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Help with 'cleaning' a dial


rmcsherry

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I've just bought a genuine Mille Miglia dial off of ebay, whilst there are no scratches, the numbers / lume seems to be 'dirty'. The photo doesn't show it very well, I just wanted to check before I attempt to clean it if it's a straight forward job. I would have tried a damp cloth without too much pressure, will this do?! Here's the dial:

82936-29965.jpg

The guy is very friendly, and sent me a Franck Muller Master Banker dial as well. It appears to be genuine, but has a very slight (barely noticable) scratch on it. I'll attach an image to see if you guys think they are both genuine or not. I really don't like Franck Muller watches, so this is spare - I should probably post it on the trade section, but don't have a clue about prices, so would be over the moon if anyone wants to trade it for a strap or something? I'll delete this if it is the wrong section, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone!

82936-29966.jpg

I'd appreciate any advice incase I ruin the dial! Many thanks.

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For the Chopard,

Maybe start off trying some Rodico, if that doesn't do it, try immersing in Polident, yeh thats right , the bubbling denture cleaner.

Works a treat.

Sorry, but I don't have answers for the FM.

Offshore

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For the Chopard,

Maybe start off trying some Rodico, if that doesn't do it, try immersing in Polident, yeh thats right , the bubbling denture cleaner.

Works a treat.

Sorry, but I don't have answers for the FM.

Offshore

Thanks for that - I'll try the denture cleaner, it was cheap at Tesco's and I'm too impatient to wait to get Rodico (is this the dry jewellers cleaner?).

As for the FM, it's interesting that there aren't any reps - I take it it's real then, the quality seems much higher than you see in reps - enough to make me appreciate Franck Muller watches, something I thought would never happen! If there aren't any reps yet, does that mean it won't be any good to anybody?

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There are a few Master Bankers around (no, this is not cockney for anything else!), although the reps seem miles off. The gens seem to be around the $10,000 mark - however dials change hands on ebay for anything from $20 - $100 depending on the condition. Here's the gen:

83257-29919.jpg

...pretty nice watch - there's a really nice round-faced Master Banker that I like the look of - I had Franck Muller dismissed as an eccentric maker of rectangular watches, their range is actually much more diverse than I expected.

I tried the denture cleaner - it works really well (considering I bought 30 tablets for 30p!), I didn't want to over do it though because I was afraid of dulling-down the dial. Here's some picks - the cleaning showed up a few problem areas of missing lume, highlighted in the dark photo.

83257-29920.jpg

83257-29921.jpg

I assume this can be re-lumed if I need to, does anyone have any idea how much a job like this would cost? Finally, here's another item to compliment the Mille Miglia... a genuine box - I couldn't resist the rubber tyre tread and suede inside!! I'll post some photos of the finished watch next week.

83257-29922.jpg

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It was a risky purchase from a seller in China - the shipping was a fortune, so I paid for 2 of the same item to bring down the cost of each one (I'll sell or trade the other one on this board when they arrive). By the looks of things, it's more accurate than others I've seen - the strap and decorated movement appear to be quite convincing, the text on the front of the case (tachymeter) is much better than the usual ones, the profile of the case is correct and the finish looks pretty nice. The only problem is the movement is wrong, so the sub dials are for day / date / month rather than hours / minutes / seconds.

I'll post the photos if and when they turn up, the images I'm going by look great - but only time will tell. I jumped the gun a bit by ordering a dial and case, but even if this turns out to be a dissapointment, I will still be in the market to get a decent Mille.

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@rmcsherry,

The info on the Polident, came from this thread on NAWCC.(watch repair)

http://nawcc-mb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tp...33/m/4071034222

There is some other pertinent info in there ( which I should have posted at the time- but was in a hurry)

To our other members into repair, check this forum regularly, there is some great info.

NAWCC also have other forums, my other favourite is their "Tools" section.

Worth spending a few minutes each day.

Offshore

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@rmcsherry,

The info on the Polident, came from this thread on NAWCC.(watch repair)

http://nawcc-mb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tp...33/m/4071034222

There is some other pertinent info in there ( which I should have posted at the time- but was in a hurry)

To our other members into repair, check this forum regularly, there is some great info.

NAWCC also have other forums, my other favourite is their "Tools" section.

Worth spending a few minutes each day.

Offshore

Thanks for that, it looks like it'll be quite useful - I'll have a proper read of it when I'm a bit more awake!

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Great link, offshore, thanks!

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For anyone that's interested, the Chopard turned up today. The dial is much more accurate than expected, but the case is slightly different - it is polished (like the gen) but the writing isn't quite the same as the original photo that the dealer supplied. Everything's in the right place (unlike most Chopard reps!), but it's far from perfect - as can be expected from a lower end rep. Here are a couple of photos:

85704-29489.jpg

(The gen dial is on the left.)

85704-29490.jpg

85704-29491.jpg

85704-29492.jpg

85704-29493.jpg

As mentioned earlier in the post, two of these turned up. If anyone wants to trade one for something, I'm open to offers (I will add the genuine box / dial or extra money for the right watch!) I'll get around to posting it on the sale section, but I'm going on holiday soon so would rather wait a couple of weeks.

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