Community Stories

I scratched my watch and I'm devastated :(

crd
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Now that I've got your attention with a sarcastic title you can put your pitchforks away 😀

I try to embrace a wabi-sabi philosophy for my belongings. I am not a museum curator. I use the things that I own and they accumulate various dents, dings, and scratches accordingly. As long as they still function as intended, I haven't felt the need to make significant modifications to the outward appearance. For instance, I can't really imagine having a watch's case refinished to make it appear newer than it actually is. However, since a watch's primary function is to display the current time within some acceptable tolerance of accuracy and my primary sense for retrieving such information is through sight there is one major thing that I can fathom may hinder the watch's functionality: the crystal.

My question to the rabble is this: What is your personal tolerance for crystal damage before you address it? "Address it" may include things like rubbing it with a polishing cloth, applying polishing compound, or replacing it entirely.

Alright, alright I wouldn't dare subject you all to such drivel without rewarding your efforts with some form of watch related imagery. So I present to you the public announcement of the engagement to my partner of over six years. She sourced the gem and designed the setting herself but I was at least able to surprise her with the presentation and she even agreed that it probably makes sense to make this thing official.

Pg6tJP6.jpg
Edited:
 
Evitzee
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Unless it is an actual crack in the crystal,which I've never experienced, I wouldn't do any replacing. Marks on a hesalite crystal can almost always be made a lot less noticeable with 15 minutes of work. What exactly did you do to yours, I don't see any damage.
 
noelekal
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This seems a wee bit more abrasive than Polywatch, but takes out deeper scuffs if used carefully and works well if followed up with the Polywatch.
57050.jpg



Just nope!

Vintage-Clover-Brand-Compound-Tin-Nice-pic-1A-720%3A10.10-109889a1-727272.png
Too much of a good thing. For crystal polishing, abandon hope all ye who enter here.
 
ATWG
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Plexi is prone to scratches, better get used to it. I agree with sentiment above, unless it’s cracked, I wouldn’t replace it.
 
Dan S
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I often receive watches with crystals that aren't tolerable to me, and I will spend some time polishing them (often with sandpaper and compound). However, I can't recall the last time that I scratched a crystal myself so badly that I felt the need to do anything about it.
 
JwRosenthal
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Congrats on your engagement! Nice bling!

I let them go until they start becoming cloudy from all the micro-scratches. Then it’s poly or a wet-sand if the poly can’t get out anything deeper. You have to wet-sand uniformly otherwise you get dips and wobbles in the crystal (I use blue painters tape on the bezel so I don’t accidentally polish that too). You can also only do this so many times before the crystal starts getting thin- I got a Mido that was so thin you could deflect it with just a little pressure from your finger!

I have replaced tons of crystals on watches I got from eBay. On ones I have owned for ages, I replaced the one on my Speedy which was aftermarket anyway and had been polished so many times that it was on its last legs,
I replaced the crystal on my GMT because I had an edge crack that was barely visibly- but enough to concern me about water resistance. Other than those, poly can get out most micro-scratches with some elbow grease and wet-sand for anything you can feel with your fingernail.
 
ghce
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If its scratched I get it polished, no exceptions I hate a marked lens as its just unnecessary and easily dealt with.

Congrats on the engagement.

What ring? what watch? hmmmm single malt!!
Edited:
 
140dave
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Congratulations to you both!
...and yes a bit of polywatch does the trick for me when needed.
 
crd
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Evitzee Evitzee
Unless it is an actual crack in the crystal,which I've never experienced, I wouldn't do any replacing. Marks on a hesalite crystal can almost always be made a lot less noticeable with 15 minutes of work. What exactly did you do to yours, I don't see any damage.

Nope. Nothing wrong with this one and no plans to do anything about it any time soon. Just curious to hear what other folks do.
 
Canuck
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crd crd
Now that I've got your attention you can put your pitchforks away 😀

I try to embrace a wabi-sabi philosophy for my belongings. I am not a museum curator. I use the things that I own and they accumulate various dents, dings, and scratches accordingly. As long as they still function as intended, I haven't felt the need to make significant modifications to the outward appearance. For instance, I can't really imagine having a watch's case refinished to make it appear newer than it actually is. However, since a watch's primary function is to display the current time within some acceptable tolerance of accuracy and my primary sense for retrieving such information is through sight there is one major thing that I can fathom may hinder the watch's functionality: the crystal.

My question to the rabble is this: What is your personal tolerance for crystal damage before you address it? "Address it" may include things like rubbing it with a polishing cloth, applying polishing compound, or replacing it entirely.

Alright, alright I wouldn't dare subject you all to such drivel without rewarding your efforts with some form of watch related imagery. So I present to you the public announcement of the engagement to my partner of over six years. She sourced the gem and designed the setting herself but I was at least able to surprise her with the presentation and she even agreed that it probably makes sense to make this thing official.

Pg6tJP6.jpg

On the subject of scratches to cherished items, the sapphire in her lovely ring will not wear like a diamond will wear. Depending on the authority you refer to, the diamond is between 90 and 140 times harder than sapphire!
 
MRC
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crd crd
My question to the rabble is this: What is your personal tolerance for crystal damage before you address it? "Address it" may include things like rubbing it with a polishing cloth, applying polishing compound, or replacing it entirely.

A crack right the way through no matter whether impact or stress -- get it replaced away. Water, dirt or dial-eating weevils will get in!

Surface damage, well then your polish of choice. My choice is now sold as Brasso silver polish wadding. Oh a bit of bonding time with your watch is needed too, it's not a quick solution. And for the watches with bezels I mask off the bezel first.
Edited:
 
crd
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ghce ghce
Congrats on the engagement.

What ring? what watch? hmmmm single malt!!
Thanks!

We got the sapphire from Lisa Elser and she collaborated with CVB Inspired Design on the ring. More discussion and photos can be found here.

The watch was picked up from @140dave (thanks again!)back in November of last year. As it turns out, right around the time that we started the process on the ring…

I was planning to open the whisky with a core group of my closest friends the next time we were all in the same room until one of them convinced me to save it for 'alter scotch'. Of course, they make plenty more of them; I could just get another bottle.
 
ghce
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crd crd
Thanks!

We got the sapphire from Lisa Elser and she collaborated with CVB Inspired Design on the ring. More discussion and photos can be found here.

The watch was picked up from @140dave (thanks again!)back in November of last year. As it turns out, right around the time that we started the process on the ring…

I was planning to open the whisky with a core group of my closest friends the next time we were all in the same room until one of them convinced me to save it for 'alter scotch'. Of course, they make plenty more of them; I could just get another bottle.

I always find that no matter how many bottles I drink the shop always has plenty more on the shelf!

Of late my wife has been looking at rings 2nd hand mostly and I was amazed at the low prices some sellers have been asking for very large genuine sapphires, I suspect the looming recession and Covid blues is to blame.
 
redpcar
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I hate any scratches on my plexi. I dinged one on a business trip one time and found that toothpaste also does the trick 😀
 
TimeODanaos
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crd crd
I present to you the public announcement of the engagement to my partner of over six years. She sourced the gem and designed the setting herself but I was at least able to surprise her with the presentation and she even agreed that it probably makes sense to make this thing official.

Pg6tJP6.jpg
Congratulations mate! Never mind the scratches for now - here's to good times to come. And do enter that photo for any comps with the theme "Happiness is...". (OK, the Porsche is parked just out of shot.)
 
RonJ
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I'm more concerned about keeping my case unpolished.
Not sure how experts can tell it is unpolished, but they seem to be able to.
So, I try to wear my watch in a manner not to scratch its case.
I don't do anything extraordinary while wearing it, I just resist the temptation to wrestle alligators, etc.
.
 
SkunkPrince
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RonJ RonJ
I'm more concerned about keeping my case unpolished.
I don't worry about that because my watchmaker is very skilled at case refinishing.

As for the crystal, I polish out the odd scuff here or there. If it's a modern replacement, I'll go with the watchmaker's recommendation.

I feel extremely lucky that I have a watchmaker who is highly skilled and also collects himself.
 
Walrus
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Congrats to you that’s great news. Marriage is a great institution, if you want to be institutionalized. Only kidding I always talk negative about my wife here for comic relief but I’d be lost without her. So a big congratulations that’s fantastic. I remember taking my wife to the city as I knew a guy who had a shop in the diamond district even with him offering us a modest discount she still wanted just a smaller diamond, more focused on clarity.

I wish u both many great years to come.

i put a noticeable scratch on a Waltham diver crystal. For some reason it grew on me. I picked up polywatch but before I could use it lent it to a friend I think he lost it. Perhaps someday I’ll get around to polishing it out but it has grown on me and I like it now. I certainly can see how it would bother someone but I got it changing someone tire for them so it’s a reminder to Me I’m not always a selfish idiot, just most of the time.
 
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