Jump to content

Vintage enamel Dial repair technique experiment #1


Recommended Posts

Recently purchased a pocket watch with a chipped dial. You can see the copper substrate. This is unsightly and distracting. As an experiment i dug out a damaged old dial I had and a small bottle of white nail polish. After about 3 coats I gave it a light wipe with a shop towel wetted with acetone. It only took a couple very light swipes to achieve the look I wanted. All in all it looks pretty good. Yes there are a couple bubbles close up but it's nearly impossible to see from a normal viewing  distance. My next goal is to see if I can find a black pen with a fine enough point to attempt to restore the black minute index lines. I consider this an open experiment, I want to try other dials with other colors of enamel besides white.

689650137_Collage2020-05-2222_33_10.thumb.jpg.e795db19031d65e2a13274d3630dae47.jpg

12667848_Collage2020-05-2222_36_39.thumb.jpg.8240123f11ab8b2232c9e45548f43c38.jpg

Edited by FLwatchguy73
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi  thats quite an effective repair job..  I have seen a ceramics expert use an artists brush that was so thin it must have had most of the hair pulled out re lining a damaged clock dial I think it was with Indian Ink. did a brilliant job.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, watchweasol said:

Hi  thats quite an effective repair job..  I have seen a ceramics expert use an artists brush that was so thin it must have had most of the hair pulled out re lining a damaged clock dial I think it was with Indian Ink. did a brilliant job.

Thank you. Even if I decide not to restore the minute track at least it isn't so distracting and it's subtle enough that the casual glance or an untrained eye won't spot it. I have another dial with a more off white, eggshell sort of color that needs attention. I'll have to see if I can find one close enough to it as fingernail polish flashes very quickly and you don't have much working time. Definitely not enough time to mix colors to get it close .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Following this thread.  I like the look of the repair.  I have used Bergeon powdered repair enamel.  It only comes in brilliant white and is rather pricey.  I have had to repaint Roman numerals before and I used black drafting ink and a 000 (triple ought) brush, which I had to thin down even further with a wee bit of plucking. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Put the movement in a movement holder and it will be supported as you push down on the setting lever post to release the winding stem. Make sure the post is over the shoulder of the movement holder so what you are pressing down on is supported. As a general rule, hold the movement and not the movement holder. Replace the hands when the movement isn't in the case and support the centre jewel (if it has one) on a hard surface or staking block when replacing the hands to stop the jewel accidentally moving or even coming out. A dedicated movement holder with a central jewel support is even better, but pricey
    • It might help us if we knew which watch like model number.
    • Hi, guys I have a bit of a predicament and hopefully, somebody can advise. I'm working on a Roamer MST 521 where the movement is extracted from the crystal side. I'm now at the final hurdle where I need to replace the movement back into its case but I'm not sure of the correct procedure. I still need to fit the hands but that's where the problem lies. If I insert the winding stem to test the hands for correct alignment I will need to turn the movement over to release the stem again it's the spring-loaded type and needs a small bit of force to push down but with the hands fitted, I don't think I can do this on a cushion without causing some damage to the hands and that's the last thing I want to do, this watch has already been a love-hate relationship and I'm so close to boxing this one off which I'm counting as my first major project.  The other option is to case the movement then fit the hands and hope everything is okay. I've already broken the original winding stem but managed to find a replacement, the last one in stock, so I'm a bit reluctant to keep removing it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 
    • I would go for the dearer spring. You won't need to remove the spring from the carrier ring and then use a mainspring winder to get it into the barrel, for a start. Also that spring is closer to the needed dimensions, especially the length. The length plays a part in the mainsprings strength. If you double the length you will half the force (strength) of the spring and vice-versa. A spring with 20 mm less length would be about 7% shorter, so technically would be 7% more strength, but I find halving this number is closer to real-world findings, so the spring would be about 3 to 4% more strength/force. On a mainspring that ideally kicks out 300 degrees of amplitude, a 3% increase in amplitude would be 309 degrees. Increasing or decreasing the length of the mainspring will affect the power reserve to a greater or lesser degree. It depends how much shorter or longer it is. I've attached a lesson regarding mainsprings, focussing on the size and strength of the spring within the barrel, you might find helpful. Unfortunately it is a PDF converted from a PowerPoint presentation, but only a slide was lost that was originally a video of fitting a mainspring   Lesson 5 The mainspring.pdf
×
×
  • Create New...