Hey guys,

I am sad. Got my grail back from watch maker today and the bezel is destroyed. See the pic below. I'm not even sure what to do. Going back to see him Monday. He's aware of the issue and wants to talk.



If anyone's got a vintage hooked 7 bezel they'd like to part with, I sure would be grateful.

 

Polishing the crystal, I think. Rubbed off the numbers around 1, 3, 7 markers.

Here's what it looked like before..

 

I don't know. Before and after shots show the difference. Only thing that happened in between was in for service.

Up close, it sure looks like it's been rubbed off, like by really fine grain sand paper or something.

 

Feel sad for you too. Anything else ruined? What led you to choose this watchmaker?

 

Remember that mistakes happen. Watchmakers are just error prone humans like the rest of us. I'm not normally one to say something like this--and I completely understand your anger and frustration--but good karma goes around. Handle this incident with 'grace and style' and you may just get lucky in finding the replacement bezel insert or your next grail watch in short order. Thank your watchmaker for his work and see how he's willing to work it out for you. It sucks when bad things happen to our stuff.. but it's just that... stuff. Material things.

 

I have no idea how a good watchmaker can burn the bezel with the polishing compound if he uses a small dremel based tool to polish the crystal. Seems a bit of improper tool selection or overkill. Glad it was only the bezel.

 

I saw another post like this, I thought it was on this forum.
The bezel looked exactly the same. The owner was
as upset as you. Turned out the numbers WERE'NT
rubbed off. Just some glaze left over from the crystal
polishing. Came right off.
Possible? lightly wipe with some alcohol and a Q-Tip
Might be the same deal

 

It might have also been marks in the soft aluminum from the bezel/crystal press. I've actually made that mistake once myself and left an ugly (uneven) circular wear mark on a bezel that I was reinstalling following some case work. I now cover the bezel with low-tack painter's tape before reinstalling.

 

Was just going to say the same thing. Don't recall the title of the post to search/link however

 

Here it is:
http://omegaforums.net/threads/i-am-gutted.14197/page-2#post-159689

 

Gents, I feel like a doof. Qtip and a bit of alcohol, and a shot for me too, and all is well again. It was some sort of residue. Had me fooled, looked like scratches, but came off.

Now I am happy.

Thank you all so much. That sinking stomach feeling is not fun!

 

Better to feel like a doof than having a ruined bezel
eh? Glad to help. Have a shot for me.

 

Done! (and yes, yes it does!)

 

Glad for you mate...........

 

A fine outcome, but looing at the original picture, it sure looked a lot worse. Enjoy.

 

Watchmaker owes you a beer for unnecessarily using up heartbeats!

 

Be very careful using alcohol for a job like this, soapy water is a safer bet. Some screen-printing inks are soluble in alcohol. Don't ask me how I know this but I will say that it was an expensive way to learn . . . .