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SeanO
·an old army trick is to use cardboard or paper instead of cloth. then finish off with a microfibre.
Hesalite polishing methods
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Audley Yung
·will be watching this thread as I'm considering a couple Speedmaster's with beat up crystals for purchase.
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VetPsychWars
·an old army trick is to use cardboard or paper instead of cloth. then finish off with a microfibre.
On glass, perhaps. Not on Hesalite!
Tom
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VetPsychWars
·will be watching this thread as I'm considering a couple Speedmaster's with beat up crystals for purchase.
Crystals are cheap, and they do leak after some years of service. Just get them replaced. What we're talking about is scratch removal between services when you "oh crap!" knock your watch against the stucco.
Tom
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pascs
·For a light polish I dont cover or remove the bezel but if the crystal needs more than that then I'll either tape off the bezel or remove it.
I've also used glass paper on very rough crystals, then finally finishing off with polywatch (or similar car paint renovator etc)
This was a recent vintage Seiko I was working on 😁
Before
After
I've also used glass paper on very rough crystals, then finally finishing off with polywatch (or similar car paint renovator etc)
This was a recent vintage Seiko I was working on 😁
Before
After
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wsfarrell
·For a light polish I dont cover or remove the bezel but if the crystal needs more than that then I'll either tape off the bezel or remove it.
I've also used glass paper on very rough crystals, then finally finishing off with polywatch (or similar car paint renovator etc)
This was a recent vintage Seiko I was working on 😁
Before
After
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JimInOz
··Melbourne AustraliaGlass paper = "sand paper', nowdays mostly aluminium oxide, garnet etc.
I remember as a kid my Dad using glass paper and it actually was fine crushed glass glued to a sheet of paper, you couldn't get it wet or it would turn to sludge.
I use wet and dry paper from 400, 600 1200 grade to remove gouges/scratches and then polish on a soft pad with a few drops of Brasso. Always get great results and don't mind the smell.
And I always observe the precautions of bezel removal, tape overlay etc if required.
I remember as a kid my Dad using glass paper and it actually was fine crushed glass glued to a sheet of paper, you couldn't get it wet or it would turn to sludge.
I use wet and dry paper from 400, 600 1200 grade to remove gouges/scratches and then polish on a soft pad with a few drops of Brasso. Always get great results and don't mind the smell.
And I always observe the precautions of bezel removal, tape overlay etc if required.
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michael e
·The Used panties of a Victoria secret model will work the best, you will polish harder and faster thus creating a beautiful smooth scratch free surface. Be mindful that you may melt the plexi though if you get too excited.
Failing that I use 600 wet and dry then 1000 wet and dry then 1200 wet and dry, I then finish off with polywatch.
Failing that I use 600 wet and dry then 1000 wet and dry then 1200 wet and dry, I then finish off with polywatch.
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Geo!
·I like to keep original crystals where possible especially when vintage, as replacements are not always the correct profile.
My technique is to start off with 800 grit wet or dry paper to remove the deep scratches. Once they are gone go over the whole crystal with 1200 grit paper. Next, get two pieces of 1200 grit paper and rub the grit sides together to remove the sharpness, then rub the crystal with the dull paper and this burnishes the crystal before polishing. You should now see the crystal staring to become transparent again. Now we move to Solvol Autosol metal polish, use this sparingly on a microfibre or cotton cloth and keep polishing until the crystal is perfectly clear. My final polish is done with a "silver cloth" that you would use for removing tarnish from silver cases. The whole process does take a bit of time, but the result looks like a new crystal.
The result below is on a recent purchase that came with original crystal with a fair amount of deep scratches in it.
My technique is to start off with 800 grit wet or dry paper to remove the deep scratches. Once they are gone go over the whole crystal with 1200 grit paper. Next, get two pieces of 1200 grit paper and rub the grit sides together to remove the sharpness, then rub the crystal with the dull paper and this burnishes the crystal before polishing. You should now see the crystal staring to become transparent again. Now we move to Solvol Autosol metal polish, use this sparingly on a microfibre or cotton cloth and keep polishing until the crystal is perfectly clear. My final polish is done with a "silver cloth" that you would use for removing tarnish from silver cases. The whole process does take a bit of time, but the result looks like a new crystal.
The result below is on a recent purchase that came with original crystal with a fair amount of deep scratches in it.
Edited:
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pascs
·I have 2000 and 2500 grade which I use before the final polish with Polywatch but maybe I dont need to if you guys are achieving a good finish after 1200. The results are pretty straight forward to achieve but I often wonder if some of the faded Speedmaster bezels you see are of a result of overzealous use of Polywatch etc
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerI don't really ever mask off the bezel or remove it, but then again I do this all the time, so if you have any concerns, better to be safe than sorry and protect the bezel.
As for how aggressive to go, that depends entirely on how marked up the crystal is. If it's not badly marked I will sometimes use Polywatch right off the bat, but other times I reach for the wet/dry sandpaper. I start with 400 grit for the most damaged crystals.
As an example...here is a Bulova diver I serviced a while back and backlighting the crystal shows a lot more than just looking at it directly, but of course I usually do this polishing as part of a full service so this might not be possible for everyone...
This one needed 400 grit to start...
I work my way up in small steps, so will use up to 5 different grades of paper, finishing on 2500 usually. Then I use the Polywatch...almost done here...note some of this is just dust...
The key with any polishing is to make sure you remove all the scratches of the previous grit before moving on. Can't really stress this enough...and if you jump too much in grits (say from 400 to Polywatch to give an extreme example), you are just making more work for yourself. Smaller steps is always better and IMO more efficient. Of course be careful no to remove too much material - there are times when I don't try to remove all the very deep gouges...now this one is done.
Cheers, Al
As for how aggressive to go, that depends entirely on how marked up the crystal is. If it's not badly marked I will sometimes use Polywatch right off the bat, but other times I reach for the wet/dry sandpaper. I start with 400 grit for the most damaged crystals.
As an example...here is a Bulova diver I serviced a while back and backlighting the crystal shows a lot more than just looking at it directly, but of course I usually do this polishing as part of a full service so this might not be possible for everyone...
This one needed 400 grit to start...
I work my way up in small steps, so will use up to 5 different grades of paper, finishing on 2500 usually. Then I use the Polywatch...almost done here...note some of this is just dust...
The key with any polishing is to make sure you remove all the scratches of the previous grit before moving on. Can't really stress this enough...and if you jump too much in grits (say from 400 to Polywatch to give an extreme example), you are just making more work for yourself. Smaller steps is always better and IMO more efficient. Of course be careful no to remove too much material - there are times when I don't try to remove all the very deep gouges...now this one is done.
Cheers, Al
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wsfarrell
·I like the 3M sponges---they go up to 1500 grit, and conform to the curves of the crystal. If I'm going higher than 1500, I just put the paper on the sponge.
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Hijak
·The Used panties of a Victoria secret model will work the best, you will polish harder and faster thus creating a beautiful smooth scratch free surface. Be mindful that you may melt the plexi though if you get too excited.
Failing that I use 600 wet and dry then 1000 wet and dry then 1200 wet and dry, I then finish off with polywatch.
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redpcar
·I start with 400 wet dry then go straight to 2000 then fine jewelers rouge on a slow wheel then..........car wax. Super clear.
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BASE1000
·...actually I start with 1500, then 3500 and end up with 8000 before turning to liquid plexi polisher.
After 8000 the job is already almost done.
Yesterday, I was brutal as never before however: I used a metal file to get rid of the cyclope of a GMT cyclope 116 crystal, because the tropic16 for 6536 is available for 600 EUR only an this one is 6 EUR + my work 😁
Here is the result. Nothing can be seen:
After 8000 the job is already almost done.
Yesterday, I was brutal as never before however: I used a metal file to get rid of the cyclope of a GMT cyclope 116 crystal, because the tropic16 for 6536 is available for 600 EUR only an this one is 6 EUR + my work 😁
Here is the result. Nothing can be seen:
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dsio
··Ash @ ΩF...actually I start with 1500, then 3500 and end up with 8000 before turning to liquid plexi polisher.
After 8000 the job is already almost done.
Yesterday, I was brutal as never before however: I used a metal file to get rid of the cyclope of a GMT cyclope 116 crystal, because the tropic16 for 6536 is available for 600 EUR only an this one is 6 EUR + my work 😁
Here is the result. Nothing can be seen:
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VictorAlpha
·I have found that for light marks toothpaste or polywatch works well. I was surprised to find that some toothpaste (Sensodyn whitening I think it was) actually left a rough unpolished surface on the crystal which had to be redone with poly watch.
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RegF
·Anybody in Australia tried "Meguiar's Last-X" polish? Its easy to find than the Novus product here and the descriptions seem to implay the same use for the same result - on cars.
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MaiLollo
·If the Meguiar's is used on the paint of the car, I would avoir it as the paint usually is thicker and more scratch resistant than hesalite / it will probably be too abrasive ?
Use toothpaste if you really cannot find polywatch (which seems strange because its on amazon for 10$)
Use toothpaste if you really cannot find polywatch (which seems strange because its on amazon for 10$)
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RegF
·If the Meguiar's is used on the paint of the car, I would avoir it as the paint usually is thicker and more scratch resistant than hesalite / it will probably be too abrasive ?
Use toothpaste if you really cannot find polywatch (which seems strange because its on amazon for 10$)
Novus have a distributor in Queensland, but very few franchises around the country, while Meguiiars is available at Supercheap Auto outlets nationwide here
Polywatch must be full of explosive carcinogenic tachyon particles, as Amazon won't ship it down here.
