opti Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 (edited) Hi Guys, doing some clearing out and found my wife's grandfathers old Omega watch. Its a bit scratched but is keeping great time, and I would really like to clean it up. Now can you guys give me advice on mainly how to clean up the crsytal, if it indeed crystal I dont even know. The watch has an engraving of here papas name on the back and the date in 9/5/1963, the date he bought it or was given to him one would assume. here are some pics of the job, took the bands off, they were looking horrible any advice would be very much appreciated. Edited January 10, 2010 by opti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 It's a plastic crystal, so it's relatively easy to polish it. Poly-watch is made for polishing crystals or you can use toothpaste and a soft cloth. Really not much to it, good old elbow grease will do the trick. The case is gold plated so a light polishing is all you want to do there. All you're trying to do is remove the oxidation and the very fine light scratches maybe. But careful is the word, you don't want to polish thru the gold plating. A new strap and gold buckle is last. I've been buying my straps from www.fredawatchstraps.com lately. You just need to measure between the lugs- 18mm, 19mm or possibly 20mm and order accordingly. He'll send you new springbars and a tool to install the strap with. Somewhere down the road a service would be in order, I'm sure it's due. It's a nice classic watch, I'm thinking manual wind, dial and hands look fine, so nothing needed there. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 A 4-sided nail buffer and a tube of toothpaste are what you need Work over the crystal in circular motions with the coarsest surface of the buffer until you have pretty much erased the scratches, then use the progressively finer surfaces, getting it as clear as possible each time, and finally, use a smear of toothpaste and a bit of cloth (t-shirt etc) and you should be able to restore it to a near-new finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 PS You might want to put some electrician's tape over the case so as not to damage the gold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spekoli Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 great vintage opti, that one should clean up very nicely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opti Posted January 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 excellent thanks for the great advice guys, very much appreciated. such a helpful community Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opti Posted January 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 got a bit of work done on it today and Im pretty happy with it. I just cleaned the gold parts didnt polish it yet (contemplating using brasso). Put another strap I found on another watch in the box of old stuff Here are the pics Good ol wrist shot. I have large wrists and this is a smaller watch than what Im used to, making it look a little on the feminine side but I do still enjoy wearing it. Naturally it still has a few scratches, not sure if i should go through the motions again and take it back another layer on the crystal/plastic. Still a huge improvement from when I still got it. Thanks again for the advice guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxman Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 What a nice Improvement form the before pics, lookin good I have my fathers old Omega from the late 60s early 70s that I should do the same thing to but It needs a servicing yesterday, enjoy your vintage Omega Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 Taking it back another layer on the plastic crystal shouldn't be a problem. Plastic crystals are really a maintenance item- polish them til it's time to replace 'em. It's relatively cheap to replace them. Looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 Nice work, bro, it's looking really good Something to bear in mind, is that a watch of that age would not be box-fresh pristine, so a few scuffs and dings is good, as it keeps the character of the watch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 Very nicely done. As said above, a bit if wear shows that this watch was worn...you want that!!! Beautiful, classic piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 I disagree about wear being a good thing on a dress watch, especially a gold 1. While wear does add character to a sport watch, I think it just makes a dress/formal watch look tired & worn (as in worn out). With such a fine timepiece, I would either have a professional watchmaker overhaul it (including polishing the case & replacing the crystal, which will make that watch look like new) or learn how to polish the case (with rouge) & crystal (with Poly-Watch or similar) properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanikai Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 +1 gotta go with the fact that if it is intended as a dress watch the case and crystal should be re polished, either by a professional jeweler or if you have the necessary tools to do it yourself..a nice fresh strap adds to the look also me thinks.. regardless.. congrats on the new acquisition.. looks great AC/Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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