Bezel Polish

[romeo-1]

I just picked up a WABI'd 750T with the usual scuffs to the polished part of the bezel. None of the bezel paint is missing so it still looks great. I was wondering if anyone has polished a bezel without losing any of the paint. Pointers? Links? Thanks all...and great to be back with a Doxa!

[Rusty_Shakleford]

My 750T was purchased with paint missing from some of the numbers. I took the opportunity to brush the outer ring as I prefer it with all brushed surfaces. After that, I repainted the numbers which was an adventure the first time out. I've got that part down now though so it won;t be too difficult in the future.

If you don't get any answers, try shooting a PM to WUS user V8. He is the man behind MCWW and does this sort of thing for a living so I would trust his input. The Watchmaker Forum may also provide some solid advice. If you get an answer from anywhere but here, please link to it as I'm sure that other Doxa owners will be interested.

Good luck with it...

RS

[T Bone]

Cape Cod cloths will do the job of bringing back the smooth shine, but that doesn't answer your question, as it doesn't address whether the numbers will survive intact (hopefully someone here will be able to answer that from first hand experience).

WRT Member V8, if you are in a hurry to contact him, email (through the MCWW site) is your best bet, as he's currently not checking in at WUS as often (a couple times a week at least), due to other commitments (I know this because I've been in contact with him recently about working on a couple of my non- DOXA watches).

[Snowback]

If none of the paint is missing, I would try/recommend "Mother Mag & Aluminum Polish". It will bring the shine back with only a little rubbing. If the paint isn't loose, it should do the trick quite nicely. If the finish is scratched up a bit, you might be better to do a brushed finish rather than try the polished finish. The advantage to Mothers is that it's a polish as well, so it may help preserve your paint a little longer. It's really very easy to repaint the numbers if the paint does come out - just pick up some orange enamel paint at your local hobby shop (I'd get some enamel thinner as well). With a little patience, a needle or straight pin & a tooth pick, the numbers can be brought back to factory fresh in an afternoon.

[Deacon211]

I've used a little juice from a Cape Cod cloth and the stripped down tip of a Q-tip. It'll take out many of the smaller scratches. I've always masked off the numbers as I didn't want to strip them out.

If you have deeper gouges though, it's going to be difficult to polish out. It's even difficult to get it done professionally. It'll require removing the movement and there is still a limit to what can be done as the numbers are shallow and polishing between them will make the surface uneven, like the surface of a disk brake.

My 750 came with some superficial scratches caused by nothing other than the warranty card rubbing against it. I had it serviced by a very respectable watchmaker here and he still couldn't make it like new. I have seen some remarkably restored Subs by Doxa themselves though, so there's always that.

If I don't get the bezel replaced at some future time, I will probably try to get it brushed as well.