Advice needed to repair a Wristwatch Crystal

[Alaskamick]

I gave my son an Omega Geneve as a present which he promptly scratched across the crystal.

I'm loathe to fit a new one as it was new when I gave it to him and it is a genuine part with the Omega symbol.

Not sure if I can get a genuine replacement and also it would cost a load if one was available somewhere.

The scratches look to be very shallow so I'm wondering if anyone has a good method of polishing them out.

Any help would be gratefully received. Mike

[clockboy]

I thought Omega and Rolex crystals where sapphire & pretty much impossible to scratch. If so then removing the scatches is not an option. Someone of more experience may have this info. See vid below to see my point. 

 

[Alaskamick]

No not crystal.

This has some sort of plastic.

It's a 1969 model with a domed crystal and fitted with an armour ring.

Don't think used flat sapphire at that time. 

[oldhippy]

If the scratches aren't to deep and its plastic there are removers on the market. I never bothered with them I would use brasso polish and a soft cloth, brings it up like new.

[dadistic]

It sounds like it's an acrylic crystal. There is a product called Polywatch that you can use that will take out light scratches.  I also use Novus Plastic Polish, which is a three step system that can deal with heavier scratches. Then it's just a matter of elbow grease 

[clockboy]

I know that many vintage Rolex,s had acrylic crystals fitted. My wife owned one & when taken to Rolex for insurance purposes was told it had a sapphire crystal fitted which was incorrect. If serviced by Rolex their policy is, when servicing a watch they also must restore to the original spec so they would have to fit the correct crystal which would be acrylic. 

[Marc]

Unless the scratch is very deep you should have no problem polishing it out if the crystal is acrylic (and if it is plastic that is what it will be).

If you use forum search and look for crystal polishing techniques you will find more than one thread that touches on the subject but my approach is to start with 400 wet & dry paper, used wet, until there is no sign of the original scratching and I have a uniform finish. Then I work up through the grades of wet and dry (800,1500,2500), still used wet, and switching grades only when the scratches from the previous grade have gone. Rinse the crystal between grades too just in case there are any loose particles from the co**BLEEP**r grades which will spoil the subsequent stage.

Once I am done with the 2500 I dry the crystal and switch to Solvol Autosol which is a chrome polish. Used with a soft cloth this will take out the scratches from the 2500 grit and give you a near perfect finish. If I am in a particularly fussy frame of mind then I will finish off with Silvo, which is a liquid silver polish.

All of this I do with the crystal removed from the watch. Then once the crystal is installed back into the case I use a red Selvyt polishing cloth as a final touch, and also to just periodically buff up the whole watch to keep things nice.

If the original scratching isn't too severe then I may skip the first 400 grit stage.

[canthus]

I restored the badly scratched crystal on my 1960;s Omega Seamaster 168.0003CD using virtually the same method as Marc.  I left the crystal in place as I didn't have the tools to remove/replace it at the time,  and carefully masked up the case (which I also restored).  The crystal is 'plastic' not sapphire.  It is important to wash off  thoroughly between each stage.  The omega logo is on the inside of the crystal so was not removed in this process.

[Alaskamick]

Thanks to everyone for you help.

I think I now have all the answers I need.

Canthus I didn't realise about the logo being inside, that's a great bonus and a weight off my mind.

[rogart63]

When you have repaired the crystal? 

[jdrichard]

I made a video on YouTube on how to Polish a crystal. It was a hardlex crystal for an old Seiko chrono.


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[jdrichard]

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[StuartBaker104]

If you cant remove the scratch then genuine Omega acrylic crystals cost about £30 from Cousins if they still have the one you need. Search by case number.