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Dust!


mjmj

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Hi all

Before I go mad, I thought I'd ask you guys if you have had this problem. I noticed some dust on my dial and crystal a few weeks back, I took it to the watchmaker to get it cleaned. I picked up the watch and the dial and crystal were clean. 3 days later, I noticed on the dial there was a white dust spec and also some on the crystal. I was very sure that it was clean when I picked up the watch. I take it back to the watchmaker, he cleans it again and I pick it up and its completely clean. Once again, a few days later, I notice a white dust spec on the dial. How does this happen? its making me crazy and i cant seem to figure it out and I will have to now see the watchmaker again.

Has anyone here had this problem of dust appearing from no where?

ta

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Could be the poor rep quality lume, flaking a little bit over time onto the dial and crystal maybe?

+1

If this is going to be a recurring problem, I suggest learning to de-case the movement and clean the glass for yourself. It might also be worth removing the dial completely, and giving it a single dusting of a varnish spray, so as to hold any lume (if it is lume flaking) to the dial :) If you keep taking your watch to a watchsmith for such work, it is going to not only get costly very quickly, (unless he is prepared to keep re-doing the work for free) but make you unpopular with the watchsmith, and possibly make them less likely to work on your watches, thinking you are a demanding customer... It's such a simple thing to do, it only takes a few minutes to do :good:

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Gens also have similar problems some times, but as TJ said it is not beyond any one to de-case a movement and clean it, yes the first time may be a bit hairy but the more you do it the easier it becomes.

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It sounds like there is dust/debris within the movement (or along the inner sides of the case) that is getting shaken loose & finding its way to the crystal during usage. It might be time for a complete overhaul of the movement, after which you should not expect to find anything clinging to dial or underside of the crystal.

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Could be a number of crevices, grooves or channels where the dust could be hiding, just waiting to be bumped out during wear. Or, as TeeJay mentioned, it could even be the lume flaking/crumbling a slight bit as well.

Regardless, Freddy333 brings up a good point; the movement should probably be serviced anyways, if not for the sake of keeping the movement in proper running condition alone. If you have debris under the crystal, it's quite possible that it could be finding it's way to the inner workings and gears of the movement where it could cause additional, functional trouble in the long run.

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The rep lume dust is a killer.. I've sometimes gotten it out of the box that way; cleaned it off and had it reappear in a day or so.. so now I wait and let everything settle a couple of weeks then take the movement out and blow off the lume dust..

it's SOP with our hobby

Although, Ubi just set me straight on removing the crown to avoid messing up the keyless works.. :p

AC/Lani

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thank you.

I dont feel so bad now. I have tried taking the crown out and stuffed out the keyless a few weeks ago. So now i am very nervous about taking the crown out. I had the watch overhauled a couple of months ago and there was no sign of dust etc. I guess it could be any of the things suggested here causing this.

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thank you.

I dont feel so bad now. I have tried taking the crown out and stuffed out the keyless a few weeks ago. So now i am very nervous about taking the crown out. I had the watch overhauled a couple of months ago and there was no sign of dust etc. I guess it could be any of the things suggested here causing this.

Im sure just about everyone here has done it. Personally, I find pulling the stem to the hour set position then pushing the stem release lever as gently as necessary has been most successful.

After you do it a few times it becomes second nature. Buy a really cheap watch or two to practice on.

What watch is this happening on, by the way?

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