Improving bezel condition?

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DrSpock

·Dec 27, 2024

Hi, unfortunately I’ve put too much effort into the cleaning of the bakelit bezel of my seamaster 60. (see photo, looks worse in real)

Is there a way to fix that? E.g I to fill the blank spots with paint/or „dirt“?

 

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Sherbie

·Dec 28, 2024

I would help (me, at least), if you could

1) tell us what you have done
2) where are the points of your concern
3) show us a picture of what it looked liked before you started on your cleaning process

Cheers paul

 

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Davidt

·Dec 28, 2024

But the long and short if it is it’s hard to do a good job of restoring these. They’re almost always best left as they are.

Edited: Dec 28, 2024

 

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DrSpock

·Dec 28, 2024

Sherbie

I would help (me, at least), if you could

1) tell us what you have done
2) where are the points of your concern
3) show us a picture of what it looked liked before you started on your cleaning process

Cheers paul

Hi, it looks like on the photo above (blank spots in the inner bezel) , caused by an idiot who tried to clean the inner side of the bezel…🙄

 

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hen

·Dec 28, 2024

DrSpock

Hi, it looks like on the photo above (blank spots in the inner bezel) , caused by an idiot who tried to clean the inner side of the bezel…🙄

Clean watches are nice! But you may have been a bit heavy handed, so idiot is a bit strong I think. We all make mistakes. Is the bakelite clear with paint on the back side?

 

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DrSpock

·Dec 28, 2024

I used thin pieces of mini post-it sticker and went between the bakelit area and the inner metal ring , I think I went too deep and scratched some of the blue back paint (although I am not sure, it could be the chunk I’ve removed which set the spots free which have been damaged through aging during the years)

My idea was to fill the spots with similar colour or have them filled with dark material of some kind.

Currently there are some for sale (what a coincidence, they usually never appear for sale) but I am not happy with paying around 1000EUR for those

 

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SOG53

·Dec 28, 2024

I doubt efforts to add paint will be undetectable or improve watch So I would not add additional issues to watch but leave well enough alone.
This comes up with Speedmaster bezels where it is tempting to ”touch up” with sharpie but it is almost always obvious and doesn’t do anything to watch other than further buggering it up.

 

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Speed2Sea

·Dec 28, 2024

DrSpock

I used thin pieces of mini post-it sticker and went between the bakelit area and the inner metal ring , I think I went too deep and scratched some of the blue back paint

I'm sorry to hear this happened to your watch as I'm sure it's very upsetting. I'm just really surprised that a piece of mini post-it sticker could actually cause such damage.

 

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impaw

·Dec 28, 2024

Leave it as is, that’s my advice at least😀

 

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DrSpock

·Dec 29, 2024

Speed2Sea

I'm sorry to hear this happened to your watch as I'm sure it's very upsetting. I'm just really surprised that a piece of mini post-it sticker could actually cause such damage.

Yes, those index stickers are quiet tough, they were the only thing which would fit between the bezel, maybe will go for a replacement…

 

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DrSpock

·Feb 5, 2025

I dare to “bump” this post (once and last time) as there is maybe somebody else out there, who might have an idea to get rid off these blank spots..

 

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Franco

·Feb 6, 2025

Know the feeling, had one ruined by a watchmaker who put it in the ultrasound clean.

I think very difficult to do, chances are to crack it if you try to remove the acrylic part it from the steel frame

 

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drose224

·Feb 6, 2025

One of my earliest watch buying mistakes was buying a watch with a bad bezel, thinking how hard can it be to find a replacement. Well, six months later I found one I could use, far from perfect, but a correct bezel none the less. Never again.

 

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M'Bob

·Feb 6, 2025

I would be extremely tempted to take a really fine tipped brush and attempt to improve that, in spite of the fact that it’s probably best left alone.

 

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nkhandekar

·Feb 6, 2025

Ask anyone who has restored one of László Moholy-Nagy's paintings on the reverse of Perspex/Plexiglas, and you will find that it is a nerve-wracking business for even the most skilled of professionals. If you find yourself compelled, my advice is to practice on something that doesn't matter until you get a feel for it. Restoring the missing paint on this bezel is not a one and done proposition.

 

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josiahg52

·Feb 6, 2025

My thought is the backside paint is already compromised so any attempts at repair or touch up will likely result in further damage or at least a poorer looking insert. Insert removal is unlikely to go off without completely destroying the insert itself. Trying to sneak paint or another pigment in there, you have to ask if it's compatible with the insert material? The paint already there? The adhesive? Will it lift the insert? Will it wick between the insert and bezel and look splotchy? Much is riding on matching the color, too. For all of this and more, I wouldn't attempt touch up and maybe focus my efforts on a better replacement.

 

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Thommas

·Feb 6, 2025

It's a beautiful watch! Don't look at it too closely. Or have a pint or two before admiring it and you won't even be able to see the blank spots

 

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Ron_W

·Feb 6, 2025

If it is Bakelite, there is no repair with the same material.

You can try Revell enamel paint in black ; www.amazon.nl/-/en/Revell-Satin-Black-Enamel-Paint/dp/B0001B19LW?th=1
and use a tooth pick to apply it in the hole or space. Tape off/cover the surrounding area. I used it to fill up a Benrus bezel with good result, and it is also used to fill the caseback printing on Omega Speedmasters , the flight Qualified text etc, according to my Omega watchmaker.

It can be more "shiny" then the Bakelite so try it out first to see how the colour matches when dry.

 

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M'Bob

·Feb 6, 2025

The great animation director, Chuck Jones, once said, that if you’re looking at a group of pictures on a wall, your eye will be drawn to the one that’s tilted.

The point? If you touch up the big spot near the 18, and leave the small spots at the 42, no one will even pick up that you did the touch-up, because the eye will be misdirected to the other side.

 

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amikoyan

·Feb 7, 2025

It is a beautiful watch as it is. Leave it alone. I suspect any attempts to fix this will end badly and you will regret it.