Royal Oak Polished To Near Perfection

[vh2k]

[Burlington]

That’s been rounded off nicely

[Jgives]

Really cool video, thanks for sharing.

[Maverick82]

Originally Posted by burlington

that’s been rounded off nicely

x2

[Sho-nuff]

I wonder why someone would have their $100k watch polished by someone other than AP. To save a few hundred dollars?

[111forza]

If you’re insistent on polishing send to AP and AP only!

[VogelPhoenix]

Really curious if AP does their polishing in the same way, i.e., mostly freehand and eyeballing things. Somehow I imagined all sorts of fancy jigs and machinery...

[Patton250]

Originally Posted by Sho-nuff

I wonder why someone would have their $100k watch polished by someone other than AP. To save a few hundred dollars?

I want so much to argue with you on this because I really like CRM jewelers but dude you are 100% right. I totally agree with you. There is absolutely no way, especially with this brand AP I would ever have anyone but them touch it. Just no way. I’d rather not own an AP if it came down to this.

[m3jasper]

Originally Posted by Sho-nuff

I wonder why someone would have their $100k watch polished by someone other than AP. To save a few hundred dollars?

Because the "owner" of the watch is most likely CRM Jewelers and they only care about flipping it as quickly as possible for as much profit as they can. Sending it to Clearwater and waiting ~6 weeks isn't something they're willing to do.

I'm surprised buyers don't understand this about the second hand pieces they're potentially buying from grey market dealers. The majority of dealers do this. Very few take the time to do it right and actually care. Nine out of ten times, the only questions asked when they bring it to a watchmaker is "How fast can you do it? How much can you do it for?".

[Reign]

Originally Posted by VogelPhoenix

Really curious if AP does their polishing in the same way, i.e., mostly freehand and eyeballing things. Somehow I imagined all sorts of fancy jigs and machinery...

No way they do it like that, that polish job was super loose.

While there’s an element of free handing it, putting a full bezel under the polisher is just wrong, there are three distinct polishes on the bezel

You can see the brushing fading on the bracelet due to a layer being taken off without a touch up

[vh2k]

Originally Posted by m3jasper

Because the "owner" of the watch is most likely CRM Jewelers and they only care about flipping it as quickly as possible for as much profit as they can. Sending it to Clearwater and waiting ~6 weeks isn't something they're willing to do.

I'm surprised buyers don't understand this about the second hand pieces they're potentially buying from grey market dealers

Bingo! This is standard practice.

Every time you see a beautiful scratch-free piece put up for sale by one of our trusted TRF resellers, they don’t get that way by accident. Customers like to buy watches that look new.

[maciej]

Originally Posted by m3jasper

Because the "owner" of the watch is most likely CRM Jewelers and they only care about flipping it as quickly as possible for as much profit as they can. Sending it to Clearwater and waiting ~6 weeks isn't something they're willing to do.

I'm surprised buyers don't understand this about the second hand pieces they're potentially buying from grey market dealers. The majority of dealers do this. Very few take the time to do it right and actually care. Nine out of ten times, the only questions asked when they bring it to a watchmaker is "How fast can you do it? How much can you do it for?".

This.

There's only one other person in the country I'd send a piece to for a refresh, and that's Jonathan Shemtov, OvertimeNYC on Instagram.

[gregouille]

True craftsman work ! Amazing

[Watchflair]

Interesting video - I'm sure it's going to get many different opinions.

I'm no expert but it doesn't appear he did such a terrible job on it. I think even with sending it to AP it all depends on who you get to do the polishing.

Most people that buy watches have no clue about whether they should or shouldn't polish their watch - they just want the scratches gone and for it to look new plain and simple.

[Sho-nuff]

Originally Posted by m3jasper

Because the "owner" of the watch is most likely CRM Jewelers and they only care about flipping it as quickly as possible for as much profit as they can. Sending it to Clearwater and waiting ~6 weeks isn't something they're willing to do.

Great point. Based on some of their YouTube comments, CRM Jewelers come across as a rather disingenuous outfit.

[vh2k]

Originally Posted by vh2k

Bingo! This is standard practice.

Every time you see a beautiful scratch-free piece put up for sale by one of our trusted TRF resellers, they don’t get that way by accident. Customers like to buy watches that look new.

Updating my comment...

In all fairness to this specific dealer, they added a comment that this was a client’s watch and it was NOT for sale by them or the client.

And, they took the time to read AND respond to every single comment on YouTube. That’s pretty impressive.

[2nastie]

Whether its $100k Royal Oak or $10k quartz Royal Oak, I would agree... why would someone not spend a couple extra bucks to send it back to AP to get the work done. The finishing makes or breaks this particular watch. You know exactly what you getting from AP and if its not AP standard it would be remedied. Sending it out to any third-party is a disaster waiting to happen.

Third-party polishing on an AP is always what the third-party perceives the finishing would be vs. AP knowing exactly what it should be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh1Xww576Yc (proper way)


(given all that, I'm not the one to polish an un-polished watched to begin with... nor am I that clumsy on a day to day basis to make any of my watches to look like that)

[JodyHighroller]

Originally Posted by vh2k

Updating my comment...

In all fairness to this specific dealer, they added a comment that this was a client’s watch and it was NOT for sale by them or the client.

And, they took the time to read AND respond to every single comment on YouTube. That’s pretty impressive.

M3Jasper’s comment was still spot on as that’s what most dealers do.

Personally, I would only take it to the authorized service centers, but that’s just me.

[Burlington]

Originally Posted by VogelPhoenix

Really curious if AP does their polishing in the same way, i.e., mostly freehand and eyeballing things. Somehow I imagined all sorts of fancy jigs and machinery...

There is a lot of free hand and eyeballing, but they use different machines and techniques.

It is also done about 5x slower and way more meticulously. There is no buffing over edges and rounding them down.

Crisp, sharp lines only.

They were kind enough to let me have a go on a practice bezel during a tour a couple of years ago. It’s quite an artisanal process.

[Burlington]

Originally Posted by Watchflair

Interesting video - I'm sure it's going to get many different opinions.

I'm no expert but it doesn't appear he did such a terrible job on it. I think even with sending it to AP it all depends on who you get to do the polishing.

Most people that buy watches have no clue about whether they should or shouldn't polish their watch - they just want the scratches gone and for it to look new plain and simple.

I got the impression there were only 1 or 2 people at Clearwater who do all the polishing.

It was quite a marvel to see and bore little resemblance to what was happening in the video.

[bondtoys]

Isn‘t the AP logo in the clasp mounted upside down?

[Xerxes77]

Originally Posted by Burlington

That’s been rounded off nicely

Agree..... the watch line is lost

[phow]

I have another question and I'm pulling the flame suit out of the closet for this one...

Does anyone else find the amount of damage a bit excessive? Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad the piece is worn and used but... damn...

I have had my 15500 for about 6 months now, I don't baby it, wear it regularly, and don't have a single noticeable scratch on it except for some very minor bezel marks that a polishing cloth would probably get out.

I just feel there is a line between use and abuse. It was just hard for me to see such a nice piece in such terrible condition. It was also hard to watch such a poor polishing job being done...

I have seen a few videos of AP polishing from an AD I worked with in the past and it's nothing like this.

[Patton250]

Originally Posted by m3jasper

Because the "owner" of the watch is most likely CRM Jewelers and they only care about flipping it as quickly as possible for as much profit as they can. Sending it to Clearwater and waiting ~6 weeks isn't something they're willing to do.

I'm surprised buyers don't understand this about the second hand pieces they're potentially buying from grey market dealers. The majority of dealers do this. Very few take the time to do it right and actually care. Nine out of ten times, the only questions asked when they bring it to a watchmaker is "How fast can you do it? How much can you do it for?".

Wow man that’s an incredibly intense and slanderous personal attack against CRM. Is it merited?

[wulin]

It’s a good job done. But I would still send it to AP factory service instead.

[AshAP]

Originally Posted by Patton250

Wow man that’s an incredibly intense and slanderous personal attack against CRM. Is it merited?

Maybe Eric did the polishing but forgot to remove his sunglasses


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Patton250]

Originally Posted by AshAP

Maybe Eric did the polishing but forgot to remove his sunglasses


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Eric has not worked there for a year or so.

[eskiserkan]

Its not an easy job to refinish AP case/bracelet. There are many details most of them being satin finish with a thin layer of polished surfaces. Not like a Daytona with all polished case or a submariner with whole brushed bracelet.

Credits to owner letting his watch for making of this video. If i were the owner i would have send it to the AP...

[Johnny Crystal]

Thanks looks like the job I’d have done in shop class in 9th grade

[ajw45]

I was cringing most of that video but the comments on yt are for the most part surprisingly positive. They do admit in the comments it might not be as good a job as AP factory but that the job only cost a few hundred bucks. ��