zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

The thread about scratch brushes below brought this earlier project to mind...

I can't stress enough that you need to proceed with caution if you choose to do your own refinishing. A professional job will end up costing a lot less time... and not a lot more money. The cost of supplies used for this project adds up! Then again, it was a lot of fun and very satisfying.

Best wishes, and have fun!
Bob

Omega GMT bracelet refinishing project notes

Here’s what I did for my Omega GMT bracelet. These are the results of trial and error by an absolute novice. I have to wonder how a professional would do the job! All of the supplies are available from Frei&Borel with contact information listed on the Timezone Tool Shop.

The Seamaster GMT bracelet took around 4-5 hours to refinish. Slow work, but very satisfying results!

A few precautions (more are embedded in the text way below):

Use eye protection! This is especially true if you’re using a power tool such as the Dremel motor set. The tool can throw bits of polishing compound, rouge, or metal. Bits of the polishing wheel, or any other attachment in use, can fly off into an eye. I can’t detail all the possibilities, but if you’ve never used one of these tools, know that you must treat them with serious respect!

Go slow. It is startling how fast any step can go wrong. This is especially true if you’re using a power tool such as the Dremel motor. Even “mild” polishes such as the green rouge can remove a lot of metal in a big hurry when carried by a wheel at 6000 RPM.

I suggest using the scratch brush, satin bar, and green 2mm rod for hand touch-up of minor scrapes and scratches. These are the most gentle and most controllable tools for small repairs. You stand the least chance of doing damage with these relatively slow acting tools. You might reserve the wheel and motor for major work on deeper scrapes.

Do not do anything to the watch body until you are really sure you know what you’re doing! This will limit any mistakes to the much less expensive bracelet. Why not consider refinishing just one full-size link from start to finish before touching anything else. This further limits your exposure to one link if you decide not to do the full project.

Work under a magnifying lens so you can actually see what you’re doing.

I used a mild hand soap to clean the bracelet between steps. Avoid getting the soap on the watch body as there is some concern that the soap will attack watch seals.

Consider an ultrasonic cleaning of the bracelet (not the watch body!) when you are finished. I believe the ultrasonic cleaning will remove residual polishing materials that might wear the bracelet over time.

Images of the refinishing “kit” to identify the most useful items. Note that the image shows the fine grade of satin bar. I found medium was a bit better for this task. To minimize risk, I suggest you start with a lighter grade of polish or abrasive if you have multiple grades available.:

(A high resolution version of the photo above is at: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=782949&a=5692171&p=22689950&Sequence=0)

Scratch Brush and refill:

Goose necked lamp with magnifying lens:

Basic refinishing steps:

· Remove deep scratches if necessary:

The glass bristle scratch brush will take out minor scratches on the brushed finish links. Try using the scratch brush before moving to any more aggressive method.

You will need a fairly aggressive polish if there are deep scratches in either bright or brushed finish links. I suggest polishing by hand using a tiny dab of diamond paste on a corner of folded shop cloth. The paste I’ve used has 1 micron particles suspended in an oil base. Polish a small area just a little bit at a time. This will let you get a feeling for how fast the polish works. It will also limit the area affected if your technique isn’t working the way you expected it to! The diamond paste will leave a bright shine as it works.

I suspect you could leave a visible depression in a link if you were too aggressive with the diamond polish. In this, as all other steps, try to do the minimum necessary for the desired effect.

· Restore a bright finish to the narrow links:

Apply the bright finish by hand using a green 2mm rod held in the 2mm mandrel. You will need to carve the rod tip to the width of the narrow bright links. You can then hand polish using the rod tip with strokes along the length of the narrow link. This is a lot slower than using a wheel, but much less prone to error. You may also find it easier to avoid damage to the brushed finish on neighboring links.

I also found the carved tip of a wooden kitchen match made a reasonable polishing tool. I applied a tiny bit of rouge or diamond paste to the carved tip of the match. The match and paste worked to hand polish the narrow bright links.

For more extensive work, try using green rouge applied with a corner of a small soft felt wheel. This will almost instantly apply a bright finish to anything the wheel touches. The rouge works very fast. I also don’t think you will be able to avoid getting some bright spots on the brushed links to either side of the bright link. This is not a big problem as you can restore the brushed finish fairly easily once the bright is restored.

Be extra careful if you use a hard edge wheel when you polish. I suspect a hard edge with an abrasive rough could leave a deep groove if overused even slightly.

· Restore the brushed finish to the narrow brushed links between bright links:

Cut a small piece of medium grade satin bar no wider than the narrow brushed link around 3/8” long and ¼” deep. Drag the satin bar along the narrow brushed link parallel to the long dimension of the bracelet. Pause frequently to brush away the bits of the bar that wear off. Pay particular attention not to drag the bar across the bright finished center link.

· Restore the brushed finish to the wide center and outside brushed links.

First try the scratch brush alone. If the finish is only mildly damaged this may be sufficient. Once again, make all strokes parallel to the long axis of the bracelet. A piece of medium grade satin bar may be easier to use. I’m still waffling between these two alternatives.

I used Scotchbrite for my first try at a brushed finish. This left a less even and less uniform finish than either the scratch brush or satin bar. The results would have differed with a different grade of Scotchbrite.

Results: