Dial refinishing, Anyone have experiences and recommendations.

[panerai153]

I'm probably going to have to have the dial on my Doxa sub 300T refinished. I sold the watch to a fellow in Spain, he had it for 5 years and recently sold it back to me. Long story short, I got the watch back, hands were very deteriorated, so I sent it up to The Zigmeister to get the hands redone. He also discoverd that the dial was bad, paint bubbling up and a big chunk about ready to flake off, along with a fair number of other problems.

Basically I'm stuck. the seller doesn't see the problem, claims that his watchmaker didn't do anythiing weong. money is spent, and no recourse, as I sent him the funds via MoneyGram. So I can either stick the watch in a drawer and forget about it, or repair it and get it back to close to the shape it was in when I sold it to him in 2007.

I haven't really talked to The Zigmeister about the dial, as his recommendation was to reasssemble the watch and send it back for a refund. Hopefully between him and some other members here, we can get and idea as to the best source of dial refinishiing.

If you are interested in reading the whole story along with before and after photos, I posted a thread on the "other brands" forum entitled "my old Doxa after 5 years abroad returns home" Link:

[Guest zeleni kukuruz]

So you bought the watch back without seeing pictures of it???

[freddy333]

Dial refinishing - click here (for obvious reasons, I do not want to post the name publicly, but there are numerous threads on RWG discussing it that you can search out).

[panerai153]

So you bought the watch back without seeing pictures of it???

Are you asking a question, or being accusatory of my lapse of common sense?

Yes I did buy it without photos. I assumed erroneously of course that the watch would be in approximately the same condition that it was when I sold it back in 2007. However, realizing that I probably made a mistake, doesn't change the situation. having said that, just looking at photos, all that I would have seen was the hand deterioration. You cannot see the dial damage unless you look at the dial out of the watch. All the other laundry list of problems that The Zigmeister found would not have been noticable. The watch is running, keeping pretty good time ( I wore it for a couple of days when I got it back). I sent it up to The Zigmeister with the intention of having the hands relumed, and also having the dial indices relumed with his vintage superluminova, never expecting to get an email with all the other problems he found when it was disassembled.

Thanks Freddy, I'm going to talk to The Zigmeister and that will probably be the route I take. I have another NOS 2472 movement that he can put in the watch, so with a good movement, refinished dial and redone hands, it should be OK.

[frankt]

Back a few years ago, when I was collecting vintage gen's, I used Kirk Dial in Seattle frequently....They were good, and reasonably priced...

I haven't had any business with them since, but AFAIK, they are still in the business..

[Guest zeleni kukuruz]

Are you asking a question, or being accusatory of my lapse of common sense?

Yes I did buy it without photos. I assumed erroneously of course that the watch would be in approximately the same condition that it was when I sold it back in 2007. However, realizing that I probably made a mistake, doesn't change the situation. having said that, just looking at photos, all that I would have seen was the hand deterioration. You cannot see the dial damage unless you look at the dial out of the watch. All the other laundry list of problems that The Zigmeister found would not have been noticable. The watch is running, keeping pretty good time ( I wore it for a couple of days when I got it back). I sent it up to The Zigmeister with the intention of having the hands relumed, and also having the dial indices relumed with his vintage superluminova, never expecting to get an email with all the other problems he found when it was disassembled.

Thanks Freddy, I'm going to talk to The Zigmeister and that will probably be the route I take. I have another NOS 2472 movement that he can put in the watch, so with a good movement, refinished dial and redone hands, it should be OK.

It was a question! I myself, would never buy something without seeing what im buying! To ask him for a refund is not ok imo, if the damage on the dial was so hard to see maybe HE havent seen it also!!!

Hope everything will work out for you!

[panerai153]

It was a question! I myself, would never buy something without seeing what im buying! To ask him for a refund is not ok imo, if the damage on the dial was so hard to see maybe HE havent seen it also!!!

Hope everything will work out for you!

Thanks,

i really believe the seller was as clueless as I was.I would have never bought it sight unseen except that i owned the watch, had The Zigmeister work on it, and sold it to this fellow. I don't think the dial problem is easy to see, unless you look at it under magnification, or look at it with the dial out of the watch.

To be honest, I believe that the watchmaker who the seller claims to have known for 30 years caused the damage, either by letting the watch get wet, or disassembling it and not storing the parts in a dry low humidity environment. my feelings about the watchmaker are simple, just because you know someone for 30 years, doesn't make them good! Supposedly he was certified by Breitling and Rolex. I have no idea, I don't even know who he is.However, just like skilled people everywhere, be they surgeons, cabinetmakers, watchmakers,you name it Skill levels vary wildly, from those who hardly have the hands to change a lightbulb, much less work on someones heart or brain, to the most highly skilled people who are truly wizards at what they do.

[jtiis]

Sorry to hear about this. Hope it all works out in the end.