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Old citizen new master 22 dial

Reaz
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Reaz Member

Reaz

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Hello everyone, I hope everyone is doing well. I recently got an old citizen new master 22 and managed to run it. The watch was in very bad condition but It is running quite well now and I want to wear it. Sadly, the dial looks very beaten up. 

I need advice on what I can do about the dial. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks!PXL_20240205_0532497572.thumb.jpg.fbbe54ffaa09920c92882f3cefde4d37.jpg

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Waggy Distinguished Member

Waggy

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To echo the advice above, it all depends how brave you are, the more experienced on this forum will tell you not to mess with it... a living example of the saying "fools rush in where angels fear to tread".

In reality a lot of the damage resides under the lacquer/varnish coting on the dial, mainly due to water or oil getting under it and causing it to blister/corrode. As this damage is under a clear coating, no matter how much cleaning you do you cannot fix it, and will inevitably do more damage than good.

The limit of what I will do is to blow any loose debris off with an air blower, then dab (never rub) any stubborn marks with rodeco. If the dial is older I may try plain water (no detergent), using a rolling action with a cotton bud (as mentioned by @RichardHarris123 chronoglide has a video showing how to do this). But stay well clear of any text or other printed marks on the dial as the water can lift these before you realise it, been there and got the t-shirt. Newer dials tend to be less robust, older ones are made with the expectation that the watch will be regularly serviced and may include cleaning the dial and are therefore more resilient. However, newer dials are not built to be cleaned (throw away philosophy?) so tend not react well when you try.

Getting the dial repaired by a professional dial restorer is very expensive (often several times more than the watch is worth) so only go down this road for a very expensive watch or one with great sentimental value. Replacement dials tend to be difficult to find and expensive and it's a minefield finding one that is real instead of a straight-out fake or 'aftermarket' one - some sellers are less honest in their descriptions than others. The best option I have found is to look for a donor movement which is being sold with a good quality dial as this can be a fraction of the cost of a stand alone dial (strange but true).

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