Let's see your current projects

amcclell · Feb 12, 2022

These two are now with Ashton Tracy for full overhauls. Both from different estate sales and the cases and dials are in terrific shape. It is a very good thing that the Tuxedo was relatively cheap because the FEF390 that is inside is going to cost a bundle to repair. The lack of regular service is probably why the case is so sharp. These will both be keepers.

sleepyastronaut · Feb 12, 2022

1940s with curved glass. My first crystal replaced, done with UV glue.

Came with a chipped crystal all wrong for the case shoehorned in. Found a W-C crystal on eBay described as Elgin compatible with the Wadsworth case.

Ordering the glass took a small leap of faith. I had a measurement for the case opening using calipers, but the glass was listed at two tenths of a mm longer. Assuming the glass must be measured along the length of the curve, I placed the order and hoped for the best.

Test fit:

Fits perfectly, doesn't even fall out when upside down. Cleaned the glass and case, pegged the rehaut, then glued them together.

Task complete:

On to the bracelet, and exchanging the pins/bars the supply house sent in the wrong size.

sleepyastronaut · Feb 13, 2022

Withdrawn

Walrus · Feb 13, 2022

I have a couple things in with my watch maker but last fall I landed on a honey pot of gold watches which I either sold off or got the serviced and sold. It took a while I was a bit insistent on finding people who were not looking for gold scrap as I believe at that time gold had broke 2k an ounce. Anyway this is my last one which I was holding for the guy who bought the others but now he went 0-dark-30 so I guess I will just do this one myself. It was 5 bucks in a basket with junk watches. It’s a P. Buhre I think I placed it to the 1940’s but they used to make watches for the Russian Czar some of their pieces go for 6 figures and up, I think those were the ones commissioned by royalty (this is not one). So it needs some gold work on the back as someone had it on a plastic wrist band which actually damaged the back. It’s 18kt but it’s that onion layer so I don’t think the gold content is that significant. It actually keeps pretty good time and the movement looks clean I think it will look nice cleaned up. It’s gonna take a while as my watchmaker is in Switzerland and he has three things of mine on his table but it’s all good. Since I only have 5 bucks into the watch I’m pretty sure whatever the cost to get it looking right and figuring out what to do with a band will be worth it.

Walrus · Feb 13, 2022

sleepyastronaut
Cleaned my first dial last night. Please excuse the messy pics. Lost a few spots on the minute track but I'm pleased with it overall. Dial was in decent shape to start with, but now it really pops.

Seller pic:
View attachment 1369234

As received:
View attachment 1369226

Dusted with a microfiber:
View attachment 1369227

Cleaned with rodico:
View attachment 1369228
View attachment 1369229
View attachment 1369230

This dial has a neat trick. At some angles, it has a pink skull with copper outline, at others, a copper skull with pink outline.
View attachment 1369232
View attachment 1369231

A few hashes on the minute track lost some paint, but I'm pleased it cleaned up as well as it did, and without losing any dial text. At arms length, the spots aren't noticable, and the contrast between pink and copper stands out.
View attachment 1369233

Hey that came out nice. I don’t want to throw the thread off but do you mind if I ask what you cleaned the dial with? I have a constellation I’m considering cleaning a bit.

sleepyastronaut · Feb 13, 2022

Walrus
Hey that came out nice. I don’t want to throw the thread off but do you mind if I ask what you cleaned the dial with? I have a constellation I’m considering cleaning a bit.

Thanks! I used commodity microfiber cloth as a first pass, then Rodico for the deeper stuff.

S.H. · Feb 21, 2022

A pair of recents projects I just started:

The easy one, a 6306 with a cool patina, I'm waiting for it to start its trip from Japan. If I'm lucky it mostly a case of choosing a crystal, mineral or sapphire. Not too worried about servicing it. I tend to prefer faded blue bezels on those, and as those bezels were well made not many are ghosted like this. Scratched into oblivion sure, but faded not so much. It may look nice paired with the right strap...

The not so easy one. Also mostly a crystal problem as it works OK but in this case I am not aware of any aftermarket crystal...

I could probably put a standard flat mineral instead but I would lose the bevel and I think it won't look great. I'm putting together from scraps a H-link Citizen bracelet for it too.

JwRosenthal · Feb 21, 2022

S.H.
A pair of recents projects I just started:

The easy one, a 6306 with a cool patina, I'm waiting for it to start its trip from Japan. If I'm lucky it mostly a case of choosing a crystal, mineral or sapphire. Not too worried about servicing it. I tend to prefer faded blue bezels on those, and as those bezels were well made not many are ghosted like this. Scratched into oblivion sure, but faded not so much. It may look nice paired with the right strap...

The not so easy one. Also mostly a crystal problem as it works OK but in this case I am not aware of any aftermarket crystal...

I could probably put a standard flat mineral instead but I would lose the bevel and I think it won't look great. I'm putting together from scraps a H-link Citizen bracelet for it too.

Have you tried any of the kits for polishing mineral crystals? I have a Fortis that’s scratched to hell and have thought about trying to polish it.

S.H. · Feb 21, 2022

JwRosenthal
Have you tried any of the kits for polishing mineral crystals? I have a Fortis that’s scratched to hell and have thought about trying to polish it.

Well, I don't look forward to spending a few hours buffing a crystal using diamond paste : I'm trying to have a social life these days 😁

Seriously though, I have thought recently about trying a polywatch mineral kit, but when I looked quickly on forums, I did not see anyone having good results on heavily scratched crystals. At some point I'll probably try and see for myself.

It would be probably make more sense to find a not too expensive way to make a bevel on a regular crystal. I should look into that too at some point...

166026 · Feb 22, 2022

Here are my ongoing projects:

Cosmic waiting to find a 135.017 case.

Dynamic Geneve waiting for a dial and crystal replacement at the watch doctor.

Elgin Golf Ball Jump Hour, running perfectly, total restoration, at the watch doctor.

Dan S · Feb 22, 2022

JwRosenthal
Have you tried any of the kits for polishing mineral crystals? I have a Fortis that’s scratched to hell and have thought about trying to polish it.

Recently, I experimented with diamond paste of various grits and a Dremel tool to polish a mineral glass crystal on a Citizen Challenge Diver. OK, maybe I took on a challenging scenario since it had a some big and deep gouges in addition to scratches, but I figured I had nothing to lose since the crystal was already so bad and I had purchased a sapphire replacement. I didn't attempt to completely remove the deepest gouges but I made them more tolerable IMO and you can see that the more normal scratches were successfully removed. Frankly, it was a pain in the neck and took a lot of time and effort. In the end, I was successful at removing the distracting long scratches and making the crystal optically smoother, so that I find it basically tolerable at normal viewing angles. The vibrations of the Dremel created some subtle texture in the crystal that you can see in glancing angle reflections.

Anyway, it's good to know that it is possible for crystals that can't be replaced. Feel free to send me a PM if you want more details.

Before:

After:

JayBe · Feb 22, 2022

Dan S
Recently, I experimented with diamond paste of various grits and a Dremel tool to polish a mineral glass crystal on a Citizen Challenge Diver.

You didn't remove the crystal to polish it? Last time I attempted to polish a mineral glass crystal with a Dremel tool, it got extremely hot. I needed to take breaks every few minutes (and cool down with water in between) to not set the wood plate under the crystal on fire. 😕

Dan S · Feb 22, 2022

JayBe
You didn't remove the crystal to polish it? Last time I attempted to polish a mineral glass crystal with a Dremel tool, it got extremely hot. I needed to take breaks every few minutes (and cool down with water in between) to not set the wood plate under the crystal on fire. 😕

I didn't notice that it got extremely hot. A little warm, but not hot to touch. I used the Dremel at the lowest speed.

JayBe · Feb 22, 2022

Dan S
I didn't notice that it got extremely hot. A little warm, but not hot to touch. I used the Dremel at the lowest speed.

What tip did you use? Like a felt / wool buffing head? I am sure that I did something wrong. I only had chrome polishing paste, ran on quite high speed for quite some time and the result was really not as good as yours...

Dan S · Feb 22, 2022

I used these at the lowest speed possible. The larger ones vibrated less.

And these. Going from coarse to fine. Not going all the way to the finest obviously.

JwRosenthal · Feb 22, 2022

Dan S
I used these at the lowest speed possible. The larger ones vibrated less.

And these. Going from coarse to fine. Not going all the way to the finest obviously.

I got tired just looking that those.

Dan S · Feb 22, 2022

JwRosenthal
I got tired just looking that those.

Honestly, I think I just used three grits, finishing with 12,000.

Vanallard · Feb 26, 2022

Picked this one up recently knowing that it was in really rough shape but figured it was worth the gamble as I paid about scrap gold value. Thinking I’ll have the dial refinished either a gold or black tone as I doubt I’ll find a decent original replacement, but first it’s going to the watchmaker who I’m hoping won’t confirm my suspicion that I’ll need to buy a donor movement.

ghce · Mar 2, 2022

Just bought this Eterna-matic as a project, spot the obvious problems 😀

Seller pics

LesXL · Mar 2, 2022

Just got this decent cursive Genève... Nicely even patina, a bit bubbly but not really visible on wrist. I don't mind it.
Plexi to be changed, but I already have a nice case with clean plexi, and a good service is needed.

Let's see your current projects

amcclell

sleepyastronaut

sleepyastronaut

Walrus

Walrus

sleepyastronaut

S.H.

JwRosenthal

S.H.

166026

Dan S

JayBe

Dan S

JayBe

Dan S

JwRosenthal

Dan S

Vanallard

ghce

LesXL

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