CWC Divers' watches

Gents

I'm looking at CWC Issue Divers' watches - but am torn between the stainless RN watch and the PVD SBS model. Any thoughts/recomendations??

By the way, in some photos of these watches, the second hand seems not to not quite hit the 'tick' marks but land somewhere in between - may be just parallax on the photos, but this sort of thing really irritates me on a quartz watch - what's the experience of owners on the real thing rather than pictures??

Cheers

Chris

[Crusader]

I have no experience with those particular models, but

(a) I appreciate a date for daily use

(b) If a quartz second hand hits the minute mark, this is a great piece of luck. No way of knowing before you actually look at the watch.

[magirus]

Hi. PVD will at some VERY distant time wear through to bare metal. I have a SS CWC diver and it keeps time spot on, looks good and it wont let me take it off.Do you need your watch to tell you the day and date? I don't.Regards, MAGIRUS.

{picture for illustration only, not intended to be art}

[bond]

If you go on ebay and just type in the search box 'CWC navy divers watch' there is a quartz CWC beauty for sale, going for £150 with no bids ending in a few days. The price is what it should be sold for retail. If I was you mate I'd go for Eddies PRS which is the Stugots (eye-tye 4 Bo$$ox).

[rfrazier]

You can get rid of PVD by soaking in a 50 percent hydrogen peroxide solution. Don't try this at home, kids.

I've been soaking a bit of PVD'd metal in a 5 percent solution for about 4 weeks now. It is starting to show some shiny steel. It should be done by this time next year.

Best wishes,
Bob

[Foggy]

I've been soaking a bit of PVD'd metal in a 5 percent solution for about 4 weeks now. It is starting to show some shiny steel. It should be done by this time next year.

Interesting, Bob. Where did you get the solution ? I need to do the same, so appreciate any info you have.

Cheers

Foggy

[rfrazier]

I've been soaking a bit of PVD'd metal in a 5 percent solution for about 4 weeks now. It is starting to show some shiny steel. It should be done by this time next year.

Interesting, Bob. Where did you get the solution ? I need to do the same, so appreciate any info you have.

Cheers

Foggy

From the local chemist, Foggy. :) Boots should have some. It is actually 6%. For properly removing PVD you need about 50%. It could be as low as 30%, I think. I haven't looked at sourcing this, or distilling it from the weaker solution. Nor have I research the standard safety precausions for using it at that strength, which I would before even looking for it.

You can get PVD commercially removed. I haven't a clue as to what it would cost. (IWW does this, I believe.)

Best wishes,
Bob

[Foggy]

Thanks Bob

Now, where's the evil scientist laughter emoticon :wink:



Cheers

Foggy

[abraxas]

Thanks Bob

Now, where's the evil scientist laughter emoticon :wink:

.................

Foggy

john

[Foggy]

Thanks John - that'll do nicely :D

[Crusader]

You can get PVD commercially removed. I haven't a clue as to what it would cost. (IWW does this, I believe.)

Yes, Jack does that. Please note that this does not work on all substrate materials. Jack reported that a Sinn 756 1st series case (ice-hardened) was gutted in the process ...

[Foggy]

Jack reported that a Sinn 756 1st series case (ice-hardened) was gutted in the process ...

What happened ? More details please.

Thanks

Foggy

[Crusader]

Sorry Ian, I can't recall the details. We agreed that it must have something to do with the different metallurgical properties of the martensitic steel as opposed to the usual 316L used in watches. Of course, all case treatments have been optimized for 316L steel and or brass, but not for the special ice-hardenable steel.

[Foggy]

Thanks Martin - I did find this. from Jack, on the MWR archive CD

had one of those 756s with the Teg coating stripped after a poor application of PVD and the Teg coating was completely destroyed revealing a very strange looking casebody. With the Teg coating gone none of the parts would even thread back together.

I had to buy a new case of course, that was only $900. ;-)

Cheers

Foggy

[Crusader]

Thanks Martin - I did find this. from Jack, on the MWR archive CD

had one of those 756s with the Teg coating stripped after a poor application of PVD and the Teg coating was completely destroyed revealing a very strange looking casebody. With the Teg coating gone none of the parts would even thread back together.

I had to buy a new case of course, that was only $900. ;-)

Cheers

Foggy

I corresponded with Jack, and he said it was a first-series (ice-hardening) rather than tegiment.

[rfrazier]

Sorry Ian, I can't recall the details. We agreed that it must have something to do with the different metallurgical properties of the martensitic steel as opposed to the usual 316L used in watches. Of course, all case treatments have been optimized for 316L steel and or brass, but not for the special ice-hardenable steel.

I think that you are right. The martensitic steels are more prone to corrosion because of their higher carbon content. Some (e.g., Damasko) try to alleviate this by using martensitic steel with a lower carbon content. They use forced introduction of nitrogen, which can do some of the work of the carbon without combining with chrome, which provides much of the corrosion resistance.

Best wishes,
Bob

PS Don't swim in rich solutions of hydrogen peroxide or other corrosive substances while wearing any "hardened" watch. ;)

[abraxas]

.................

PS Don't swim in rich solutions of hydrogen peroxide or other corrosive substances while wearing any "hardened" watch. ;)

Does that mean we have to avoid peroxide blondes?

john

[Gert]

Nah, just park your piece on the dresser :wink:

Gert