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Polished/unpolished, when will you say your watch is unpolished?

pdxleaf
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No one knows what happened to a watch over 50, 60 years. But can we never claim unpolished?

All unpolished in my mind:

1000013221.jpg 1000013223.jpg 1000013222.jpg 1000013224.jpg


If we can't agree on an unpolished case, should we stop using the term unpolished?

(This is not a new discussion. The question came up about a watch I have for sale and I spiraled.)
 
apsm100
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I think you need to find a reference example that is NOS or confirmed unpolished and compare to that.

Finding a reliable reference is the hard part.
 
Winston_Smith
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I share your judgement. To me an unpolished case is the one that keeps its factory-made lines - sharp or round edges, brushed or polished sides, as-is. If I have no idea about the original version, I'd search and see what it should look like. And compare the watch I want to get to that original.


A polished case on the other hand would be the opposite: sharp edges softened, matte surfaces shone, soft edges even further softened and even scraped off. This is especially evident in the lugs - in terrible examples, one can notice them actually have shrunken.


I saw very rare cases where a vintage case is nicely polished. It's often best left with all the scratches and imperfections rather than being all shiny, glossy and 'new'.
 
Dsplash
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When there are lug holes, looking at them with a strong loupe or even better, a microscope, is a big help. On an unpolished watch they are very sharp. If the watch has been polished, even nicely, the holes’s edges get a little rounded
 
asrnj77
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Only the original owner can say unpolished. Everything else “appears unpolished” or could be unpolished. I also feel like 99% of all watches that left a Rolex service center were polished prior to 2016. Somehow these watches are now both serviced and “unpolished”
 
pdxleaf
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asrnj77 asrnj77
Only the original owner can say unpolished. Everything else “appears unpolished” or could be unpolished. I also feel like 99% of all watches that left a Rolex service center were polished prior to 2016. Somehow these watches are now both serviced and “unpolished”

Hard to imagine any watch getting through a RSC unpolished. Which means either unpolished and unserviced, or serviced at a non-RSC. And that may not be great either, which is also your point I take.

My 16570 above came from the original owner who wore it in his desk job but stopped when he took up construction. It has both the appearance and story to suggest unpolished. But still no certainty.

You summarized it well. But we still cling to the myth of "unpolished".
 
wagudc
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Let me add that everyday wear will polish a watch. So even if a watch has never been touched by a polishing wheel or cloth it can become polished. Case in point, I have a gold cast Irish wedding ring that has never been intentionally polished. When new they can be purchased polished or unpolished. I got the unpolished version because it had a cool bronze look to it. After about five years of wear it looked just like the polished version.
 
Winston_Smith
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wagudc wagudc
Let me add that everyday wear will polish a watch. So even if a watch has never been touched by a polishing wheel or cloth it can become polished. Case in point, I have a gold cast Irish wedding ring that has never been intentionally polished. When new they can be purchased polished or unpolished. I got the unpolished version because it had a cool bronze look to it. After about five years of wear it looked just like the polished version.

Absolutely true. But I'd say that while everyday would eventually end up giving a polished look to the surfaces (with the edges or facets minor/reasonable softening), polishing would end up noticeably softening the edges and facets.
 
Archer
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Given that cases can be laser welded, remachined as new, then roughed up to look vintage, I think unpolished claims are nearly meaningless...

I personally ignore claims of watches being unpolished, and just judge the condition for myself.
 
pdxleaf
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Archer Archer
Given that cases can be laser welded, remachined as new, then roughed up to look vintage, I think unpolished claims are nearly meaningless...

I personally ignore claims of watches being unpolished, and just judge the condition for myself.

This made me think of 911's. Seems like most Porsches have claim low miles, regardless of age. The wise thing to do is assume a car has more miles unless there is paperwork/service records going back to the beginning that documents the low miles.

But watches don't have anything like a paperwork trail, so there's no way to know for certain. Throw in your example of laser welding, etc, it gets more uncertain.

Maybe the concept of an unpolished watch is a lingering ideal from my fading newbieness, something I am reluctant to part with, but need to recognize as an illusion.
 
kaplan
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On C-Case's you can more easily notice a polished case, and 90% of the time it's done without respect, love or care - this situation triggers me immensely

Even if it's done with a lapping machine, sometimes you can clearly assess that the person just spent 2 minutes on it and moved on with a lot of gaps and other accompanying signs of disrespect, a solid example was an uncleaned blob of polishing compound inside the crystal

So my issue is usually not polished v. unpolished, but rather I don't like easy to notice triggers

If you can't notice any issue in regular lighting from 50 centimeters, I think it's a job well done
 
dsio
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kaplan kaplan
On C-Case's you can more easily notice a polished case, and 90% of the time it's done without respect, love or care - this situation triggers me immensely

Even if it's done with a lapping machine, sometimes you can clearly assess that the person just spent 2 minutes on it and moved on with a lot of gaps and other accompanying signs of disrespect, a solid example was an uncleaned blob of polishing compound inside the crystal

So my issue is usually not polished v. unpolished, but rather I don't like easy to notice triggers

If you can't notice any issue in regular lighting from 50 centimeters, I think it's a job well done
Indeed C-Cases even more than doglegs are often polished horribly until the case looks like a rounded off biscuit, it makes it all the more special when you find one with the original shape and beveled edges
 
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