The challenge of the restoration
Well, nobody warned me, now I am knee-deep into this. I made a successful teardown, cleaned everything and then it started. Cleaned too much, had to take out the glass crystal to clean the dial. Of course it broke into pieces. The ordered strap did not fit. Now I ordered a new crystal, bought another digital watch and I am a bit scared to open and clean the modul. I am curious. What were your first steps and mistakes in watch restoration?
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Henrik
Always had a watch, as far as I can remember. A full glow-in-the-dark Swatch Scuba was my gateway into clicky bezels as a 14 year old.
stuttgart
Member since
Last active: 36 min ago
6.69” / 17.00 cm
I’m scared to even try lol
Few months ago I have bought a vintage watch and the same evening tried to open its back. This resulted into having three pieces seperated: a crystal, a caliber and a case. My watchmaker explained that I needed a specific tool to open the case in a correct way. The golden case was damaged but thanksfully was restored properly. The caliber survived as well.
So, the watch I bought below the market price became the 'above' one. The lesson was learned in a hard way :) I would play only with cheap watches without any emotional value.
Few months ago I have bought a vintage watch and the same evening tried to open its back. This resulted into having three pieces seperated: a crystal, a caliber and a case. My watchmaker explained that I needed a specific tool to open the case in a correct way. The golden case was damaged but thanksfully was restored properly. The caliber survived as well.
So, the watch I bought below the market price became the 'above' one. The lesson was learned in a hard way :) I would play only with cheap watches without any emotional value.
That must have been a horrible experience to open a watch an kinda break it at the same time! I am glad it could be restored! I also payed a bit of extra money, but these digital watches are not expensive compared to other watches.
That must have been a horrible experience to open a watch an kinda break it at the same time! I am glad it could be restored! I also payed a bit of extra money, but these digital watches are not expensive compared to other watches.
Indeed, I felt like I killed some living creature 🤦♂️ Good that this ended up just in spending more money and waiting two months to finally start wearing my new watch.