Need Advice: Do You Polish Small Scratches Out of Your Smooth Bezel Rolexes?

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by padi56

Brian if some had seen my 16600SD after hundreds of hour's underwater working as a real tool watch. Many would have had a heart attack with the watch scratches,and in over 50 years of wearing Rolex watches never felt the need for any special scratch polishing cloths.

That’s a beauty Peter! True tool watch


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[neil_t_us]

Here is my recent thoughts and actions on this with me and the wife's watches.

I just now (Fall24) dropped off my explorer for it's 10 year and my wife's DJ (it's at RSC now). We bought them back in 2015 when a happy shopper could scratch their itch by walking into an AD and leave with the watch same day.

10 years with my explorer and it has quite a few scratches/dings. Couple of them are actually dents in case. I thought about it as this explorer is my only watch (dinner or barn), but felt with some of the deeper stuff if really taken down, the watch would look worse and I kinda would feel like I was trying to lipstick a pig. My wife's DJ looks maybe a year old and it does not need a polish.

When I took my Explorer in (fall last year), I looked at new watches. Kinda decided that no matter how I polish this explorer, it will never be a meteorite daytona, nor be worth 40K in my lifetime. Figured I could casually start looking at dressier watches (still researching).

Look at a few watches that are 10/20/30 years old. Decide what route you wanna go. Buying a "occasional use watch" or "dressier model" when your OP starts showing its age is also is an option. I mean, you do like watches and have 9K posts, should not be an arm twist.

So, my result was to get in queue for another tool watch with my AD (my original sales lady helped me-told her to surprise me, anything with a GMT movement with a solid white or steel band), which I did when I took my wife's dj in for service. Still looking for a nice leather band type wearer for when I need to shave and take a shower.

[Mr Ben]

This is why I like simple steel sports watches with brushed finishes. If anything, they start looking better with a bit of age and wear.

It would probably bother me on a shiny dressy watch but I don’t have any so it’s not a problem.

[AkshayArgade]

I never polish, I like scratches.

[Ravager135]

I've been down this road. I've learned my lesson.

I have used Cape Cod Cloths on polished areas, Scotch Brite on brushed. You need to be really talented to get the "repair" to look perfect. Unless you do the entire surface with the blemish, Cape Cod cloths almost always will leave a very subtle "haze" that doesn't match the rest of the surface. You won't see it at every angle in every light, but it's there. If you do the whole surface it might be less noticeable.

Scotch Brite tends to work better provided you use good technique going with the grain of the brushed surface. I have used it on a clasp before with near perfect results. To my eye, you could still tell however.

My Explorer II was the test case many years ago. It never really looked back to factory normal until I took it in for service two years ago and they did a light polish which "fixed" all of my work. Since then I have not touched my watches at all if they get a scratch.

What I have had the best success with in one very specific incidence was using a fiberglass brush on titanium. It was a perfect repair on a lug of a NTTD Seamaster. I curated the exact Bergeon brush to get and it worked perfectly. Titanium is also known to oxidize and "self heal" to some extent so I think that had a lot to do with it.

If I get scratches, I just leave them. I am very OCD, but I have found it is just better to wear the watch more and you'll care less and less as it gets more scratches. I have a Milgauss with a very subtle scratch/abrasion at the 7 o'clock area of the polished bezel. You can only see it in certain lights. It bothered me, but I left it. As the PCLs have gotten small nicks and scratches I don't even think about the bezel anymore.

[KatGirl]

Originally Posted by 77T

As you can tell from the replies thus far, it's a mixed bag. I would encourage you to use up your lifetime supply of CCC!

Why?
Well a couple of reasons...

People tend to assign greater attachment to their Rolex simply because they own them. But, when you take care of scratches, like CCC light polishing, you develop a stronger appreciation of it. Psychologists know this as "Endowment Effect." You can look it up - it's a concept introduced by Richard Thaler - and I believe polishing our scratches is just as therapeutic as softly brushing the fur of a beloved puppy or kitty. There, I said it...

Additionally, there is another reason to use those CCC's - maybe even stronger than the appreciation you gain by polishing. We hate a loss in value more than appreciate the pride we have in our Rolex. People feel a sense of loss or regret if they don't maintain an object they have invested a significant amount of money into. I'll bet that when you go out for dinner you like to look your best. And despite most people not seeing those minute scratches, YOU know that they are there. And you likely feel that it is a sign of lost value because everyone here posts their "first scratch". This "Sunk Cost Fallacy" can drive one crazy... It's a variation of Loss Aversion. Of course your Rolex doesn't really lose value with every scratch because we can all do as Peter said in post #2, just polish it at overhaul time. But deep down in our reptilian brain segment we can't let a scratch alone!

These two principles together contribute to the sentimental value that drive people to polish their Rolexes. It's normal and it's OK.


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Best answer, ever!

Kat


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[KatGirl]

Interesting answers, everyone. Thanks. Since I own the can of Cape Cod cloths, obviously I have experience taking scratches out of my watches. I’ve also used Scotchbrite on my brushed surfaced watches. My issue is that these are Rolexes, and I don’t want to eff them up. Doing a light polish on a Tissot or Seiko is one thing. Messing with my $13,000 Wimbledon is another. So, I’m still on the fence. I do get satisfaction out of “playing” with my watches, whether it be sizing bracelets, or changing straps. I have all the tools. It relaxes me. I guess I can’t really mess up too bad, and anything can be fixed, so, I will probably attempt to make the bezel on my OP a little nicer. If I’m satisfied with the result, maybe I’ll get brave enough to work on my TT Wimbledon’s clasp. I see some scratches in the gold.

Kat


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