would love to get the dial cleaned up
I'm curious what you mean by cleaned up.
I think you paid a fair price. I don't think the dial will clean up. My guess is there was moisture in the watch at some point and it caused oxidation under the dial paint. Evidence; rusty stem, multi colored movement and the dial itself.
If it were mine, I would look into a relume a service and make it my daily. It has character.
As far as I gather, the "top" restorers actually are good painters, so if those white spots are micro-touched with a matte black paint, it'll likely make the watch look better
Best example is him: https://www.instagram.com/roberto.tarabella_watchmaker/?hl=en
First photos are macro and after photos are almost always in best light / angle and distance, never the same macro shot 😀
Still, I think he does an incredible job, very inspiring, and maybe worth contacting