Watches Dial
Restoring Vintage Watches
Author By Allas Smith
Ive always believed that re-dialling a vintage watch is only an option when one has no option, but of course the older they get, and the fact that many manufacturers have run out of dials for vintage watches, means that it will, ultimately, be the only option for corroded or damaged dials.
There are numerous dial re-finishing houses around the world, but judging from the redials Ive seen there are some absolute corkers! Many problems arise from redialling, such as badly painted minute markers; smudgy and poorly reproduced script; substandard coatings and paint edges; inappropriate and non-authentic colours and finishes and uneven symmetry of the lettering, to name a few.
Make sure you ask for examples or high resolution pictures of their work and match them with authentic dials to ascertain how professional their work is. I recommend you adhere to the following procedures when having a dial refinished:
Have the dial removed or remove it yourself if you have the skill
Take large close-ups of the dial, case and movement – this will become clear below. (If you have scans of reference dials or big scans of brochures of your watch include them as examples)
Ask the re-dialler to check the dial posts, and if there any dents or damage to the dial.
If the dial is corroded beyond recognition, you may have difficulty with some refinishing houses as they may be reluctant to provide you with a dial that indicates the watch is an officially certified Constellation chronometer if you cannot prove it is. For example, pointing to the rotor bridge and train bridge of the movement showing the correct stamping, and comparing the case style and backcase case numbers that show your watch is authentic. When you receive your dial back, examine it closely with a loupe to ensure that it resembles as accurately as possible a genuine Constellation dial. Compare it against reference pictures of authentic dials.
Three Strange Watches
How can you play with watches? Comparing with polishing an accurate gear, these watches are more inclined to have a new design on style, material and structure.
Flying Tourbillon
Origin: it is said this watch is from a designer who is the fifth generation of King Jérme de Witt, Napoleon’s brother. Points worth seeing: the semblance design inspiration is from aircraft carrier in Star War. When opening the watch dial, the double dials are opened just like a time drawer, the first layer out springs out is the shunt-wound gears which include five rows of winding boxes. The double rotary dials watch reading way overthrows the logic of reading watch: the inside dial rotates clockwise and shows the minute, while the outside dial rotates counter-clockwise and shows the hour. Fashionable and fancy toy
Origin: this is the first watch in the world which controls the winding speed by fluid dynamics. URWERK created such a fashionable and fancy watch with its unique design.
Points worth seeing: through the sapphire crystal glasses watch dial, you can the 12 hour markers are distributed on the three secondary planets equably. To be short: the numbers on the hand pointing at the bottom number dial are hour numbers, and the numbers are pointed at are minutes, and other numbers are actually useless. Special time display
Origin: OPUS-this special and creative watch was launched by Harry Winston in 2001, aiming at encouraging the endless freedom of watch making technology. Points worth seeing: OPUS 8 is absolutely a disguised member in the watch world, it disguises itself as an electrical watch of 1970s, but actually it is a real manual winding mechanical watch. This watch gets its inspiration from pin art games, and the numbers are displayed if only needed, controlled by the screw on the right hand side of the case. Under the round dial there is a rotary dial powered by movement, which rotate with time independently. After winding, all the parts will combine together and display the time.
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