how to restore shaped glass to crystal shape? and what material is it?
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Hello, I have this magnificent (at least for me) orient automatic. the clock works quite well. the only flaw is that the button for changing the day of the week doesn't work, even if it advances normally at the end of the day. the thing I don't understand is what material the glass is made of.. I would like to try to remove some scratches and if possible whiten it a bit as it seems a bit opaque. but this type of model has shaped glass, it's hard to show in photos. I fear that a normal polishing can cause problems
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You can try using polywatch on it. It costs about $10 so it’s a low cost option.
Have your local jeweler put a diamond tester on it. A high hardness reading will tell you whether it is sapphire or not. Chances are that it is not sapphire.
You can also tell if it is sapphire by using the forehead method. This works but it is helpful if you have a watch that you know is sapphire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyVmovMZDJk&ab_channel=LongIslandWatch
If it is sapphire then there won't be much you can do outside of a crystal swap.
If it isn't sapphire then Polywatch will take out surface scratches but nicks on the edges and deep scratches will still remain.
It is probably possible to find an aftermarket crystal that fits (either acrylic or sapphire) but it probably won't be exactly the same.
If you did decide to get the crystal swapped then the watchmaker would have to remove the movement in the process and take a look at why the date switch isn't working. The downside here will be finding parts.
It may be difficult to find a watchmaker that would take this on given the value of the watch. The repairs would likely far exceed what the watch is worth and finding parts will be challenging.
Given the age of the watch it will be mineral glass,small scratches n fogging(micro scratches) can be polished out using ceranium oxide paste or polywatch(the one for glass not acrylic) but very time consuming. Might be worth taking it to a jewellers and seeing if they can help, fauceted glass can be a nightmare to restore if scratches are deep, but is doable if not.
I found a new old stock faceted mineral crystal like this for a vintage seiko. Not too dear. On ebay.