Quite a bit of talk on the main Omega thread today on dial cleaning, the pitfalls and the liklihood of it being unsuccessful. I have this little Cyma that I love but the dial is a bit grubby. I was thinking of sending it to Bill&Sons for a basic clean but now I am unsure. The photos make the dial look worse than it does in the metal by the way. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

It's a nice watch, I would hate to see it damaged. Try polishing the crystal first and see what you think.

 

The crystal is fine. The dial just looks like it could do with a dabbing with rodico or a swab. But I know what a " dabbing" can lead too

 

I would not venture to guess the probability of a poor outcome with such a procedure, but it isn't zero. The angle of the photo hilites the imperfections, so is hard to judge. I still say wear it as is a few times and then decide.

 

The criteria for a dial cleaning is that you try it when the dial is so bad you have nothing to lose and you’re prepared to destroy it. Clearly this watch is far from gone to that point.

 

Don't try to clean the dial, as it will only get worse.

 

I think you have all clarified what I already suspected. Leave it alone.

 

The only dials I have had success having cleaned were gloss dials with surface grime or light moisture spotting that hadn’t permeated the lacquer. You can actually spot clean them with damp q-tips and use a car wax on them to get them shiny again- but that has only been a few cases and not on very expensive watches. It really takes a very delicate hand with the knowledge of how certain chemicals (water is a chemical) react to certain surfaces.
This is something that requires tons of experimenting with throw-away dials to get the techniques down- and results always vary- and have the risks of catastrophic failure.

 

Another picture. As you can see it's not too bad. I would hate to ruin this as I love the watch. I like the case shape and black dial Navystars are not common.

 

Don't touch the dial, isn't so bad.

My Navystar says hello

 

Hello Bubba48
I have seen your posts many times when researching Cyma and know you are a real enthusiast for the brand. Lovey watch. I do know of another black dial Cyma with a sub dial, the chap who owns it is a young Belgium. He has been close to selling it to me once or twice but can't bring himself to do it..

 

I don't have a Cyma, but a Tavannes (same company). This watch was also sold with Cyma on the dial.

 

I really appreciate these old tank style watches. If you look at the old film stars of the 30s to 50s a lot them wore them.

 

Here is my black dial. Don't clean up the crystal she's perfect as she is. The quality of the watch always surprised me.

(Ps I'm probably the young Belgian)

 

Here it is

 

And so I have had my Cyma back from repair. Dial untouched and working perfectly. A pleasure to work on so said my 91 year old watch repairer.