Like Tree11Likes

Restoring a vintage watch?

Closed Thread
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2
  1. #11

    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Clear Water Bay (In Da Jungle)
    Posts
    9,968

    where is Tom007, he knows his watch stuff


  2. #12

    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    CWB
    Posts
    411
    Quote Originally Posted by huja:
    You are well on your way to becoming full addict. Try timezone.com to sell. Strictly timepieces. Ebay is very much hit and miss for watches.
    Thanks for the suggestion. Just had a look at timezone.com and I think it would be good if the watch in question was worn / not new. They have a policy of not accepting watches that are 'new', 'NIB', 'BNIB' or similar. I might be stuck with this thing. Which is ok because I like it. But it is a tad on the expensive side and wasn't exactly a planned, budgeted purchase... Still, as long as the wife doesn't find out I'll be fine.

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Tri-State
    Posts
    11,645
    Quote Originally Posted by M Khan:
    Thanks for the suggestion. Just had a look at timezone.com and I think it would be good if the watch in question was worn / not new. They have a policy of not accepting watches that are 'new', 'NIB', 'BNIB' or similar. I might be stuck with this thing. Which is ok because I like it. But it is a tad on the expensive side and wasn't exactly a planned, budgeted purchase... Still, as long as the wife doesn't find out I'll be fine.
    Hmm, you sure you were in the right forum? Because what you described would be a radical change in policy since my last visit.

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    CWB
    Posts
    411

    I was using my phone's browser so it might have sent me to a different version of the site, but the quote above still correlates with the paragraph in bold at the top of the sales corner that I see. No new, bnib etc. Old, worn-out stuff only.

    TimeZone : TZ Showcase


  5. #15

    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    CWB
    Posts
    411

    Ah, there exists some confusion. The original problem was with a vintage watch. The supplementary problem is with flogging a sort-of-accidentally-purchased new high end watch.

    There was also another element of another high end watch that is new and recently scratched, but that's not the one I'm looking to offload (just to add to the confusion).

    Last edited by M Khan; 08-03-2015 at 07:09 PM.

  6. #16

    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    CWB
    Posts
    411

    Ok, since there were some very helpful responses to my request, I thought it only polite to provide an update.

    As it stands, I have actually got a fair few vintage watches and decided none was worth getting tidied up. I did, however, have a new (relatively) high-end watch that I had scratched through sheer stupidity. Without going into how it happened, I managed to get several deep and unsightly scars on the bezel at the 9 o'clock position. On an otherwise perfect watch that was just a month or so old, it bugged the heck out of me and I was kicking myself for my idiocy. However, we'd at that time just been having this thread with a mind for restoring a vintage watch, so I thought I'd follow the same lines of enquiry regarding getting the scratches taken out of my new watch.

    After CNY I took the watch to my local watch guy. He's a popular chap with a steady stream of elderly customers. He always has vintage mechanical watches out on his table in pieces and he clearly knows his stuff. He serviced my 1930s pocket watch very well. All-in-all, at least worth an enquiry. My Cantonese is practically non-existent, but sometimes there is a young man working there (a part-timer) whose English is first rate. I happened to catch him there one day and I showed the watch to him and asked if he could recommend a place that could polish out the scratches. "Oh, we can do it!", he said. I cautioned him that the watch was new and expensive and I was concerned to get a very careful and neat job done. He consulted with the boss. They examined the watch. "Well...", said the young man, "this edge, here, might be very slightly less sharp". I looked at the edge on the bezel that he was indicating. He reiterated that it was just a 'might' and only in that place around the 9 o'clock mark, and only 'very slightly'. I accepted his proposition and told him to take his time and, if necessary, take the watch apart in order to get it done properly and carefully. I suggested he might want to take the bezel off so that it could be worked on in isolation and not risk unwanted buffing of other parts. "No problem", came the reply. And I left.

    A couple of days later I went back. The young man wasn't there but the old man (owner / watch-fixer) was, and he handed my watch back to me without a word. I had a quick look at the 9 o'clock part of the bezel and it was, indeed, free from scratches. Result!

    I then got outside into the sunshine and put the watch on. Then I saw the mess. The whole left side of the bezel had been polished to a high shine, with the shine gradually seeping into the right side of the bezel, but leaving about 60% of the right side with its original finish (which was quite shiny but not to the same extent). It looked dreadful. And then I looked more closely. The lugs on the right side, near the bezel had been polished! Why had he even been working over on that side when the scratches were at 9 o'clock?! The lugs were flat, angular, brushed steel, and to see shiny, rounded edges on the top and bottom right lugs was just too incredible for words. I checked the left lugs (where the polishing was supposed to have taken place) and there were similar signs of polishing, but only to a very, very minor extent. I could have accepted that. I mean, I know I had asked the guy to take it apart in order to avoid such a thing happening, and I know that his cautionary note about 'slightly' less sharp edges had been in reference to one small part of the bezel and not of any part of the lugs, but still I could have accepted that incredibly minor damage. But the damage to the lugs on the right was extensive and quite bewildering. I tried to imagine what could possibly have happened to have caused him to polish there.

    I got a Cantonese-speaking watch aficionado colleague on the phone and went back. The old man looked at the watch and seemed completely non-plussed. He shrugged and (through translation) explained that it wasn't his fault. The watch had some sort of coating that was tougher than he expected. All the damage to the right side, he said, was due to the heat caused while polishing. Of course, I knew he was being less than truthful, but there was no turning back time so rather than cry over spilt milk I simply asked that the old man examine the watch and come up with a proposal for fixing it. Steel couldn't be put back, of course, but he could at least tidy it up so that it looked uniform. He immediately got out a bit of what looked like glass paper and moved to put the 'brushed' look back onto the lug. I stopped him and said I didn't want any work done until he had come up with a considered plan and had had his English-speaking part-timer clear it with me. He agreed and I left.

    Later that evening my 'phone rang and it was the English-speaking part-timer. He said that the old man had finished working on the bezel and had sent the watch off to another company to get the lugs done properly. I was quite annoyed. The old man had promised to hold off and do nothing until I had given my approval. Still, at least the watch was now in the hands of a professional company.

    Two weeks later the watch came back and I went in to pick it up. This time I took a Cantonese-speaker with me. The old man again handed the watch to me without a word and returned to his work. I looked at the watch. The bezel had, indeed, been polished evenly, but the case was now unrecognisable! Every single sharp edge had been polished into a gentle curve so that my angular watch was now practically round. The amount of metal taken off could have built a tank. And it wasn't even even! The left side was rounder than the right! I turned the watch over and the case back was deeply scarred and scratched where there had been no blemishes at all previously. I looked again at the bezel and there was a new scratch on it, this time at the 3 o'clock position. I was aghast and asked, quite calmly, what went wrong. The old man took the watch and looked it over. He handed it back and shrugged. Through translation he said it wasn't his fault and that my expectations were simply too high.

    I now have a watch that is unrecognisable and more heavily scratched than when I paid to have the original scratches removed. I felt I'd been an idiot. Clearly this old man is only really good with vintage mechanical Swiss watches. I clearly wasn't part of his target customer base and he clearly, therefore, didn't really give a cr*p about me or my watch. He has his regular customers with their predictable and easy-to-fix old watches. He doesn't need me or the trouble that my fancy new watch bring.

    Eventually I found time to go down to TST and take the watch into the manufacturer's service centre. They said a new case would cost several thousand. It's with their technicians, now. As long as it doesn't have to get sent back to its country of origin, I should get it back within a couple of weeks. I have half a mind, then, to present the bill to the old man. I don't for one minute imagine I'd get anywhere with that strategy, however.


  7. #17

    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Tri-State
    Posts
    11,645

    I'm sorry this happened but I can think of a couple of things going on here. First is obviously a communication issue. Live and learn. I'm not handing over my timepiece to a guy I can't communicate with. Second, no one is going to admit he is wrong. This is a face culture and that just ain't going to happen. Third, scratches are going to happen. Unless they were deep gauged, it would have eventually evened out with daily wear. I hate buffing my watches. Won't do it the high-end pieces.


  8. #18

    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    CWB
    Posts
    411

    Four-and-a-half months later, the watch came back. The manufacturer's turnaround estimate had been "two weeks". Still, it's all fixed now. While waiting, of course, I grew tired of this troublesome watch and bought a couple of new ones. The repaired watch may remain forever unblemished as it sits in its box, waiting to be passed on to my eldest.

    Oh, and I might add that a friend of mine had an old watch restored here - http://www.classicwatchrepair.com/ - and was very happy with the result. This is not a direct, personal recommendation, of course, but I thought I'd pass along the intelligence.

    Last edited by M Khan; 08-09-2015 at 07:22 AM.
    shri and imparanoic like this.