Quick cleanup of Roy Roger's 1952 Omega

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As seen by the before pictures, this watch was given to Roy by Dale. I am certain of this as I checked and no one else in 1952 was named Dale. Or since.

Anyways the thing had lots of scratches and dings in the acrylic crystal and was grungy from cooking beans on camp fires out in the desert back in the day, along with cleaning off the horse shit from his boots before strumming a few tunes and crawling into the sleeping bag under the stars.



First thing was to mask off the watch so I could sand the acrylic crystal to remove the deep marks then polish her clear.

Kind of a pain in the butt to get the masking tape to cooperate and go 'round in a circle but once done I can gently sand the crystal smooth, keeping the 400 grit sand paper flat and even so the crystal doesn't become optically distorted.



Once that's done, next is dusting off the watch and giving the crystal a good long polishing while the masking tape is still on. This keeps the case from getting rubbed down by the polish as well as keeping compound from caking up around the crown. I usually polish in straight lines, but periodically alternate the clock position of the watch so things come out even and again to avoid optical distortion. Usually the results are satisfying. Once done I remove the tape and clean off the watch with a damp cloth. However this watch had so much prairie grunge on it I used alcohol and a small paint brush to get toe goop out of those hard to get places. Finally I used one of those jewelry polishing cloths impregnated with mild compound to spiff up the case. Not too bad for a 69 year old watch. She still has some specks on the inside of the crystal and some loose particles on the dial so next time I'm near the watch maker's shop I will ask him to pop off the crystal and blow or rodico the thing clean. The crown obviously is not original but for what I paid for this thing I don't care 😁

 
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This is history right here. Can we do an auction here? I mine the provenance can’t be argued with. I called my people I’m moving cash from all my overseas accounts for this, might do a little time for tax evasion but it’s worth it to own such a piece of history
 
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How do you know it is Dale Evans? Dale for a female name was never all that popular but it was used according to the Social Security database of baby names going back to 1900. Dale was not her birth name anyway, it was a stage name she took in the early 30's and the name became very popular in the years going forward. In the Rogers/Evans heyday of the 50's Dale was in the #250 most popular girls names, most likely due to Dale Evans popularity. I'm sure there were a few women who took the name Dale because of that in that era. And Dale for a male name was much more popular.. Color me skeptical.

Play around with the database:
Popular Baby Names (ssa.gov)
 
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This is history right here. Can we do an auction here? I mine the provenance can’t be argued with. I called my people I’m moving cash from all my overseas accounts for this, might do a little time for tax evasion but it’s worth it to own such a piece of history

Great idea. Let’s combine forces to instantly raise the price to quintuple digits, only to withdraw our bids right before the end to snatch it for a dime. We’ll sell it, wire the money through Switzerland to the Caymans and split it 50:50, couple Bitcoins each. What do you think?
 
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Great idea. Let’s combine forces to instantly raise the price to quintuple digits, only to withdraw our bids right before the end to snatch it for a dime. We’ll sell it, wire the money through Switzerland to the Caymans and split it 50:50, couple Bitcoins each. What do you think?
Bitcoin and a watch with historical with provenance like this, damn it keeps getting better
 
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A millionaire movie and television star presenting a watch to her millionaire husband, having the thing “machine engraved!” No other attribution. Okay!
 
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Looks like I caught two so far.

Might someone be interested in a bridge for cheap? 😁

 
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Looks like I caught two so far.

Might someone be interested in a bridge for cheap? 😁


You appear to be of the opinion that I am fool enough to believe your tall tale that this thing actually belonged to Roy Rogers! Gimme a break!
 
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You appear to be of the opinion that I am fool enough

Can't argue with that. When you're right you're right.
 
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Now that would be a real collector's watch.

I grew up in the same town as Roy and Dale in the Mojave Desert.

I visited their house on occasion.

I remember Trigger, Buttermilk, Bullet, and Nellie Bell.

 
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Now that would be a real collector's watch.

I grew up in the same town as Roy and Dale in the Mojave Desert.

I visited their house on occasion.

I remember Trigger, Buttermilk, Bullet, and Nellie Bell.


If you look closely at that picture you can see him wearing the watch 👍
 
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If you look closely at that picture you can see him wearing the watch 👍

Sure, sure!
 
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If you look closely at that picture you can see him wearing the watch 👍
Final piece of the puzzle, not that you were doubted it just helps with the auction price
 
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Final piece of the puzzle, not that you were doubted it just helps with the auction price
Correction, penultimate piece. Get onya horse and lasso Aurel/Phillips if you want a top auction price. 😀