Handwashing is very important.

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@JimInOz The hands have come out beautifully. Can I ask are they made of brass? Does this silver cleaning solution trick work on all metals? Are there any metals you can't use it on?

I think brass on this scale would probably be too soft, they are most likely plated Steel

A magnet test confirms that they are gold plated steel (at least the chrono sweep hand is).
A pulse on the demagnetiser removed any residual magnetism. You can just see the sweep hand in the centre of the container.

 
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My approach is to never clean the dials like this or attempt it, but curious about your experience if you do

I actually thought you were going to talk about washing ones hands before working on watches 馃榿 I also think one should wear a mask working on pristine watches, especially if the person is not a professional, mainly to make sure one never blows on anything as a reflex and use a blower instead

I had good and bad experiences with ammonia based solutions, it can remove coating if the hand is deeply oxidized like yours, wish you shared similar close up pictures for the after ones too

And thanks for sharing your experience, but the problem with these kind of solutions is that they are very local, you can only find US ones in US etc. - but it's a good idea to use a shining compound for cleaning
 
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A magnet test confirms that they are gold plated steel (at least the chrono sweep hand is).
A pulse on the demagnetiser removed any residual magnetism. You can just see the sweep hand in the centre of the container.

Yeah thought so.. nice bit of kit 馃槈
 
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I've just got one of these:

馃槦馃槦馃槦
61mElOrNiqL._AC_UL1500_.jpg
 
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Awesome. That鈥檚 a great result 馃榾 it looks so much cleaner.
 
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Nice looking watch and a great informative post with the pictures. The one dip silver cleaner that I have is sodium thiosulfate which a chemist told me was a reducing agent converting oxides back to their base metal. It will also remove the bluing from steel hands and screws, something to be aware of. For removing the haze that sometimes gets on the inside of vintage crystals I use a virgin bit of microfiber cloth and 190 proof Everclear. I find pure ethanol dries without leaving a residue. It can damage certain materials and coatings. And finally I have experimented with trying to improve the appearance of dials in the past and it is always obvious that something had been done. Washing was the most common method and often to deal with a clear coat that had discolored or flaked. I would put the dial in a small container with distilled water and use a soft artist brush on the dial surface. Usually nothing would happen with that. So a mild acid gets added one drop a time until the coating softens. Lemon juice and vinegar are a couple of choices. Sometimes the printing will come off or fade. And most collectors will know that it has been washed.