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photo500
·Well I'll do my best 😀
Speedmaster Mark II case refinishing
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pascs
·Very nice look to those cases 👍
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initialjh
·pretty impressive result! well done.
how about Speedmaster Pro cases? 😀
how about Speedmaster Pro cases? 😀
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ctime3
·Adam, If that had a date I would not know the difference between that and the new mark II I saw at the boutique. Very nice job
Hi All,
Some of you may have seen the NOS condition Mark II I've got for sale here. I bought that case already "professionally" finished by Watchco. It got me thinking, I wonder how hard it is to do that?! Famous last words I suppose. Anyway I tried asking around various watchmakers and no one had any idea how it was done. I'm referring to the sunburst finish to the top of the case. There is a video that Archer Al posted on youtube which gives a hint and from there I managed to work a few things out. Certainly no one in Australia seems to offer this as a service and the only real advice I got was to send it to Omega.
I actually found the hardest part to be the polished chamfers that transition the sunburst pattern to the normal brushed finish on the case sides. That and the multitude of different angles! So all up I think this probably took me about a week of steady work to complete. I've just today fitted the crystal, movement and dial etc back in and am now gingerly wearing it on a nato strap. I've left the case back untreated and instead put on a Thomas Priek display back just for fun.
I think a Flightmaster case would have been easier actually but I haven't got any of those, pity I missed out on the fire sale ones the other day!
Let me know what you guys think of the work anyway, I'd appreciate some feedback. Apologies for the dust in the pics!
Cheers
Adam
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lanierdams
·Fantastic job!!!
Do you have the list and a picture of the materiel used ? 😀
Do you have the list and a picture of the materiel used ? 😀
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ashleysteadman
·Sorry to resurrect an oldie but I would love a detailed DIY on this - looking at fixing a few cases (and destroying a few junk ones during the learning curve).
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Northernman
··LemaniacIf you are getting anywhere close to Adam's fantastic results it is worth the tries!
Just got two cases refinished by him. One of the cases was rounded like a piece of soap by over polishing. Adam managed to restore both the sharp lines and chamfered angles in addition to the brushed pattern. Amazing!!
Will post a separate thread as soon as the rest of the resurrection work gets moving.
👍
Just got two cases refinished by him. One of the cases was rounded like a piece of soap by over polishing. Adam managed to restore both the sharp lines and chamfered angles in addition to the brushed pattern. Amazing!!
Will post a separate thread as soon as the rest of the resurrection work gets moving.
👍
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ashleysteadman
·Nice, so he's doing this as a service?
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Northernman
··LemaniacYes! Send him a PM! I'm very happy with his work and friendly service;-)
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ashleysteadman
·👍 Done! Thanks
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yande
·Hi All,
........ Certainly no one in Australia seems to offer this as a service and the only real advice I got was to send it to Omega.......
Great work mate, especially considering your self taught and thought out methods. My Omega f300 hz Geneve was refinished with a Sunburst by a watch maker in Sydney. The previous owner actually told me it was amazing to watch him do it. Tony from Time Connections, last known working out of Marrickville. PM me is you want more info, but you look like you have it sorted.
Here's the best pic of the finish I have at the moment. It's a very light finish, and I can see where he has attempted to take the minimum of metal off.
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Dogmann
·Hi photo500
Just came across this thread and must say the case refinishing you have done is excellent but thought I would try and help answer the original question you asked re how is it done. I live in the UK and there are a couple of places that do this type of case refinishing work over here one is Swiss Time Services http://www.swisstimeservices.co.uk/contact.html which is well known in the UK as the official Omega service repair and restoration centre. The other one I know of is http://www.watchworks.co.uk/ run by a guy called Rocco they are also an Omega Certified Service Centre, Rolex Accredited Watchmakers and Breitling Officially Certified Service Centre and whose work I have seen posted on another forum mainly on MK3 Flightmaster and Speedmaster's and MK2 Speedmaster's I have also seen some Rolex work his done to.
The answer as to how they professionally refinish these watches to get the sunburst finishing as well as the polished and brushed bits is they use something called a lapping machine which allows for the various finishes. These machines are apparently very expensive to buy and not very easy to use either but allow you to present the watch case at various angles to the grinder and make minute adjustments they also use micro welding to re build up the case first if and when needed. If you follow this Google search for Rocco's name and company here https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Rocco and watchworks
You will find lots of posts on various forums showing his work and discussing how its achieved hope this gives you some of the answers you were looking for.
Marc
Just came across this thread and must say the case refinishing you have done is excellent but thought I would try and help answer the original question you asked re how is it done. I live in the UK and there are a couple of places that do this type of case refinishing work over here one is Swiss Time Services http://www.swisstimeservices.co.uk/contact.html which is well known in the UK as the official Omega service repair and restoration centre. The other one I know of is http://www.watchworks.co.uk/ run by a guy called Rocco they are also an Omega Certified Service Centre, Rolex Accredited Watchmakers and Breitling Officially Certified Service Centre and whose work I have seen posted on another forum mainly on MK3 Flightmaster and Speedmaster's and MK2 Speedmaster's I have also seen some Rolex work his done to.
The answer as to how they professionally refinish these watches to get the sunburst finishing as well as the polished and brushed bits is they use something called a lapping machine which allows for the various finishes. These machines are apparently very expensive to buy and not very easy to use either but allow you to present the watch case at various angles to the grinder and make minute adjustments they also use micro welding to re build up the case first if and when needed. If you follow this Google search for Rocco's name and company here https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Rocco and watchworks
You will find lots of posts on various forums showing his work and discussing how its achieved hope this gives you some of the answers you were looking for.
Marc
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photo500
·Hi Marc,
I just spotted your answer, yes since I said there aren't many who do this a few have come out of the woodwork. Some do use a lapping machine. I've done quite a few cases now and feel fairly confident that the method I have is working well. One problem that can occur with the lapping machines is a curvature of the finish itself. This is due to cheaper machines having smaller wheels. So over the short distance it has to travel over the case the lines it leaves reflect that curve. One you know what to look for it looks aftermarket instead of factory. I wanted it to look factory finished so had to get around the cost factor of the bigger machines and find a different solution.
Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to put that information together for me, I will be reading through it all.
I just spotted your answer, yes since I said there aren't many who do this a few have come out of the woodwork. Some do use a lapping machine. I've done quite a few cases now and feel fairly confident that the method I have is working well. One problem that can occur with the lapping machines is a curvature of the finish itself. This is due to cheaper machines having smaller wheels. So over the short distance it has to travel over the case the lines it leaves reflect that curve. One you know what to look for it looks aftermarket instead of factory. I wanted it to look factory finished so had to get around the cost factor of the bigger machines and find a different solution.
Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to put that information together for me, I will be reading through it all.
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photo500
·Thanks for the info Yande, I had heard of a guy in Sydney that has done some of this in the past but I couldn't find out who. This must have been him. The actual sunburst finish ends up being the easy bit, its the polished chamfers that are hard to get straight and sharp!
Great work mate, especially considering your self taught and thought out methods. My Omega f300 hz Geneve was refinished with a Sunburst by a watch maker in Sydney. The previous owner actually told me it was amazing to watch him do it. Tony from Time Connections, last known working out of Marrickville. PM me is you want more info, but you look like you have it sorted.
Here's the best pic of the finish I have at the moment. It's a very light finish, and I can see where he has attempted to take the minimum of metal off.
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photo500
·Thanks Northernman, cant wait to see your progress on those two, it was a lot of fun trying to save that rounded off case. A real challenge 😀
If you are getting anywhere close to Adam's fantastic results it is worth the tries!
Just got two cases refinished by him. One of the cases was rounded like a piece of soap by over polishing. Adam managed to restore both the sharp lines and chamfered angles in addition to the brushed pattern. Amazing!!
Will post a separate thread as soon as the rest of the resurrection work gets moving.
👍
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fgray30
·Thanks Northernman, cant wait to see your progress on those two, it was a lot of fun trying to save that rounded off case. A real challenge 😀
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EdtheAussie
·F fgray30Hi, I'm new to this forum and just got myself a Mark 4.5 that needs its case restored. Do you know if photo500 is still doing this case work? I tried to PM him but no reply as yet. Alternatively is there somewhere in Australia anyone can recommend to restore the sunburst brushed finish to the case? Thanks!!!
Hey Mate,
I would recommend trying to contact Photo500 on his website "Lewis watch Co". There an enquiry form you can fill out, and he's pretty good at getting back quick.
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fgray30
·Hey Mate,
I would recommend trying to contact Photo500 on his website "Lewis watch Co". There an enquiry form you can fill out, and he's pretty good at getting back quick.
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Tmorehouse51
·We can also do lapping on cases if anyone is interested
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Rochete
·
Excelent job!
