Why Polish a Case to Death?

[murkeywaters]

So I have been lurking the vintage Rolex market and in the future hoping to make a purchase.. Without wanting to get caught on a dodgy dial, non matching serial etc I have been looking at lots of watches and trying to learn the pitfalls.

I have to say one of the biggest issues is over polished cases, it would bug the hell out of me - I mean why, it totally kills a good watch for me seeing rounded case sides, one lug thinner than the other - to me its like looking at a car and seeing the body work has been resprayed.

I guess if you put your watch into a service then quite often it will come back polished unless otherwise asked not to be, but surely it gets to a stage where the advice would be to leave as is otherwise too much metal will have been removed and take away the shape of the Rolex case.

So why polish to the level of a different shape case if it devalues the watch?

[rootbeer7]

Because we're WIS, we're all obsessed. If you were a 1 watch man who bought your 1675 in 1960 and looked after it and had it serviced regularly, whether it had a fat case, crown guards and lugs would never be considered. This is also why dials get changed over the years and why such premiums are paid for 'unpolished' pieces.

[joli160]

Too many jewellers claim that they can polish and service a Rolex.

Polishing is an art and only a true craftsman can do it as it should be done

[JP Chestnut]

One bad polish ruins a case for me. The chances that a 30 year old watch has had at least one bad polish is... high. Prepare to pay up, big time, or deal with a service case if you feel this way.

[Bob the brush]

I know my 1016 explorer has had a bad polish or two in its life. I have had this from new in 1981, and thought I was doing the right thing getting it regularly serviced every 5 /6 years, and I used to love it's 'new' look when it came back, and it is only since joining this forum I have learnt the error of my ways, with the lugs being quite thin now. I will post photos, I have to get a new camera, as I can't / don't know how to reduce the size of the photos to enable posting here.

[Vincent65]

In a word, ignorance.

[Richard Carver]

Originally Posted by Bob Kendall

I know my 1016 explorer has had a bad polish or two in its life. I have had this from new in 1981, and thought I was doing the right thing getting it regularly serviced every 5 /6 years, and I used to love it's 'new' look when it came back, and it is only since joining this forum I have learnt the error of my ways, with the lugs being quite thin now. I will post photos, I have to get a new camera, as I can't / don't know how to reduce the size of the photos to enable posting here.

Simple, easy, free photo editor. http://irfanview.com

[Bob the brush]

Thank you, I will download and get photographing. Cheers.