hi all! I am in need of some advice and I’d love the help of this community (y’all are awesome) to fix my issue. So it’s funny my uncle thought I owned no watches (I own a speedy hahaha) but as he is becoming older and wanted to change his watch up. He’s gifted me a really cool seiko diver that I’d love to polish up. It’s nothing fancy (as you can see by the pictures) but I think it’s worth the effort of a new battery and a little bit of TLC So I’m thinking it would look really good if I gifted it back to him in good working order to enjoy. But in doing so I need to polish the face a bit as it’s super scratched up! I don’t want to spend a fortune on it so I was coming to you guys for advice. Any cleaning products you’d recommended? Also of note the bezel is pretty stuck. Do you guys think it’s worth trying to fix or should I just leave it? Pic for your consideration!
The crystal is tempered mineral. Any attempt to polish it using cerium oxide or diamond paste would cost more than replacing the crystal. Plus, the crystal would have to come out of the case, and be re-inserted. Could break.
So chances are I should take it to a local shop and see how much a new crystal would be? That's too bad as I would have preferred to keep it original
As I see it, that’s about it. Anything done to it now will make it less original than it is right now. But better!
@Canuck @X350 XJR @jtomaselli Thanks for the advice! If I get it to a local service location I'll let you know how it goes. It's a shame because where I'm from in Canada servicing watches costs a pretty penny
I'm on Vancouver Island. It isn't bad if you take a short ferry to Vancouver but those costs add up (BC ferries is $70 each way for a person plus a vehicle). There's stuff locally but a lot of mixed reviews about it. When I got my speedy serviced my local AD told me to ship it away to get it serviced
Possibly someone on the OMB might be able to refer you to someone on Vancouver Island. I know of a guy in Victoria, but his website is inactive. I have emailed the only address I have for him, and will get back if I hear from him.
I thought I’d post a little update here! I got up to a Sunday morning activity and should share the results. Although I couldn’t get a lot of the deep scratches, the crystal looks much clearer after a buff on the felt wheel. Mineral oil, rouge polish (finest grade in the set) and the felt wheel on the drill press. The old man had all the tools for the job! Photo for attention
@GandOsDad i actually got the bezel to line up with the natural position using a couple pieces of cork and a vice!!
A good scrub to wash off the mineral oil, and I wonder if is indeed improved? Wetting the crystal with water is likely to have the same effect,,,,,,,,,until the water evaporates!
The only polishing agents generally used for polishing glass (hardness of 5 to 5.5 on the Mohs scale) are aluminum oxide, and cerium oxide. Neither of these will work on sapphire glass which has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale. But attempting to polish a glass crystal while it is in the watch case can seriously damage the case.