A quick update and another example, a Tag Heuer Monza that had a serious case of road rash after a cycling off.
Before
Welded bezel
After
A few more to follow...
That welding must need some seriously steady hands! Thanks for posting this, is a v interesting read
A quick update and another example, a Tag Heuer Monza that had a serious case of road rash after a cycling off.
Before
Welded bezel
After
A few more to follow...
So it's possible, with a lot of skill and the right equipment, to re-lap to pretty much a factory finish.
The owner of this Monza is picking it up tomorrow and I'd love to see the look on his face when it's handed over.
Cheers,
Gary
The results are simply amazing. What is a very , very rough idea of cost for work like this?
Amazing results on that Monza Gary :)
Bet it aint cheap though... still, impressive in these disposable times that people are fixing stuff rather than just binning and starting again!
That weld and refinish is incredible!
Again, it's really impressive what results you can get if you have the skill and equipment.
Wow - missed this thread originally, but just been blown away looking at the fantastic work done on that new machine and the micro welding along with it..thanks for all the updates & pictures !
A fascinating thread - thanks.
Excellent results, superb job! Thanks for sharing
Hadn`t realised that micro-welding could be used to build the metal back up, but I guess it's obvious really.......just never thought about it.
Certainly impressive.
Paul
I'll find out a bit later how much the Monza case cost and get back to you. I suspect the price will vary depending on the severity of the case damage and how complicated the movement is.
My watch guy is reluctant to do 'part works' i.e just repairing a case without servicing the watch. Unfortunately for many watch owners the last person who opened the watch instantly becomes responsible for any subsequent issues, regardless of being told of them at the time. This can create a lot of friction and stress for him which he's obviously keen to avoid. Plus he'd hate to refurbish a case knowing full well that the movement was buggered or had issues.
Cheers,
Gary
Wow!!! amazing work indeed.
Lost me for a moment there but we're talking about the Rolex Sub case I presume.
I discussed how the damage to the case might have occurred over coffee with a couple of WIS mates one Friday morning. We didn't come to any conclusion (as usual) other than if the watch was being worn at the time the owner was probably toast or at the very least severely injured.
What was interesting were the gouges and scratches all came from different angles, so it wasn't like the Monza case where the bulk of the damage came from it scrapping along a road. My pal came to the conclusion that it might have been in an explosion, although he does have a rather vivid imagination
Cheers,
Gary
I suppose the strap could have broken and the watch dropped a long way. Imagine if you were rock climbing and you snapped the strap, a long bouncing drop with lots of impacts might explain things.
Just heard back from my watchmaker with regards to the cost of the Monza case refurbishment. In this instance he'd serviced the watch fairly recently so the work to the case was the only thing required. The cost for the dissembling, welding and re-lapping the case and re-assembly was £150.
I've no idea how much a replacement bezel from Tag Heuer would have cost but I'm betting it would have been more and that obviously wouldn't include repairing the lugs and refinishing the case.
Cheers,
Gary
As Rocco is also Breitling accredited do you know if he'll be undergoing training with them regards case finishing?
I'm pretty certain he's already done case refinishing courses with Breitling as well as Omega and Rolex. I know to get accreditation he has to attend fairly regular courses as well as have training with new movements and technical developments. Only on Monday he had an inspection by Omega to make sure his facilities, tooling and working practices we're all up to their high standards.
Cheers,
Gary
incredible results with the monza, good to know it can be done.
He generally aims for a four week turnaround but its entirely depends on his workload, occasionally it might be a tad slower, sometimes it's quicker. He'll let you know when it'll be ready once he's inspected the watch as a rule. He's based here in Bristol.
Cheers,
Gary
thanks Gary. Please update this thread when you can, never bore of before and after pictures.
This is impressive! Can he do the same thing on the lugs as well? Thanks!
150 quid is really very reasonable for the skill / investment / time involved, good job :)
I'd definitely pay that for a piece that I liked if it was seriously dinged.
Fantastic work, and well worth bearing in mind for the future ;)
Pretty amazing stuff. He has my turn-o-graph at the moment for a full service/refurb. Hopefully it will look as amazing. ISTR a lot of their equipment came from the old Rolex place when they moved out to the sticks the other year.
Very nice work
I knew it could be done, but I have never seen pictures of the work in progress, a marvelous thread and read. I also read that there were a few jewelers in New York, where you could have something laser welded on the spot, without waiting. I´m seriously considering buying a leser welder myself!
Thanks for the pictures and the time spent to show us how it can be done.
best Regards.
Nice yob!Naw is caseback like new.
A quick update to this thread with another example of laser welding and lapping. This time a clasp from an Omega Geneve Chronostop.
The original engraved clasp
As you'll see it's fairly deep engraving, so there's no chance of just buffing it out and re-graining it without removing too much metal.
Laser welded clasp
The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that the top section of the clasp is now very slightly convex along the width. This was a result of the heat from the welding process.
The finished clasp
The slight distortion corrected and the clasp lapped to a grained finish.
Cheers,
Gary
Last edited by Omegary; 27th October 2012 at 19:16.
Another example, this time an Omega Speedmaster MKII case.
A strange one this as the top had been machine refinished but whoever did it either didn't know the correct finish or just chose to ignore it. Maybe it was just a case of doing the best they could, with the machinery to hand, to improve the overall look of the watch. So instead of the sunburst finish the top of the case had a radial effect finish.
They obviously couldn't be bothered to remove either the pusher or sleeve, maybe even both, either as the finish on the right hand side was very patchy to say the least.
The case had lost a lot of its sharpness and there was hardly any definition between the top, shoulders and case sides. As I think Neil C once described poorly refinished cases 'they look like a half sucked boiled sweat' or words to that effect, which is a perfect description imho.
Before. The first two don't make it look too bad but once you get a little closer you can see the loss of definition and over lapping grained areas really easily.
After pics to follow...
After
A massive improvement I think you'll agree.
Cheers,
Gary
P.S. A big thank you to Luke (RaulGonzalez) for letting me use this case as an example and putting up with a slight delay whilst I photographed it.
Thanks Gary, I can't wait to get it back and put the watch back together.
It looks really good, Rocco has done an amazing job once again!
I'm really enjoying this thread. It's great to see some lovely cases being brought back to brilliance.
Keep em coming. Love this thread
This is really amazing! The watches do look as good as new. I heard that STS now have a lapping machine but apparently don't use yet as some people prefer to send back their watches to Omega Bienne who refinish the cases with a lapping machine.
Simply stunning - I love readying this thread
Is it true does anyone know that STS now have one?
Cheers
This is absolutely incredible! I never even imagined this was possible to such an extent.
Is it possible to get a rough idea of what work like this would cost?
Here's another example, not so extreme this time but it's still good to see how crisp the results are imho.
I've shown you the clasp repair and refinish on the Omega Geneve Chronostop, well here's the rest of the watch.
Before not really too bad but a few scars to mark its 42 years
After I think the pics speak for themselves really
Cheers,
Gary
P.S. This might well be coming up for sale soon, if anyone's interested drop me a line.
Last edited by Omegary; 27th October 2012 at 19:09.
Pics appear to be missing.
The work he is doing is just fantastic, Gary. Thanks for the regular updates.
I reckon I'm now gonna be on the hunt for a beat up flighty!
Keep up the great work!
JK
Just wondering how a Starburst pattern is achieved with a wheel rotating? Great thread Btw:):)