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newbie amateur attempt to fix watch crystal

287 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  WatchMedic 
#1 ·
read a lot of webpages and watched a lot of youtube videos on DIY watch crystal scratch removal...
so much differing information and techniques, its almost information overload.
I ordered some diamond polishing compound, but while i am waiting for it to arrive in the post, I decided to try a cheaper, and more DIY approach.
Its not that I own any expensive watches...couple of Seiko divers, a citizen eco-drive..nothing serious..but I didn't want to take the risk of ruining one of their
crystals with my first attempt and taking out scratches. so.... I picked up this orient 3 star automatic for a tenner.
you can see the crystal is scratched up pretty bad. everything else works fine though, and it keeps good time.
caseback is in good shape with minimal wear. bracelet is in pretty good shape too.

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also picked up a 7 stage nail file/polish tool for $4.
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I started with #3, which was coarse enough to get the scratches out without reshaping the crystal.
I believe that this is probably acrylic and not mineral, so bear that in mind as I have not tried this with any other watches.
I mostly worked in circular motions around the crystal for several minutes with each grit. Adding a tiny bit of water every now and then helped a little too, I think.
by the time I got to the buff and shine sections it was looking pretty good. It was not perfect, but I think with some practice I could probably
make it look a little better, but overall I was pleased with the results.

here is the end result. you can see around the 3 o'clock area where I need to go back to maybe #5+ and fix it up a bit, but for the most part
I am reasonably pleased. If nothing else, it made the watch usable again, where it really was not in the condition I got it in.
I dont really see this as a watch I will likely rotate to wrist time, but it was a good learning experience.
again, I think this is acrylic, and not mineral crystal like hardlex or sapphitek...so your mileage may vary with other crystal types. (not sure im brave enough to try yet)
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Im calling it a win. gave some new life to an otherwise junker watch.
who knows, once I adjust the bracelet a bit to fit me better, maybe I will actually wear it.
I have heard Orient is a decent brand with Japanese movement.
 
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