To polish or not to polish GMT 1675 bracelet

[Rol_Lex]

Here is a 1960's GMT Master 1675. It has belonged to my grandfather who bought it in the Rolex Factory in Geneva. This is a precious piece in our family which has been all over the world and cherished by 3 generations now (hopefully more to come).

Me and my Dad are in the process of restoring the watch now and are debating on whether to polish the bracelet, which is not original, but worn. If polishing is the way to go, where would one go to do so? Looking for a trustworthy business that has a reputable trackrecord

[indianmachine]

Any pics of the watch and bracelet?

[Dan S]

It's your choice if you want the bracelet refinished or not, we can decide for you (especially without photos). The bracelet should have a brushed finish for the most part, so a simple polishing isn't generally the way to go. You would want to find someone who could refinish it properly. Also, is the bracelet badly stretched out. If so, you might want a total restoration. There are many threads on the forum on this topic, including recommendations of people who can do the work. So you may want to look around and run a search.

[TuRo]

Rule of thumb I use on an old timer is all parts are best if they are original and unpolished and synergistic to the rest of watch.

So, say if you have a well worn mid-case, caseback, bezel, crown, plexi and bracelet and a heavily patinated dial and handset etc try and keep it in visual balance, otherwise lots of new bits (eg big service crown, hard edged service plexi, spanking new clasp or end links etc etc tend to stick out like a sore thumb and can reduce its value too of course.

Worn unsafe links however I get sympathetically repaired... as a 60s GMT falling off ones wrist is unthinkable!!

[Stan Cooper]

Originally Posted by Rol_Lex

Here is a 1960's GMT Master 1675. It has belonged to my grandfather who bought it in the Rolex Factory in Geneva. This is a precious piece in our family which has been all over the world and cherished by 3 generations now (hopefully more to come).

Me and my Dad are in the process of restoring the watch now and are debating on whether to polish the bracelet, which is not original, but worn. If polishing is the way to go, where would one go to do so? Looking for a trustworthy business that has a reputable trackrecord

Since the bracelet is not original, is it an Oyster with a brushed finish, a Jubilee, or something else? Photos would help. Here are instructions for attaching a .jpg image to your post. It must be less than 293 kilobytes in size, so if it's larger than that you'll have to resize it using one of the free online apps on the net like https://www.resize2mail.com/

1. Click on "Post Reply" at the bottom of the last post in the thread.

2. In the "Additional Options" window, click on "Manage Attachments."

3. In the window that opens, click the top "Choose File" and then enter the file name of the .jpg file on your hard drive you want to embed in your post. Click "Upload." If your file is too large you will be told, and you'll have to reduce the file size below 293 kB.

4. Close that window, click "Preview Post" to preview your post, and if it looks OK click "Submit Reply."

You may have to include some text (a short sentence will do) in your post.

[Tools]

Restoring implies repairs and refinishing, at least at some level of cosmetic appeal.

"Not original" is non-descriptive, but whatever bracelet is on it, it should be functional and in good condition and appearance; "polishing" is a slang word and has lost most of its meaning any more.

[tekno]

Originally Posted by Tools

Restoring implies repairs and refinishing, at least at some level of cosmetic appeal.

"Not original" is non-descriptive, but whatever bracelet is on it, it should be functional and in good condition and appearance; "polishing" is a slang word and has lost most of its meaning any more.

No kidding. We all know what “recently polished” or “previously polished” means. Not sure that is something a newbie would understand.

At the end of the day the bracelet needs to be functional, and repairing an old one usually requires some laser welding/hand work etc. The bracelet keeps it on your wrist, if it’s old enough the links could break. Could you imagine losing a watch so precious?

I would prefer a band that has been “polished” (laser welded and recut/refinished) professionally over one that looks like a old stretched out rubber band.

Rarely do you see a bracelet being described as “repaired, polished” etc. I don’t know if I have ever seen one describing repairs done. I’m not saying this is ok, just stating an observation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Rol_Lex]

Here are two pictures of the watch

[TuRo]

Thanks for posting.

It appears from a very quick glance an early 60s version as the crown guards are like eagle beaks rather than the later more snub style.

It would have had a glossy black gilt gold writing dial originally, but looks like it has a late 60s early 70s replacement white writing matte service dial (we call it a mk 1 Long E as in the E of Rolex has 3 equal length prongs) Tbh I can’t see the dial that well on my phone, in the (rare to us in uk) oct sunshine here, so can’t establish its provenance/originality, but the dial has been relumed in the past with some overspill on 6,9 and bottom of 12.

Coming back to your main point, the bracelet superficially looks in keeping with rest of watch so I’d not touch it unless links are munching into each other or very loose.

Pop a photo up of the bracelet end links that attach to bracelet to the watch and folding clasp writing on both sides pls and the top of clasp with the coronet on it, for an idea of its correct provenance and if so year it was made.

If your going to refurbish it fully, you can, if you want, get the reluming redone btw.

[tekno]

Looks super crispy to me.

Nice watch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Stan Cooper]

The bracelet has a brushed finish, which was the original finish at the time. I wouldn't even consider polishing it; besides looking non-original, scratches stand out like a sore thumb on a polished finish. You can easily get rid of light scratches on a brushed finish by using a Scotch-Brite pad.