JoJo35 Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Some of you may remember a recent post of mine of a watch I had found and purchased. I'm still very happy I found this piece, as it is a very rare 1500 date. The case is in great shape, IMO the dial is better than average if not superb, and as an extra bonus, it has the original hands/crown/bracelet. While going over the watch and cleaning it up before the photo shoot, I noticed that there was a fairly large scratch (noticeable in the picture) in the crystal. After attempting to polish it out failed, I realized it was much more than just a scratch after examining it with a loupe. Apparently, somewhere along its 45 year old lifetime, the watch took a hit to the crystal that fractured the glass (or plastic, in this case). Like a windshield that takes a hit while driving on the motorway, it cracked in a rather small spot but never grew any larger. IMO, it would be foolish not to replace a crystal that has a fracture like this, since the integrity of the crystal is obviously compromised. Since this watch is a rather rare genuine vintage rolex, it only goes to reason that nothing less than original equipment would do in regard to repairs. In this case, a (rare in itself) 45 year old plastic crystal... but where would I find one? A quick rounding up of the usual suspects (aka ebay) led nowhere, since all that was available was the later version "flat" crystals. This watch required an original dome. I finally found one, but just my luck, the crystal was used and was described as having some "light scratches"... hmm... I bet you can see where this is going! Since buying this part was the only game in town (and it only cost $60), I figured it was worth a try since most scratches can be easily rubbed out. When the crystal came, I took a good look at it, and noticed something a little worse than just a scratch. Apparently, someone attempted to repair the scratched crystal with a dremel and a small buffing wheel. In an effort not slam the guy too much, I'll admit I tried that method once myself. I soon discovered that even with the dremel set on the slowest speed, buffer contact with a plastic crystal heats up too quickly, and "burns" a depression into the plastic. Although the depression can be rubbed by hand to regain the clarity of the plastic, the convex depression in the crystal remains and causes a refractive effect which is very noticeable. So, as I'm sure you can imagine, I had a dilemma. The solution I discovered was so easy I felt I had to share with our community. The stuff I used to fix this part are things I had lying around. I'm sure that for the more experienced, there may be better/easier ways to do this, although I chose to go the low cost route and use what I had First, I started with a sheet of 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Next, I folded the sandpaper sheet in half, and then in half again. What I ended up with was a quarter sheet sized piece of sandpaper that was easy to hold, and flat/stiff enough to use on a relatively tiny watch crystal without needing to use a sanding block. I gently sanded the crystal, which conveniently began to turn opaque everywhere the sandpaper touched. The depression in the plastic remained clear, which was an easy way to tell how much I sanded off, and when to stop. After the crystal was sanded down sufficiently, I put the 600 off to the side and folded up a piece of 1500. Because plastic is relatively soft, I found that (unlike metal), it is not necessary to to go though each step of sanding (600, 800, 1000, 1200 etc). I had good results from sanding with 600 and going directly to 1500. After sanding it smooth with 1500 grit, it was time to polish (by hand!). I know most of you now are thinking "oh, ok, poly-watch cream". Although that will work, IMO it is a rip off. Just think about it, I just got done sanding down a plastic watch crystal, and most likely, I would probably need to go through an entire tube of poly-watch. What else could we possibly use to do the same job? Well, since poly-watch is essentially a light polish, I figured I may have some things laying around the house that will do the same job. Since I'm an admitted car nut, the first thing that popped into my mind was automotive polish. Luckily for me, I had a bottle of 3M's "finesse it" . This is a more aggressive polish used in the auto body industry, but easily attainable for the average guy. I found that it worked just as well if not better than poly-watch. I also experimented with another product I had that is sometimes used for clearing up fogged over plastic headlamps. The product is called Novus, and I found that it was slightly less aggressive, and left a beautiful crystal clear polish to the crystal. All in all, I ended up with a beautifully rare gen made even nicer by the replacement of a faulty crystal with another original equipment dome crystal that now looks as new as the day is was born. I hope some members here will find this helpful. I'll post up some more pics tomorrow if I get the chance to take some JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gplracer Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 JoJo this post is a nice contribution to the forum. I used to wonder why someone would want a plastic crystal. After buying a gen crystal for my 6263 I now I love plastic crystals. Whenever they get scratches you can just polish them out. I like the face that finger prints do not show up on them as much as sapphire crystals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWG Technical Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Very well done, and great write up. I can't wait to see more pics, thanks for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 I used to have some of that 3M finesit, but i used it all on my bike, damn why did i love my harley so much Army issue brasso works wonders too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Congrats Jojo.. I use "swirl remover" for light scratches...(it's used for buffing paint on cars after micro compounding" and aluminum mag polish for the deeper stuff.. if your using wet sandpaper it goes finer than 1500 and a good thing to use is a soft square of some sort of rubber .. they sell it at body shop supplies.. it will give the surface a more even sanding.. sanding 'orange peel' from show cars would be the same principal.. AC Lani Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Thanks everyone for your replies. Lani, the best part about this is that it works better without having to make the sandpaper wet. Don't forget, the watch crystal is tiny! (Compared to a lacquered quarter panel!). Relatively speaking, such a small amount of product is removed from a crystal by sanding that all it takes to clear the paper is to give it a flick with your fingertip. Another plus is (besides less messy), the crystal remains dry, which allows you to easily see how much you've sanded off, and how much still needs flattening. The crystal I repaired is a dome, so the stiffness of a fresh piece of sandpaper folded into quarters remained flat and stiff enough to do this job by hand. If this was in fact a T-127 flat-top, I would tend to agree that a small sanding block would be needed to ensure "flatness" PS: from 3M's description of "finesse it": Designed for use on all automotive paints to remove grade MicroFine 1500 or finer sand scratches with a wool pad, or compounding swirl marks with a foam pad. May also be used to remove fine scratches, stains or oxidation. ...so, going finer than 1500 would simply be a waste of time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dluddy Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Nice one B. Certainly is worth the elbow grease Thanks for sharing your formula Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephane Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Wow, B, that is a great route! Thanks for sharing with us. Hmmm, BTW, I'm looking to acquire a 15200. Are Date much smaller on the wrist than DateJust? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Thanks everyone for your replies. Lani, the best part about this is that it works better without having to make the sandpaper wet. Don't forget, the watch crystal is tiny! (Compared to a lacquered quarter panel!). Relatively speaking, such a small amount of product is removed from a crystal by sanding that all it takes to clear the paper is to give it a flick with your fingertip. Another plus is (besides less messy), the crystal remains dry, which allows you to easily see how much you've sanded off, and how much still needs flattening. The crystal I repaired is a dome, so the stiffness of a fresh piece of sandpaper folded into quarters remained flat and stiff enough to do this job by hand. If this was in fact a T-127 flat-top, I would tend to agree that a small sanding block would be needed to ensure "flatness" PS: from 3M's description of "finesse it": Designed for use on all automotive paints to remove grade MicroFine 1500 or finer sand scratches with a wool pad, or compounding swirl marks with a foam pad. May also be used to remove fine scratches, stains or oxidation. ...so, going finer than 1500 would simply be a waste of time Good stuff to know.. thanks JJ.. If you want I have some products that are a bit more professional than 3m.. their products are good but there are others that I used on the European paints.. a bit more refined, that I get from a wholesaler.. black paint was my forte .. any little mark could be seen clearly in showroom lighting..so to colour sand and buff was a seperate three part chemical and buffing pads process.. anyway.. thanks again for the great (as always) tutorial.. AC Lani Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Jojo's basic procedure (using diminishing grades of sandpaper followed by polishing) is the classic method of repairing surface damage to Plexi lenses. For those who do not wish to spend the money for a proper plastic polish, you can also use an automotive polish like Meguiar's as well as toothpaste, pretty much any brand/type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 I had a truly horrific gouge in a Tropic 39 Superdome once, and found I could hold a knife on edge and scrape the blade sideways, peeling off layers of plastic until I removed the gouge completely. Then I used abrasive toothpaste to get my rough dome shape back, then I used SoftScrub (kitchen sink cleanser) to polish it up smooth as a baby's butt. It came out perfect. Thanks Jojo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Wow, B, that is a great route! Thanks for sharing with us. Hmmm, BTW, I'm looking to acquire a 15200. Are Date much smaller on the wrist than DateJust? Stephane, I'm glad to hear you're going for a datejust! As you know I've got both date and datejust. Because of its larger size (at 36mm), the datejust has always seemed to be a more "upscale" watch when compare to the lowly 34mm OP date. However, like most underdogs, I've grown a fondness to the "little" watch. Would you believe I enjoy wearing it more than my gen 6263? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Nice job Jojo. I would go one step further. Many years ago I was hired to restore a vintage recording console. The client wanted to alter some of the functionality of the console which had mode switches that were large, square, plastic buttons with deep engraving in them. I sanded them down, and then used Novus Plastic polish on them and had them re-engraved. The client was blown away. They looked just like the original button caps only with new engraving on them. I have since used the Novus Plastic polish on several different projects and each time it never ceased to amaze me at how well it works. It is just brilliant!!! You can find some at amazon here for $19.50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Hi Red, thanks for your input. I agree that Novus is great stuff, and in fact I've been using it for years. Take a look back at my original post, and you'll see I included Novus as the final step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 An interesting read, I'll look forward to seeing the photos As mentioned by Freddy, I have also found toothpaste to be a good rubbing compound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brightight Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 The best stuff for this sort of work is a product called Micromesh which runs from 1500 to 12,000 grit. It was originally designed for plastic aircraft windows. I use it for polishing out nitro lacquer (guitar refinishing) followed by Meguiars swirl remover and it is pure magic. I use the bigger sheets, but this kit sounds ideal for watches - http://www.stewmac.c...by/product/3711 Mind you sounds like you guys have all found a way to get by Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 The best stuff for this sort of work is a product called Micromesh which runs from 1500 to 12,000 grit. It was originally designed for plastic aircraft windows. I use it for polishing out nitro lacquer (guitar refinishing) followed by Meguiars swirl remover and it is pure magic. I use the bigger sheets, but this kit sounds ideal for watches - http://www.stewmac.c...by/product/3711 Mind you sounds like you guys have all found a way to get by Wow, I never even heard of that stuff. Thanks for posting up Brightight, I knew there's always an easier way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brightight Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Wow, I never even heard of that stuff. Thanks for posting up Brightight, I knew there's always an easier way Yes it's not very well known, but has got a little easier to find over the past few years, and that kit from Stewmac at $9.99 is great value. Just love the watch by the way!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJo35 Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 I just finished taking some pics of the watch with the new crystal much better now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gplracer Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 JoJo the crystal looks really nice! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brightight Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Very tasty JoJo! I really must try on a date model to make sure they're not too small on my wrist with a view to getting one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegaunit Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Turned out really nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 That looks absolutely fantastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted November 1, 2009 Report Share Posted November 1, 2009 Outstanding! And thanks brightight for the tips on the micro-mesh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephane Posted November 1, 2009 Report Share Posted November 1, 2009 That is a superb result JoJo...love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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