Vintage W10 service/restoration advice

[Calumets]

Dear all, I am a newbie here and would appreciate some advice. I just bought the lovely 1973 Hamilton pictured. I have given it a real go polishing the acrylic with polywatch but some of the scratches won't budge. I'm not too bothered by these, but wonder whether people think leaving the crystal as is, or replacing it, is the better option.

I also think I should send it for a service. It is very accurate but the winding is stiff and I imagine it hasn't had a service in a while, if at all. Does anyone have a recommendation for who to send it to and how much that might cost.

Please accept my apologies if I have posted on the wrong forum for this type of question.

Many thanks for any help you can offer.

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[Robbo12]

Nice watch I would defo get it serviced and try not to wear it to much if the winding is stiff ! IMO there could be some damage or it could be very dry either way not good and needs work .

I can recommend Brendan on here Webwatchmaker send him a PM , Is there any watch or clock shops near you ?

You need someone who is good with vintage watches for a sympathetic resto , crystal looks good after a Poly watch and its up to you if you can live with the scratches . I only replace a original ,if the scratches are really deep or cracked.

Good luck with it and dont forget to update this thread when you have got the work completed , maybe useful to somebody else .

[Calumets]

Nice watch I would defo get it serviced and try not to wear it to much if the winding is stiff ! IMO there could be some damage or it could be very dry either way not good and needs work .

I can recommend Brendan on here Webwatchmaker send him a PM , Is there any watch or clock shops near you ?

You need someone who is good with vintage watches for a sympathetic resto , crystal looks good after a Poly watch and its up to you if you can live with the scratches . I only replace a original ,if the scratches are really deep or cracked.

Good luck with it and dont forget to update this thread when you have got the work completed , maybe useful to somebody else .

Thanks for the response Robbo - much appreciated. Brendan has agreed to take a look at it.

[walkerwek1958]

You can’t restore an acrylic crystal using polywatch alone, its like boring through a mountain with a carrot. Its quite possible the crystal has fine cracks too, which only come to light when the crystal’s viewed under strong magnification. In most cases it’s simpler to fit a new one, unless the crystal is specialised with sme unique features a good quality generic replacement will be reasily available. I can’t get too precious about originality when dealing with an old a acrylic crystal, if I’ve any doubts I fit a new one.

[Calumets]

You can’t restore an acrylic crystal using polywatch alone, its like boring through a mountain with a carrot. Its quite possible the crystal has fine cracks too, which only come to light when the crystal’s viewed under strong magnification. In most cases it’s simpler to fit a new one, unless the crystal is specialised with sme unique features a good quality generic replacement will be reasily available. I can’t get too precious about originality when dealing with an old a acrylic crystal, if I’ve any doubts I fit a new one.

Thank you. I'm not too bothered by the scratches at the moment, but will probably just ask the repairer to fit a new one.