Westclox dial woes - opinions wanted

[JonTee]

(I can't believe I'm willingly asking for opinions on the internet, but here goes...)

 

Hey everyone.  I recently picked up a 1970-ish Westclox wristwatch (movement is a D-407, aka Seiko 6602) that was listed as running, but not well.  I disassembled, cleaned, oiled, and reassembled the movement, which now seems to be ticking along quite nicely (the Tickoprint app on my phone, connected to a piezo element shows +2 sec/day).  The hands are near perfect, the case cleaned up nicely, and while I'm not done with the acrylic crystal, it's coming along well.

But the dial.  Oh, the dial.  I think it's not salvageable, at least without taking it all the way down and repainting it.  I did a bit of light cleanup work in some of the worst spots, but it appears the damage goes down to the metal.

So, I think I have some options here, and I'd like some input.  The way I see it:

• I could leave it as-is.  Reassemble the watch, wear it, and come up with a compelling backstory for why it looks the way it does ("Yeah, this was D. B. Coopers watch. It was found on the banks of the Columbia alongside $5800 in cash in 1980. Sure, it's got some damage, but what a story!")
• I could replace it with the same or similar dial.  I haven't found any exactly like it on eBay, but there are several that are close that are the same vintage, though they come attached to movements and it'd be a shame to pillage a potentially working watch.
• I could attempt to restore it.  I think the numbers are glued on, and they're mostly in decent-ish shape.  Remove them.  Sand it down.  Repaint.  Apply logos using transfer paper.  Re-glue the numbers.  A lot of work, and I've not done it before, but heck 3-4 months ago I hadn't ever dismantled a watch, either.  I have no clue how to get the cool silver starburst pattern of the original, though, which is a bummer because it's one of my favorite things about the dial.

There is, of course, the 4th option -- have it professionally restored.  But that's a lot of money to spend on a watch that cost me $10.

So, were this yours...what would you do?

 

[watchweasol]

As far as I can see there are three options  1  leave as is.     2 restore     3 replace with a donor Ebay

 

[anilv]

I would

1. remove all trace of old paint

2. Spray a dark coat of paint

3. Remove paint from the hour markers and polish them or sand them. Its probably brass and will shine up well. You will need to follow up with some lacquer otherwise it will discolour. One slight issue will be the hands seem chrome so that will be a mismatch. Painting the markers is doable but you'd need a steady hand.

Good thing about these dials is if you screw it up you can remove all the paint and start over.

 

Good luck.

Anilv

[JonTee]

Yeah, I think in time I'll take it down to the metal and respray it.  Hadn't though about just removing and polishing the number markers; that makes sense. 

I did revisit it, and found that some of the crud on it would actually scrape off, so I went ahead and did that.  It's better now, but still in obvious need of repair.

Thanks to both of you, I appreciate the thoughts.

[WpgRob]

I have the same watch and its dial finish is flaking off