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The fluting on the Skydweller bezel should be extremely crisp and unbelievably polished. I’m not surprised that WF have polished it if damaged rather than replace as I was advised that due to the ring command bezel it was very expensive to replace.
I was passing Watchfinder today, and popped in to gorm at a couple of things. They had, sat next to one another, two Skydwellers, one with a white gold bezel and one with a yellow gold bezel. Something that immediately stood out was that the fluting of the wg bezel was significantly sharper than that of the yg bezel
I've looked on the Watchfinder website. They've five white dial / yg bezel Skydwellers, two still in their stickers. Of the other three, it was easy to work out which I had been looking at - the details of the bezel were all rounded
What I couldn't work out is whether this was the result of normal wear, or if the bezel had been refinished by Watchfinder's eager-to-refinish servicing department.
Here are it is compared with another of theirs. Same year (2017) same price.
Example one https://www.watchfinder.co.uk/Rolex/...41/item/123079
Example two https://www.watchfinder.co.uk/Rolex/...41/item/123878
The fluting on the Skydweller bezel should be extremely crisp and unbelievably polished. I’m not surprised that WF have polished it if damaged rather than replace as I was advised that due to the ring command bezel it was very expensive to replace.
I can't begin to imagine how fiddly, how nigh-on impossible, polishing a fluted bezel by hand must be.
Given how rubbish it looked in the flesh, I'm surprised that they thought it was a good idea.
Now I think about it, I'm surprised they bought it at all - it's not like they're short of two-tone Skydwellers. But I suppose you only need one inobservant customer to be shot of it.
The crystal protrudes above the fluted bezel and that protects the bezel to some extent, but eventually the fluted bezels pick up fine scratches. When I refinished the white gold fluted bezel on my Datejust I spent a long time doing it by hand to avoid taking the sharness off the peaks, doing just the very final fine polish on a soft polishing wheel. Most professional refinishers won’t be as careful so its no surprise to see examples like the one shown. When Watchfinder had a lot of watches on display in Leeds my impression was that most had been refinished with a bit to much enthusiasm for my liking.
If you’re reasonably careful they don’t pick up damage easily, but if they do there isn’t a viable way to refinish them in the way a plain bezel can be refinished.
That sounds like the kind of job which is only worthwhile when working on your own watches, which takes far too long to be economically viable as a commercial service?Originally Posted by walkerwek1958
I've wondered this; as best I can judge, the fluted bezel is rather better at avoiding marks and scratches.
That's almost new, but my older one was similar. Compare with my 2017 smooth bezel Daytona.
Photos exaggerate any marks, but I have no doubt that the smooth bezel marks more quickly. Doesn't worry me, just war wounds, but you can have a replacement bezel for £1500. Well, it is 18k gold.
Incidentally, the vulnerability of a smooth bezel was one of the factors that led to me selling my 5711; each time I wore it, I was a bit worried.
A scratch magnet? Oddly, I don't worry about the Rolex.
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Ah, excellent, you've arrived. Watchfinder would like your 14 grand, please.
Correct! Very small pointed cotton wool buds and jewellers rouge, a strongish magnifier, some decent music and a whisky are the rerequisite tools. I do these jobs on an evening when the TVs poor or wifeys watching some rubbish I don’t like........retiring to my den is a good option and its the right time to do refinishing work.
More significant scratches can be taken out using a piece of pegwood sharpend to a screwdriver profile, dipped in metal polish.
Final finish is done using a soft polishing wheel for a few seconds, nothing drastic.
No way would I do this work commercially, it’s not difficult but it is tedious.
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