i'm trying to stay positive...

[kosemkamtsan]

Everything was going so well. i used a ball of tape to remove caseback, unsrewed crown pin screw and removed crown, unscrewed clamps, and uncased my Pam 111h. Sat up to a light with a magnifier. Held the watch in my hand so that the sandwich dial was facing me, grabbed my tweezer, and started pulling at the annoying little hair stuck to the minute hand. Got it!! so far so good. Took a look at the hands and decided to do something about them being a bit uncrisp in detail. seemed like whoever lumed them overdid it and left some smudging on the black part of the hands themselves.

I remembered seeing a post on taking a q-tip to some acetone and a tooth pick for delicate procedures like these. I started rubbing...veeeeeeery carfully...veeeeery gingerly........Worked!!! uh, except that the sides of the hands still had this sort of unfinished, rough quality to them. soooooooo... i figure, heh! i'm on a roll here!! [censored] it!! i dip in to the pencil jar and pull out whatever most closely resembles a black inking device (in this case a permanent marker). I caaaaarefully, ginnnnngerly streak the side of the minute hand under the light, under the magnifying glass, no problem...everything is a okay. then, as if by some act of a god damn devil parade passing by, my hand shakes just enought to dab the face with the marker. PERMANENT MARKER. UG. I reach for the closest thing possible to alleviate the nausea that is quickly creeping up my throat. And that thing happens to be a seemingly dry q-tip. Check and Mate. how bout not dry. more like acetone q-tip. i was probably dead with the marker, but the acetone buried me in quicksand.

Now i'm screwed. Did i mention this is my first rep and i just got it yesterday? Well, i'm slightly devastated, partly proud to have given it a shot, and completely without a watch. I need advice on a cheap way to remedy this situation, while at the same time, walking away with a watch that looks great. it has Swiss movt, decent lume, and seems like the only thing that the watch really could use is a new face with hands and a fat crown. where can i get help for the lowest cost??

[babola]

Now that will teach ya' a lesson, eh!? :-)

Honestly mate, you never, EVER work with the exposed dial and hands which you haven't protected in one way or another. Some people learn this hard way, some learn from mistake of others, and your's was a textbook example of what you shouldn't do.

First things first...get yourself a half decent movement holder/stand, as well as hands remover and setter tools. You don't need to go for top of the line, an Asian replicas of more known Swiss watch tool makers will suffice, the whole 'pack' shouldn't cost you more than $40-50.

While at it, don't forget a loupe, some fine sub-milimeter flat blade screwdrivers (actually the best is to buy a set, plenty of good ones on ebay), dust blower, good lens cleaner cloth, few dial protectors etc.

Also, do not use Sharpie or similar pen waterproof markers, they tend to leave a purple finish, and eventually will peel off and end up on the dial...which will drive you crazy even more. Get yourself a small pot of black matte paint from toy model shop, and size 0 paintbrush from the same place, these are used for those minute paint details on models.

As far as the dial, hands and crown goes, you can contact either Vacuum or FFlav, either one of them will sort you out, nice lume job with Vaclume or 'C2', and both use "Palp" crowns. At your request, they will also darken the white dial txt to a more subdued cream color - a must for a 111H dial. See if you can order these bits separately, otherwise, you should send them your watch over.

All in all, nothing to worry about, it's all fixable, you'll just have to dig into your pockets a little deeper this time

good luck and keep us updated on progress...

cheers,

babola

Edited November 2, 2007 by babola

[offshore]

Certainly feel your pain.

However you need to put this one down to experience. (read my siggy!)

Can only suggest you go back to the seller, and see if he can assist with bits, or see if someone here may have more ideas.

And if you need dial work done in the future, maybe just spend the $$ with someone who can do the job professionally!

It may actually turn out to be your cheaper option!

Offshore

Ah, I see babola has some tips already.

[kosemkamtsan]

very kind of you to supply all those helpful details!! cheers and i'll update for sure.