Amatuer night: Refinish a 16613.

[thesharkfactor]

Quite unexpectedly, I came by this 16613. It's an E serial from circa 1990. It came as part of deal to me, I did not go out to buy a two tone 5 digit Sub, if I did, I would certainly NOT buy one in this poor condition. Though, here it is, it's mine so I'm just going to get on with it, it is what it is.

The blue dial appears to be flat matt blue going purple with no sunburst and the hands appear quite flat too so it's possible this has an aftermarket dial and hands, but I'll get to the bottom of that later. For now, it's going to get a refurbish of sorts.

Now before I begin, disclaimer, this is amateur night over here. I don't have the proper tools or experience but I have done these things before a few times, rightly or wrongly, so before I begin, I know I won't break anything but your mileage may vary if you give this a go yourself. What is for sure, this watch has been refinished many times before and near ruined on a buffing wheel then used again for some time before it came to me. This is how I got it, it's a mess, you can view the details below from behind the sofa if you wish, but I can only make it better.
So with that said, let the carnage begin.



As it arrived. Shoulders buffed off the lugs, the chamfers are ancient history.






Awful.. never buy a watch in this condition folks.. it's had a lifetime of use and all the edges have been buffed away during servicing.









Crown on the crown has been buffed away, so too the sharp bezel scallops.





Mirror finish case back, we are going to fix that in a few moments..






Lets begin. Stripped down for cleaning.




3 goes in the ultrasonic bath




..filthy..




Clean




I'm doing this by hand, first up I shine all the shiny bits with Cape Cod.


















I brushed the lugs with green scotch pad in an even diagonal across the lug, then Cape Cod cloth to remove any stray brush marks.




Cutting new chamfers on the lugs with the shaft of a small screw driver and some pressure, a few scores does it..



Chamfered! Amateur brushing I know, but the lug shape and chamfers are back..


















Brushing the clasp on my Brushmaster 3000 Deluxe (which I designed and made myself).






A number of straight strokes does it.






Bracelet brushing now, I've got sticky pads on the base of the bracelet and I stick it to the Brushmaster 3000 Deluxe.




A couple layers of tape over the gold..





...and brush. A number of strokes does it.




building the watch head up.. bezel spring and click spring placed on..




..into the press..






Refinishing the case back on 500 grit paper, a few straight strokes does it..




Tape the lugs to put the bracelet back on..




Here she is, this is NOT Rolliworks here, I know it's not perfect(!), but it's a good bit better than what we started out with! Some deep marks are still there, that's fine, I'll call this a light refinish.. cost £0.












Replacement dial and hands are next?


Thanks for looking!

[thesharkfactor]

My OCD wouldn't let that rough lug finish go.. finished again.. better.

[joli160]

That looks pretty decent, nice rig for keeping the brushed finished aligned

[fskywalker]

Looking good!


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[aczaja10]

Awesome job. Looks great. I love these threads!

[thesharkfactor]

Thanks folks.

Some final daylight pics of the refurb.. I think it came up quite well considering how rounded off the lugs were. Finish and chamfer restored.

[EEpro]

Short of welding and putting back on a mill I'd say that is a hell of an improvement. Good work

[cdmorenot]

This thread was a lot of fun!! Thank you for sharing. Great job considering the level of "expertise" and the crappy condition of the watch.

Very nice... "Brushmaster 3000 Deluxe" LOLOLOL

[Oldcarguy1961]

great job thanks for sharing!!

[rmurphy]

Great job, I really enjoyed following along with this.


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[borden3245]

I applaud you for jumping in and doing this and sharing it with us. Your hard and patient work turned the watch around! Good job! How long did this take you?
Thanks!

[thesharkfactor]

Originally Posted by borden3245

I applaud you for jumping in and doing this and sharing it with us. Your hard and patient work turned the watch around! Good job! How long did this take you?
Thanks!

Thanks for that, it was a pleasant evenings work.