Not sure how I managed this but I have put a stonking line of small scratches on my Blackbay crystal. See pic below between 10 o'clock and 1 o'clock. Is it worth getting some diamond cutting paste and having a go at this or do you reckon I should live with it until service time and get a new crystal then:
It must have received a hell of a dunt to score the sapphire like that I would have thought! PERSONALLY I would have to get the crystal changed as that would bother me but if you can live with it it's not going to do any harm to leave it until service time
Just been cycling across south of France from Narbonne to Bordeaux and reckon I did this loading 7 bikes into a van yesterday. I don't remember banging it but I had just ridden 350 miles in 3.5 days so was pretty tired. I can live with it until I get it serviced, I'm not that precious about it. Just not sure whether diamond paste is easy to use or best left to the experts.
I have used it with success, but it's seriously hard work! You need a number of different grades and a mechanical tool like a dremmel. Your chances of success will probably depend upon the depth of the scratches. The area that they cover is possibly less of an issue, as you will need to cover quite a lot of the surface, so as to blend the polishing in and avoid distorting the shape of the surface. I don't know if these have an AR coating on the outer surface, but it they do, that will obviously be an issue.
Feel for you but can't help as no experience with this.
Is say leave it until service time if it doesn't bother you that much. Until then every time you look at it it will remind you of your adventures
Ooph, I am not that talented with mechanical tools and I'd give myself high odds of stuffing it up. Seems to be living with it until service time is likely to be my best bet. I guess watches pick up battle scars just as their owners do. All i can think of is that a rear cassette or front cog must have given it right good scrape as I loaded the bikes.Originally Posted by pseunomis
Hey if you want to give jewlers rouge a try give me a shout, only in Winchester...
Diamond paste - two grades, and a cloth would sort that out in about an hour, would be my best guess - I've done it before on sapphire and it works very well for surfaces scratches that aren't too deep or gouged.
It's just a matter of time...
Hmm, thanks for the advice. I've ordered some diamond paste with 5 grades from 5 microns down tk 0.25 microns and might as well have a pop at this with a cloth. It was only a tenner on Ebay. Will report back!
I'm keen to see your results, keep us posted
Judging by your pics it should be a simple job - just take your time, and tape the bezel well - you don't want to be rubbing off the paint on that!
It's just a matter of time...
Sorry to see this i scratched the crystal on my Pelagos recently so looking forward to see how you get on, should be simple to remove the bezel completely so as not to damage that in the process.
Good luck.
Not a nice thing to happen. Had something that looked similar on one of my watches from just it brushing against a brick wall. Had to get the glass changed as it annoyed me every time I looked at it.
I'd be interested to see how you get on with the diamond paste DIY...I'd want to try this myself if I ever banged up one of my sapphire crystals. Good luck with it and let us know what results you get.
The diamond cutting paste arrived so I just had a go at this. I did 5 minutes of circular rubbing with 3.5 micron paste and 5 minutes with 0.25 micron paste. Result - its back good as new. Incredibly easy and I'm delighted with the result:
Excellent outcome
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Last edited by jambobbyb; 21st May 2019 at 19:48.
It worked a treat. I also used 5 micron and 0.25 micron to remove scratches from the polished sides of the watch head. These also came up like new.
Great results!
An excellent result there, well done...
Well done any chance of a link to where you purchased the paste as i need some too?.
Sure, it's this set:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...obalID=EBAY-GB
You must have started a rush on them, bloody sold out !!haha
Nice job, well done!
Great results, looks like it's going to be a must have piece of kit
Cheers ill get them ordered.
Brilliant result. I didn't realise it was such a simple fix!
It's good to know that it's not as difficult a job as you would think. I would have gone to a professional but not now.
Thanks for the update.
Great result, always good to know it can be done. Did you have to do all the crystal to blend it in or just the scratched area? Are there any signs where you've done it, from the pictures it looks like new again.
Well done! Great result!
Did you use any special cloth?
Obviously looked a lot worse than it was - great to see it looking better again though :)
It's just a matter of time...
Must admit , I'd never thought of using it on the case sides - have you any before and after shots of that and how it has come out - i.e. did you have many surface marks on there and is the result a smooth shiny surface?
It's just a matter of time...
I suspect my scratches were not as bad or deep as they looked. I could feel them with my fingernail but it sounds like deep scratches take more work than mine did. They must have been shallow even though they were extensive. I just used a bit of standard Halfords car polishing cloth (the white stuff you buy in a roll). I taped up the bezel with masking tape and just rubbed the whole crystal in a circular motion putting a reasonable amount of pressure with my thumb. I renewed the paste a couple of times. It really does look like new with no evidence of the scratches remaining. I didn't take pics of the polished sides before and after polishing but did google polishing steel using diamond paste before doing it to check it was a known technique, which it is. I still have a small scratch on one of the sides which was very visible and could be felt with a thumbnail. Now I can't feel it but can just make it out in the light. This is after 20 minutes of polishing. The metal sides are proving tougher to polish than the glass!
Good work
Ah fantastic result. I'll have to add some of this stuff to the tool box. Nice work!
Great for you!! congrats!
Any chance of the item number on eBay
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