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Great Results with experiment in restoring patina and mold in vintage watch lume!
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saswatch88,
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There are a few bad teeth on that wheel, that is due to the spring breaking. Lucky the chain didn't snap. You might be lucky with ebay.
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Hi I got this watch in a job lot but I’ve been unable to identify the movement. The only numbers are 411.7 on the plate and 7 under the balance. I like the look of the watch so would like to repair it. Any help identifying the movement would be appreciated. An opinion on the dial would also be appreciated, the crown and lettering look ok to me but I’m certainly no expert. There are service dates on the dial and case but I can only really make out one which is in 1944. thanks
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Search for the barrel diameter vs the length and make sure you have the height correct and strength close (thickness.)
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By watchweasol · Posted
Its looking like the bike I rode to work on in the 60s although mine had straight bars and mudguards, needed them in the UK, Like the tires though Just finishes the look. Saddle looks comfy not like the razor blades of today, Nice that the sturmey archer is working good Had some sore parts when they slipped up hill, Is the paint work original as it looks in good nick.
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Question
saswatch88 156
Hey guys long time just wanted to share some finding with you,
I have been searching for a way to clean vintage watch lume, particularly in Seiko's which seems to be one of the top brands where collectors look for clean original lume. Esp when it comes to the 6105's, re-lumes kill the value of these, an old moldy patina lume is better than a re-lume, but is obviously not as good as nice clean white lume. These pull in prices that go for about double the cost of an original moldy lumed one.
SO i picked up an all original 72' 6105 very clean, except for dial it wasnt that bad really but one of the markers was a coffee color much darker than the other which where like a nice off white cream color, some tiny black mold spots. it was really getting on my nerves so as usual i did my research again and find out that every forum post and every person i spoke said the only thing you can do is re-lume? now i have seen pros like spencer klein clean up lume without reluming but he always skips that part in his videos, a master will never reveal his secrets....so i did something i wanted to do for a very long time but was always afraid to do.........I used bleach, YES BLEACH!
Now, this will only work on water based lume, and it does NOT dissolve it any way......you must must be very careful to only get it on the lume and NOT on the dial. I have tried it on many scrap dials and what i found is it wont affect metal dials much but it will affect matte dials, black dials, and dials with any kind of paint. I used a tiny cotton swap used for car touch paint for chips and i soaked in 3/1 or even 2/1 water/bleach solution. i made sure to remove excess and then i would carefully dab the lume plots until i can see it has been absorbed. In some cases i put a tiny bead of the solution on top of the plot and leave it for about 30 min. then soak it back up. This will require more than one application depending on how dark the lume is. I also used a dry swab and gently wiped the top of the lume plot and this removed almost all of the black mold. I went from cream/coffee color to an off white....i am trying to post photos but i cant for some reason...i didnt have a before picture but i will be doing a few more soon on a 6309 dial i will post the before and afters.
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