Our watches are valuable, so we wear extra weights in everyday life. But it does not completely avoid any “harm”, bumps, hard scratches, corrosion...
Of course, after the injury, do we fix our watches or do we renovate them? That would be a very difficult choice. The internet is full of stories about how many watches have been refurbished after secondary processing, but are these examples suitable for any watch? We're here today to help you sort this out from multiple angles. Should your old watch be renovated or not
Before and after restoration of the shell (see figure above) (see figure below)
For the refurbishment or repair of a watch, it is confusing what options we should accept for repair that are the best approach. Of course, the best way to measure is to depend on the value of the watch being better or worse after it has been repaired
Often, the old watches encountered the following frequent repair problems, including puddles on the surface of metal surfaces, laxity after long periods of metal surfaces, fractures of the mirrors, and loss of mechanical parts。
Do you want to repair and polish the watch
This restoration has been highly controversial in the industry, and many cousins believe that the watch should be used cautiously to retrofit the surface of the metal, as it is likely to depreciate once polished through the shell. In fact, with the exception of the rolex's ceremonial steel table, most of the watches, after grinding or refilling, seriously affect their second-hand prices. Some older, collection-based old watches, collectors or lovers prefer raw-state watches that are not polished and are therefore more valuable if not processed through this process. Our advice is that we do not have to look and repair as much as possible。
Of course, if you're never going to sell a love watch, and you're more fond of wearing a decent watch, you can also accept polishing. However, you have to know that the mechanic's skill and the equipment he has are quite important, and that the poor repairs destroy the love watch, and that the good restorer meets your expectations。
It should be recalled that a skilled clock repairer does not mean a good watch repairer. We are looking for experts in this field。
02, replacement of mirrors
Some felt that the original watch mirror should be preserved in any case, and that any change would reduce the value of the watch. As in the early days of the rolex, after the official change of the mirror, the crown diaries at 6 o'clock of the lens will be distinguished by an additional “tip”。
If the original mirror can be used normally, of course retaining the original mirror is the best option. However, the mirror is the first line of defence against wet air and liquid intrusion and should be replaced if there are cracks and fractures, so as to protect the dashboard, the pointer and the heart from damage. If the mirror is broken or damaged, there is a risk of water, dirt intrusion and, in some cases, irreparable damage. It would be preferable to replace the original plant's mirrors when they were replaced, so that the quality of the mirrors would also ensure that their lifetime would not be affected。
While some mirrors break a small crack and do not even affect the water splatters they wear on a day-to-day basis, such diving meters as the omega seamar 300 and the rolex divers can cause direct water seepage of the mirrors when the pressure increases sharply after they enter the water。
03. Waterproof ducts
For waterproof ducts, many cousins are very strange because they are invisible, between the surface and the bottom, between the shell and the crown, etc. But its role is as critical as that of the mirror, which is a key defence against external water vapour and dirt intrusion. In response to the renovation of the old watch, we suggest that the waterproof ducts must be replaced! This replacement of the billiard without harm would not have affected the value of the watch, but would have caused damage to the watch as a result of the intrusion of the water vapour if it had not been replaced in a timely manner。
Due to their physical properties, waterproofing is associated with changes in the environment and the passage of time, resulting in ablaze, break-up, flattening, loss of resilience, viscosity, etc., and reduced waterproofness. So, our suggestion is that every few years, even after each shell has been dismantled, the waterproof ducts are periodically replaced, regardless of whether they are damaged or not。
Do you want to fix it
This one is similar to that of the shell, and we have to measure whether the value of the watch is affected by its repair. Here we emphasize, in particular, that the original pallet and pointer are uncompromising reservations that must not be changed at will! The original is the best! Even if it has a small problem, it doesn't affect the normal walk of the watch。
When we test a watch, we check if there is no problem with the dashboard and the pointer, which is also the key point for the identification of a false watch in the upper table. The change of the dashboard and the pointer would lose the glamour of the statement itself and result in a significant devaluation of the watch。
Where there is a fall of, for example, night-light coating, the usual solution abroad is to cover the drop site with transparent paint or nail polish in order to ensure the integrity of the remaining, old night-light coatings and thus to ensure that they are not further damaged。
05. Machine parts
The failure of the spare parts directly affects the performance of the watch. In general, replacement of spare parts at the original plant would not have had a significant impact on the overall value of the table (with regard to whether marks at the time of dismantling were visible, including the size of the cogs) and, if spare parts at the original plant had ceased to be produced or were not available, manual production or the search for replacement parts with fully consistent specifications could have an impact on the criticalness of the spare parts. These damaged parts must be replaced in a timely manner, otherwise they may cause further damage to the aircraft's core。
06, watch cap
The garbs are for special forms, such as antique rolex gmts, navigators, and even the core elements of these tables, which would have a very significant impact on their value if they had been changed. We recommend that, to the extent possible, it be kept in its original form。
The crown and timing buttons are another area where watch players prefer the original, but require careful examination of the damaged parts. Similar to the mirrors, these components ensure the sealing of watches. If the crown has been damaged so that time and seals cannot be reconciled, a new one will have to be replaced. Our proposal is that if it has been so completely damaged that it affects the normal state of the watch, then there is no hesitation in replacing it。
