

You have no idea of the feeling of dread as I watched "SWISS MADE" suddenly vanish down the plug hole, quickly followed by "Seamaster".

As @Archer once said: "Only clean a dial if you're prepared to destroy it".

 

Don't get me wrong, some dials can be cleaned very aggressively and come out looking much better, but it really depends on the type of dial and how it's printed. Before and after on this one:



But there is no universal method that is safe for all dials, because the way dials were constructed/printed varies a lot. I only full cleaned the dial above after testing on a small area that would be hidden with the watch in the case, and once I saw that it cleaned up without damage, I was able to clean the whole thing, but this is actually the exception, rather than the rule.



Cheers, Al

 

Al, may I ask what you used?
I have an old 20f Omega that has similar patina, I'm guessing cigarettes?

 

No I didn't use cigarettes.

But what I did use may seem almost as unorthodox, but it works on certain dials...



Not a joke...I use a variety of tools not designed for watches specifically when I work. I use this type of eraser and also use those old two ended typewriter erasers in pencil form (one end is pink eraser and one end white) for different jobs like rust removal.

Cheers, Al

 

Some nice improvements. I can believe that certain gentle abrasives not meant for watchmaking would do well to remove dirt and grime.

I can vouch for their quality as pencil erasers too!