I've been considering trying this myself on a few "hard wearers" in the collection. Just wondering what methods you guys use to keep your watches tip top and squeaky clean? I suppose if you have a good watchmaker that knows what he's doing and preserves the edges and originality it's fine. I found this link and the results speak volumes, and are relatively risk free... http://www.network54.com/Forum/207593/thread/1339772423/How to correctly polish your watch yourself with perfect results > If any forum members have any advice or examples i'd be interested to see the results!
How to restore the polished / brushed surfaces to your watch: 1) put watch on wrist or in pocket 2) drive to watchmaker's shop 3) give to watchmaker and tell him to replace crown polish / brush watch and/or bracelet 4) retrieve & wear watch when done - don't forget to pay watchmaker Voila!
Point taken. Especially no. 4! But I'd like to save the money and learn about it myself. It's expensive otherwise, especially if you have a large collection! I wonder if this method works on gold watches...?
I don't really touch the brushed parts now, but scotchbrite should work fine. Those 4 sided nail buffers are pretty good as well. For polished parts I use a jewelers rouge cloth and capecod cloths. For the crystal, polywatch works just fine. If there are some deeper scratches I use a really fine sand paper or that nail buffer and use polywatch after.
Thanks Kyke, can polywatch ruin the finish on the case if some "accidentally" leaks on? It must be an abrasive of some form, no?
Yeah, I noticed that if you try to wipe it off it can leave streaks, especially on gold and gold capped/fill. Make sure the cloths that you buff with are dirt free or they can leave little scratches too.
And don't forget the tomato sauce (ketchup) if you want to remove excess patination from the dial. Sound crazy but I have used it in the past to good effect.
Lurking at the back of the cleaning cupboard found a tube of "Spring Inox Cleaner" for stainless steel. Worked brilliantly on case so decided to see what the results would be on an old crystal - as good if not better than polywatch
Be careful with anything that polishes when you do metal - it WILL remove a layer of metal and dull the edges. If a cleaning substance can polish scratches out of a crystal than it's a polishing compound and NOT a cleaning solution.
Totally agree Dennis, should perhaps have added on the case I use a wooden spatula under the cleaning cloth rather than fingers to help preserve the edges of the case.
I may be alone here but as a general rule I never polish my vintage watches - I have a few that have been polished before they get into my possession but I leave them be. IMO polishing the case will more likely than not diminish the value of the watch - the more valuable the watch the more important this rule and for me, special note for the sportswatches - speedmaster, sm300, original railmaster and similar watches - for me polishing these models is a no-no.
The most gentle cleaning will still remove metal and if a very gentle cleaning is enough to make it look better then the scratches were pretty minimal to begin with. I have to add though that I'm thankful many decide to polish cases - just continues to add value to the nice unpolished examples as they become harder and harder to locate.
