I would be very grateful for some help.

I have a solid rose gold watch where the very end of the spring bar has corroded and snapped off inside the lug. There is very little, if any, of the spring protruding from the hole in the lug. The lug holes are blind (i.e. not drilled right through the lug).

The corrosion around the end of the spring bar seems to be holding it in place.

So far I have tried soaking the lug overnight in acetone but that didn't free it up.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

I am trying to explore all the safe options before having to resort to something slightly more risky like heat, which I understand might discolour the gold.

Thanks

 

Unless you know what you are doing I would hand it over to a skilled watchmaker.

Possible they may be able to drill the corroded bar out. I've seen that done before on a steel watch.

 

My only suggestion without using a watchmaker would be use penetrating oil (mouse milk if you can get your hands on it) let it soak for awhile then use a tooth brush to work it out and remove the corrosion.

 

When I broke off taps in copper bus bars, the guy running the EDM (electrical discharge machine) would "burn it out" with no damage to the bus bar.

So that is a possibility. So is a ridiculously strong magnet.

But best to approach your watchmaker first.

 

Near a watch. To extract a spring bar bit made of stainless steel or brass.

 

Not all stainless is anti-magnetic.

And I did say approach the watchmaker first.

 

If its from a female mouse I suppose you could give it a go. I don’t think male mouse milk is worth the effort.

 

Does take awhile to milk the bastards!

I waited for this reply. But serious it’s amazing shit. I use it on aircrafts all the time to free up the most impossible stuck crap.

 

Learn something new, every day.

 

Many thanks for the suggestions so far.

I should have made it clear that I have already passed it to my watchmaker and it was he that tried the acetone.

He has suggested heating the lug but warned that it may discolour the surface of the rose gold. I wanted to consider other options.

 

Grunge likely holds the broken part in the lug. With the movement out of the case, a cycle through an ultrasonic would likely shake it out.

 

Final update. The spring bar end is now free.

The lug was soaked in WD40 over the weekend. I suspect that other substances, such as the penetrating oil that was suggested, might have been even better but this was to hand for a first attempt and has done the job.

The spring bar was a very old brass one and the WD40 must have been enough to free up the green corrosion, which was presumably related to the copper in the brass.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Great it worked out. Were any watches harmed in this process?

 

Not to my knowledge (and I very much hope not) but I've not collected the watch yet.

Some precautionary googling before agreeing to try WD40 strongly suggested that it was safe to try.

 

I would assume it's safe too and given it a try.

 

Just wash it out well, that stuff turns to glue as it dries.

 

Where are you located?
try using a pencil eraser, that may do the job, and as for your location if there is an omega boutique near you with a technician they may be able to replace the spring bar for you as well

 

I've managed to do this on one or two occasions, myself.
What has worked for me is to take a strong adhesive pad that's a little 'thicker' (so as to have a bit of give) and then just press this as hard as I can (really try to get it in there) against the lug hole.
Usually takes a couple of tries, but have saved me everytime yet.
Neat in the way that there's literally no worry of doing any damage whatsoever to the watch.

Just a tip!