Project Grandpa’s Suverän

My mother used to wear this watch. I found it about a year ago when going through stuff that had been stored after she passed away. Not very interested in watches at that time, I still wanted to find out more, like if it had any value. I soon found out that the model is called Suverän and that it was made specifically for the Swedish market in the 1940s. So I’m guessing now that it used to be my grandpa’s watch.

The more I read on-line, the more interested in and attached to the Suverän I got. I also saw the same model in much better condition in a post on another forum by Thomas ‘tdn-dk’ and realised what a beautiful watch it is.

Now I wanted to give the watch a service but felt that the dial was in too bad condition for the watch to be wearable/usable. I sent it to a watchmaker in Sweden specialising in vintage watches but he replied that just cleaning the dial would not make much difference. I then found Christian ‘Watch Guy’:s blog where Christian described a process where he removes old and dirty varnish and applies a new layer. Some before and after pictures and an email reply from Christian convinced me that it was worth a try. The second, third and fourth picture are from Christian’s work on the watch.

Dial before revarnish:


Dial after:


Watch after complete service:

I’m happy with the result. The numerals are damaged (from an old relume?) but readable and I’m regularly wearing the Suverän (on a basic, perhaps a bit too modern looking black leather strap with an Omega signed buckle). It would be interested to hear what you think about the restoration. Well or badly executed? A bad idea in the first place?

Is there a buckle and strap type that is considered to be original for this watch?

I recently got the watch in the last picture off a Swedish auction site. It was only the dial that I was after and the plan is to use it on grandpa’s Suverän. Hopefully, this time it will be enough to clean the dial. I will try to get Christian to do the cleaning and swapping.


Also, do you think it is worth putting the more damaged dial on the donor watch and have it serviced and then put it up for sale? The hour hand and crown are wrong but perhaps they can be replaced with the correct parts at a reasonable cost. Is it possible to get a decent Suverän dial without paying for a whole watch? With the plan to sell, is it required that the replacement dial is from a watch of the same reference?

Thanks,
Jonas

I think he did a great job with the restoration. Keep your grandfather s watch as it is. It has a history that will remind you of him every time you wear it. If you want a better looking version then look for one you are happy with. Be patient and enjoy the search, that is half the fun. One day you will have two watches to pass on to your children.

I like the dial, it turned our really nice, well done.

I would have left the hands alone, they looked period before super lume was applied. The SL takes away from the vintage look and there is some spillage of lume on the top of the minute hand.

Only my opinion, but I don't see why the hands needed new lume, they looked great as-is before restoration.

If it was mine, I would have left the hands as-is and after the dial refinish, I would have re-lumed the dial markers to match the hands, making it as original looking as possible and using a conservation/repair approach.

With no lume on the dial and the bright C3 on the hands, it looks off and not correct.

You can probably find a better matching crown, and maybe even an Omega one, that would finish it off.

What a great find and a great story, keep it and enjoy it, the money you get if you sell it will be long forgotten, but not the watch if you keep it.

Rob

I have never intended to sell the one that used to be my grandfather's. Well, maybe at the very beginning but not after learning a bit more about it.

Most of you say that I should keep the original dial. I think my view has been that keeping the case and movement but replacing other parts (with the correct replacements in better condition) would be improving my grandfather's watch, which is what I want to do. I do think that the dial is next on the list of parts not to replace. I have to think about this!

About the lume, it was redone because it was a flaky and both me and the watchmaker thought it was a really harsh green color. Is it not possible that (new?) lume was applied at some time in the past and that that lume did the damage to the dial when it aged?

Rob, I think that what you suggest might have turned out very well. I was not prepared to invest too much money being so inexperienced in vintage watches. Also, I did not know (still don't) how the watch looked when it was new (lume on numerals or not, color, etc.).

About strap and buckle, what do you recommend?

Thank you for your replies so far,
Jonas

Keep the watch as your grandfather had it... Find another project watch, even if you make it "perfect" it will never match you grandfathers and then you'll be glad you didn't change it

Fantastic job, for changing dial of this one, I think it hard to find right now especially in nice condition, I think keep it as many said.
It has rich of history and now has its own story.

Hello Jonas,

Understood on the lume.

It looks as if the dial and hands were originally radium and in the after restoration picture it looks as if the radium that was on the dial has been removed and disposed of?

It's possible that the hands were relumed since that colour does look like a popular colour that was available in the 50-60's. I can appreciate that it's not the most attractive lume colour out there.

In keeping with the style of the watch, there are other colours that would more closely match the original look and the lume could have also been applied to the dial numerals to maintain the overall look of the watch.

A great story and keepsake, I wish I had a watch from any of my parents or grandparents...

Rob