DIY - Refinishing tired titanium Bezel

[lukeeesteve]

After reading various DIY cleanup instructions, I decided to undertake this project myself...this is after collecting 4+ years of nicks and scratches on my watch. I hadn't realized that titanium was relatively soft in spite of it's strength.

Tool: Old (newly retired nail buffer...shhhh...don't tell my wife)



Process: I have read about using a pencil eraser, but the scratches and nicks are a little more severe...so I decided to promote an old 6 'stage' (finger)nail buffer. Not knowing what grit (roughness) to use, I started with the smoothness and worked my way up till I noticed that the imperfections started to buff off....since the going was slow, I went 1 rougher so I could buff of the deeper blemishes. I then went to one smoother to achieve a similar original matte finish. Make sure to sand/buff in a consistent direction.

Couple of macro shots of the Bezel on a 3+ year old Tissot Touch Titanium....before:


Looks like this still needs a little more touching up:


Another quite badly scuffed up part of the bezel:


80% there.


Done...Much better


It took me buying a second watch to muster up enough courage to undertake this project. I was afraid that I would totally botch up the finish. I'm very pleased at how this little effort made such a big difference.

CHEERS!

[lukeeesteve]

Oops...wrong sub forum. How do I move/delete this?

[rationaltime]

Hello lukeeesteve,

Thanks for posting on your bezel refinishing. It looks like a large improvement.
I think I still see a scratch texture. You could try another experiment to see if
you can make further improvement.

You might try this. First tape over the crystal. Then take a clean piece of green
Scotchbrite and work the bezel going only in ONE direction around the circumference
of the bezel. It may give a finish with less noticeable scratching. If you decide to try it you might post after photos on this thread. If you don't care for the result you can
get back to where you are now by going over it with the sanding stick like you did
before.

It is possible to move this thread to another forum. If we know what forum to move
to I can ask the moderator there about it.

Thanks,
rationaltime

[lukeeesteve]

I will try it. and provide an update soon including some less zoomed in shots. I think this belongs more in the main public forum don't you think?

[lukeeesteve]

Oops...no scotchbrite at home, so instead of getting dressed and running off to the supermarket - I went 1 smoother on the nail buff - level 4 of 6 - unfortunately, the result was that the bezel started having a shinier finish compared to the rest of the watch - It was kinda cool cause it was only the higher (raised) part of the bezel that looked shinier, I looked at it for a while and decided to take it back 1/2 a notch, used the rougher (level 3 of 6) part of the nail buff.

This time I exercised more patience, using lighter pressure, and took rationaltime's advice and buffed "only in ONE direction" vs. back and forward. As you can see from the macro shots, this is finish is more even, though the scratches have to stay so that the bezel doesn't get too glossy.

I do advice using good lighting and possibly a jeweler's magnifier if you were to make this a habit - The slight blemishes to the naked eye really show up as bad scratches using a macro lens.

Luke!

Finished effort (Part II)

[Beau8]

Great job~Looks a lot better than before, cheers!

[rationaltime]

Luke,

That looks good. Now that you have the process it is too bad you don't
have more places to use it. Does this watch have a matching bracelet?

Thanks,
rationaltime

[Janne]

Next time, use a new nailpolisher.
Your watch is far more important then your wife's nails!
BTW, the result is very good on the Makro's, must look perfect in real life!

[lukeeesteve]

Fortunately, the bracelet is rubber but I'll be working on the clasp and have also convinced my wife to hand over her wedding present (stainless Tag) so I can buff off 11+ years of scratches.

Yes I should use new supplies next time :)

Thank you all for your advice, critique and encouragement!

[rationaltime]

Luke,

You got good results from your careful work. I look forward to seeing before
and after photos of your wife's watch.

If you run out of things to do you can try filling in the bezel markings with
new paint.

Here is an example done on a Seiko SLT077P1. Aside from the photo issues,
what do you think?

Thanks,
rationaltime