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Hi, I will be working on restoring Perrelet James Cook Antarctica. For those who may not know the brand, Perrelet takes its name from Abraham Louis Perrelet, the inventor of automatic watch movements back in late 1700. The brand, however, did not survive through the turbulent times, and was only re-activated in the 1990s. And that's when Perrelet James Cook Antarctica was born. I would say that the Perrelet timepieces from the late 1990s and early 2000s seem to be the most beautiful to me. I think the case design and the dial are timeless, hence my personal affinity to the brand. I already own a two-tone Perrelet Tempest and spotted this Perrelet Antarctica on eBay with some visible damage to the dial and hands. I pulled the trigger and here I am trying to restore it. Also, the bet with the size of the bracelet did not pay off, and I am currently trying to source spare links from Perrelet - what a pain. I already contacted the authorised distributors in the US, the UK and Germany, but apparently everyone in Switzerland is on holiday now! As you can see, the dial appears to be water damaged, but the markers are fine. Additionally, the front rotor (the trademark of Perrelet watches) appears to be discoloured in places, which after some inspection seems to be due to stripping of the nickel (or possibly gold) plating on steel rotor. I will be nickel plating soon (using brush technique) and will share pictures soon. I have managed to remove the markers and strip the dial from its colour. I am however unsure whether the original colour was achieved by chemical treatment or painting - the colour seemed to be completely resistant to varnish. It could only be removed by gentle polishing. There is still some left over in the ridges. I am unsure how to proceed from here. I would like to get back the beautiful blue finish on the dial. I already purchased an airbrush, but I have difficulty in choosing the right paint for the job - I would like to preserve the sharp look of the ridges without putting too many thick coats. I would greatly welcome any advice on what paint would be the best for the job, and how to prep the dial (assume roughing slightly with 1500 sandpaper would do fine?) Alternatively, is it possible to achieve such deep, aquamarine blue colour by electroplating? That would seem like an ideal solution? Hopefully, all the sweat will pay off. I will keep updating the thread with progress as I go. Happy to answer any questions on my work so far.