Polishing bezels

[mderagon]

Hi everyone hope you had an excellent xmas, having some spare time i have just refurbed my ss daytona and explorer II however whilst the bracelet / case etc look like new again, is there anyway to sort the bezels ? i have a little scratch on the daytona and general wear on the explorer i know the explorer uses the sunburst but no idea how to recreate..

Any help would be appreciated

Mark

pS happy new year !!!

http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/...n/IMG_1200.jpg

http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/...n/DSCF1592.jpg

[Ironstark]

Without the proper lapping machines, recreating the sunburst effect would be almost impossible.
It is acheived by spinning the bezel against a steel disc with an abrasive sheet stuck to it. The angle and speed of the two rotating against one another is what creates the sunburst graining. Graining by hand would be highly inadvisable. It would be far too easy to get the alignment wrong and also to round off the crisp edges of the numerals. The Daytona can only be VERY lightly polished. The numeral's engraving is too shallow to cut the bezel back enough to remove any scratches. If the scratch is too deep to be removed by a VERY light polish then it is there for good. This should be left to the professionals. It is all to easy to round an edge, catch a corner, take too much metal off and then its a new component, bezel, bracelet or case.

[mderagon]

thanks, the scratch on the daytona is quite deep even scratched the crystal, can you refinish the crystal ?

Might give polishing the bezel a go as i think its a new one if i can't get it out anyway !!

[Ironstark]

If a sapphire crystal is scratched there is nothing you can do to remove it. Its a new crystal I'm afraid.

[matt4hand]

Originally Posted by Ironstark

If a sapphire crystal is scratched there is nothing you can do to remove it. Its a new crystal I'm afraid.

Incorrect, I've used diamond paste several times to remove scratches from sapphire crystals.

[Ironstark]

Originally Posted by matt4hand

Incorrect, I've used diamond paste several times to remove scratches from sapphire crystals.

As a Rolex watchmaker what I said is correct. While it might be possible to remove very light surface scratches from a sapphire crystal using diamond paste for example, it is not a service Rolex offer or would recommend. Scratch removal whether on metal or sapphire crystal means removing material from the surface of whatever you are polishing. This will, unless the whole surface is polished back an equal amount, result in an uneven surface. A particular risk if this is carried out by hand.
It is also possible you will end up with a lot of very fine scratches which would be particularly noticeable over a gloss black dial.
Possible, maybe with varying degrees of success.
Adviseable, no.

[matt4hand]

Originally Posted by Ironstark

As a Rolex watchmaker what I said is correct. While it might be possible to remove very light surface scratches from a sapphire crystal using diamond paste for example, it is not a service Rolex offer or would recommend. Scratch removal whether on metal or sapphire crystal means removing material from the surface of whatever you are polishing. This will, unless the whole surface is polished back an equal amount, result in an uneven surface. A particular risk if this is carried out by hand.
It is also possible you will end up with a lot of very fine scratches which would be particularly noticeable over a gloss black dial.
Possible, maybe with varying degrees of success.
Adviseable, no.

I agree entirely. Just wanted the OP to know he did have the option.

[tomchicago]

i think explorer II bezels actually look better when polished...mellows them. the whole explorer II watch wears/ages/dings extremely well. truly seems to get better with the wear and tear showing. better than on most rollies IMO.