scratches on date bubble. No fix? Really?

[Tom R]

I have a few 1601s and i took my daily wearer to a local watch maker this week to polish up teh crystal that had a few small but annoying light scratches.
Frustratingly he said that you can't polish out scratched on the date bubble as they're glass not acrylic.

Mine now has an immaculate crystal apart from a very annoying scratch right across the date bubble :-(
Anyone know any way at all of rectifying this? Surely there's a way...

[Gaijin]

That would annoy me too Tom. I think you can remove the magnification date bubble completely if you want though I doubt that it is a reasonable option for you. Good luck. Let us know how it works out.

[Trabant Dave]

Unless it's just a light scuff that maybe would come out with metal polish (Solvol, or Peek or something similar) you would probably distort the magnification trying to eliminate a scratch; I'd certainly wrap the watch head in masking tape to prevent any polish getting elsewhere and messing up the rest of the crystal or even worse, polishing the metal of the watchcase.

Just leave the bubble exposed.

I'm no expert but I'd consider this if the alternative is a new crystal.....

Dave

[Alcan]

A little 2.5 micron diamond polishing paste, a little 0.5 diamond polishing paste, and some elbow work. Be advised though, that any polishing product provides results by removing the surrounding material down to the depth of the scratch. Might change the magnification of the bubble.

Check out the results here:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/35339...6gt%3B%26gt%3B

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by Alcan

A little 2.5 micron diamond polishing paste, a little 0.5 diamond polishing paste, and some elbow work. Be advised though, that any polishing product provides results by removing the surrounding material down to the depth of the scratch. Might change the magnification of the bubble.

Check out the results here:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/35339...6gt%3B%26gt%3B

Great tip !

Many thanks

HAGOne

[pdoukas]

I thought the crystal and bubble were both acrylic. Before you do anything please check twice. And do not use the diamond polish, that's for saphire crystals. Use polywatch. Like I said though, I thought the cyclops was acrylic on a 1601.

[JohnBoy]

Originally Posted by pdoukas

I thought the crystal and bubble were both acrylic. Before you do anything please check twice. And do not use the diamond polish, that's for saphire crystals. Use polywatch. Like I said though, I thought the cyclops was acrylic on a 1601.

Agree! I'd use the polywatch first - if no impact, then treat as glass and go with the diamond paste. If you can't live with the scratch, it sounds like there is little to lose - try to fix or replace seem to be the options. Good luck in your efforts!

[Czechman]

The cyclops on an acrylic crystal is glass?

[Alcan]

Originally Posted by pdoukas

I thought the crystal and bubble were both acrylic. Before you do anything please check twice. And do not use the diamond polish, that's for saphire crystals. Use polywatch. Like I said though, I thought the cyclops was acrylic on a 1601.

Oops.... quite right, Pete. I had my head stuck in sapphire mode.

[crowncollection]

good advice above, start with poly watch and move to diamond paste. Otherwise if you cant live with it a new glass is in order.