foxindebox

That is true Mike, good point. And I’m not looking to start or participate in a Witch Hunt (God knows, life is to short for that). I just wouldn’t want anyone getting the wrong impression about how people are treated next door. I’ve been lucky enough to be a member there since 2012 and have never had any bad dealings with anyone (I even managed to never get a hard time from Baldrick, which was a feat in itself). I treat others how I expect to be treated, according to how I have behaved or have been perceived to behave. I take both your (and Nanuq’s) rebuke on the chin if you believe I have acted or spoken out of turn (I am big, old and ugly enough to take responsibility for myself and answer accordingly). It can be a little rough at .bz but we look after each other and if someone or something walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... it’s usually a duck... Anyway gentlemen, thanks and have a good week ahead.

So you’ve been banned but still know what’s going on? Sock account?

Great dealer is Mary! I've bought many watches from her with ZERO hassle. Fantastic customer service.

Very true, taping up is a must

Thanks, here is another picture that may show the result a little more clearly.

Hi Everyone, I just thought I would post a quick guide as to how I restore my scratched Plexi Crystals, I use 4 different materials to do this and they are: - Wet and Dry Sandpaper (Four different grades ranging from Medium Coarse to Fine which I pre cut into squares and staple together for ease of use). Water (Lots and lots) Cotton Wool And most importantly, a great product called Polywatch (Available online, eBay, and Amazon etc). So here is an old Smiths watch I am going to restore. As you can see, the Crystal looks pretty bad with scratches and some deep gouges. Firstly I use the coarsest grade paper and PLENTY of water and rub the crystal down until it is smooth and there are no deep gouges left. It will look scratched and cloudy, but DONT panic! So onto the next grade down. The crystal will feel a lot smoother after this pass and the clouding will look less "scratchy". OK, so now onto the next grade down. Again, the clouding will remain but look a bit less "scratchy". Now onto the final grade paper. This is just to smooth things out further. Looks even worse than when we started eh? Not to worry, now we grab our Cotton Wool and Polywatch. All we need to do now is put a small drop onto the Crystal and work it round and round for a minute using a little pressure as we go. We can do this a couple of times until finally, the Crystal looks clear and shiny. I hope you find this helpful and spend a lot less on new Plexi's

I think so, didn't look like corrosion though. The guy who did the service didn't mention it and he's as good as gold. If it was going to cause a problem, he would have got in touch before completing the work.

Hi everyone, Here are some more pictures from the service. I've got the watch back now, so will post some more pictures with a strap on (ooh err missus). Lots of bits and pieces. Balance is in. Train is back together. Dial and hands back on. Back in the case with the new casing ring. Not bad for a 50-60 year old movement. Finally, a couple of pictures with a mesh strap fitted. I'm not sure about it though.... I've got a brown croc Hirsch strap that I'm going to try. I'm going to dig out my SLR and take a few proper pictures. I'll post them when I'm done. That's all for now

Just thought I'd post an update to this thread. One of the issues I had with this build was that here was no casing ring with the movement. I used a plastic one and it did the job, but I was not satisfied. Also the crown was not the right one for the case I bought. I didn't mind an unsigned crown, but I had no idea which one would fit. So, I decided to send it off to a watchmaker I had used before and trusted implicitly. Christian Danneman (watch guy.co.uk) is a great guy and very reasonable so I sent the watch to him for a casing ring to be made, a new crown and tube fitted and a complete service (I had cleaned and oiled the watch myself, but am in no way up to his standards). I've not yet had the watch back, but here are the work in progress pictures he sent (which are regularly updated). There will be more pictures to follow when he job is completed. I highly recommend Christian for any work on Gen watches (unfortunately he does not work on reps). These pictures are posted with permission from watchguy.co.uk

That is a lovely watch, stunning I'm waiting on a blue dial Miyota 15400 and am having to settle for vicarious pleasure through other peoples thread pictures at the moment ....

Thanks once again to all of you for all of your kind comments. I have a black version of the same strap due to arrive soon and I'm going to try the same thing again to see if that looks even closer to the Gen strap. I'll put up some comparison pictures when it's done.

Definitely mate. It's really easy, just needs patience and a few cups of tea to steady the nerves before ripping out the old thread (or any other nerve-steadying beverage of your choice )

Just plain old cotton thread, with a little wax rubbed in by myself I know.... I Will be grabbing it a soon as I see one. I almost considered buying the Parnis, but that's an expensive clasp Thanks again everyone

Thanks for the kind words everyone, much appreciated