After a service, this watch now has a white ring around part of the sub-second register, that was not there before. This was obviously caused by the hand not being poised, and when rotating, has scratched the dial surface.

For those with experience with this sort of thing: is this white ring just on the dial surface, from abrasion of the tip of the white hand paint, and can be removed; or, has it been scratched INTO the dial surface, and therefore is now a permanent addition?

Thanks,

M'Bob

 

I'd love to learn the answer to this too.

It seems there's more horror stories of sloppy to downright bad service on watches here. From poor watch function, to dings and scratches, to bad polish jobs. Makes one apprehensive to send a watch off for service.

 

Hands are only painted on the upper side . Very sorry but i think it's the dial that is damage . You should get it fixed before it gets any worse .

 

Not likely something that can be removed - the hand has been scratching the dial.

It's common on Speedmasters I see coming into the shop, and likely because the hand is pressed on too far.
Cheers, Al

 

Could it be like that when u use and old hand that has already been pressed on . Doesn't mean that is bad to do that .Just that it is easier to press it to far on the pivot ?

 

If the hand is too loose, and it does not get tight before it hits the dial, it should be tightened or replaced, depending on the situation.

 

Well, in the past I always kinda sided with the live with it motto, but given the value of these well aged speedies and the difficulty to fix this it really makes me sad and angry for you. Not sure what can be done though

 

Is it unusual just to "scratch" a section rather than a full 360*

 

I am no expert but perhaps a professional restorer may be able to apply the tiniest amount of color to the scratches in order to tone it down.
I have done this on other surfaces not related to watches in the past. Not perfect but getting the scratch toned down towards black may at least make it less annoying !

 

Also what is up with the minute hand subdial looks like the middle of the post is showing some damage?

 

Yes - if the post that the hand is mounted to (attached to the 4th wheel of the movement) is slightly bent, it can cause the hand to wander up and down slightly as it rotates.

Usually the more you do to "touch up" a dial, the worse it looks. Now I have been able to tone these down by wiping the area with a cloth, and that sort of flattens the shiny bits if you get my meaning, but it does not make it go away completely.

Very common - this is where the tip of the shaft of the hand press (Omega calls them "runners" for the press) contact the hand, and it's not unusual to see the paint come off in this area, in particular on newer hands as the finish on some of these hands is quite delicate. It can also happen when someone pushes and turn the runner at the same time to line up the hand - a little bit of this is fine, but doing it excessively can cause the finish to be damaged on the hand - there's nothing wrong with the actual post that the hand mounts to though.

The minute recorder hand is the one that seems to be the tightest fit generally on these watches.

Cheers, Al

 

I meant the around around the post. Looks faded

 

Difficult to say what that is from the picture supplied, but I have seen this fading before as well. It's not necessarily "damage" but I would have to see it in person to say for sure. I have seen some start to turn tropical just around the holes for the posts:



As you can see it varies between all 3 sub-dials. I can tell you with 100% certainty there was no abrasion there, it just started fading around the posts for no apparent reason. There was nothing to indicate moisture had been in the watch either or that anything had been on the dial in these locations.

Cheers, Al