SS Case Ding Repair

[dbutlerman]

Hey Guys -

Just thought I'd make a little post about my recent oops. I was trying to pop the bezel off of my 4th Gen PO, the gen. bezel fits really, really, tight, turns easy, but does not want to come off. I tried using by rubber Ofrei bezel remover to no avail, so I tried the Razor blade method, well the razor blade broke and I put a small (~ 1mm) ding in the case at the 2 O'Clock position. CRAP! What to do, what to do....

So, I busted out the 1,000 grit wet sandpaper, masked off the bezel and the rest of the case and went to work sanding. After about 5 minutes if light sanding the ding had disappeared! SWEET! At this point I was left with a brushed looking spot on the case, so I busted out my mini buffing wheel and some jewelers rouge, buffed the top right corner (around 2:00) on the case until is was shiny again, and then used scotch-brite to add the "brushed" look to the case side, and viola, back like new.

Here is the outlined procedure (sorry, no pics):

1. Mask off the non-injured areas of the watch

2. Wet sand using 1,000 grit wet sandpaper

3. Remove masking to allow for buffing of newly repaired area

4. Polish area with Jewlers rouge and buffing wheel or dremmel

5. Remove the rest of the masking, and "brush" the side of case with scotch-brite

6. Clean Watch

7. Breath Large Sigh of Relief

8. Enjoy freshly repaired watch