DIY scratch/scuff removal for Smurf (with pics)

[dob1]

I did some surface re-finishing work on my Smurf today and here are some quick results in case this is helpful to you. When I bought my Smurf, it came with a few scratches, scuffs and swirls. This was expected since I didn't buy the watch brand new, so I didn't really bother me. However, when I gave my watch to a watch repair shop on Saturday to check for water resistance, one of the shops managed to scratch the case back (long story) and that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

I did some research about what I could do on my own to re-finish the various surfaces and saw recommendations for cape cod cloth for polished areas as well as scotch bright pad for the brushed areas. I had done some touch ups on stainless steel watches in the past, but it never involved cape cod cloth and scotch bright, nor had I used that combo on a PM watch in the past, so I was curious how it would turn out.

What I learned is that it was much easier than I thought. I first started working on some smaller scratches around the lugs which were there because previous owners of the watch had not taped the lugs when changing bands. After an encouraging result, I had my eyes on the bigger scratches.

The key part was taping down the parts of the watch i wanted to protect from either the cape cod cloth or scotch bright pads and this was also where most of my time went into. While the results are certainly not equal to a professional polish, i got rid of a bunch of scratches, including the most prominent ones that bothered me.

What I really liked about the cape cod cloth and scotch bright pad approach was that they both allow for a very fine-tuned approach. E.g. all changes happened very gradually so if I didn't like the way it was going, I could stop before I went too far.

All in all, working over the various brushed and polished surfaces of the watch case took me about two hours, most of which were spent cutting and adjusting the masking tape as I went. Once the tape was in place I made sure to only use very small pieces of either cape cod cloth or scotch bright pad to treat the different areas. Using the scotch bright pad, I made sure to "go with the grain" of the brushed finish that was already in place.

Only working on small areas with small pieces of cloth/pad made the work much easier. Besides it also left me with a lot more cloth/pad for the future. I don't really plan to do this very often and if I really want to get a mirror finish, I will send it to a professional. However, I was impressed how much I could do on my own and how good the results turned out in the end.

Some images below. I did not include the brushed areas I touched up at the lugs since the scratches from changing the band were not very severe. The 'before' images are always on top while the 'after' images are on the bottom.





Disclaimer: This post is for educational and entertainment purposes only and does not adequately list all possible risks of trying to re-finish your precious Rolex watch on your own. If you want professional results, consult a professional watch maker or send your watch to an official Rolex Service Center in your area. The author has a long standing history of not taking any responsibility for anything he does or says. So there.

[Tomas Eriksson]

Thank you for sharing, almost everyone here hate scratches on our beloved pieces.

As long as you are happy with the result but my recommendation would to take it to a AD that has a polishing wheel. When doing like you have done one ends up with a dull finish on the polished areas. You are pretty much hiding bigger scratches by making smaller scratches.
I would take it to the AD and ask them to just touch up the polished parts a bit to make it shine again.

[henrylee]

Glad it came out well

[dob1]

Originally Posted by Tomas Eriksson

Thank you for sharing, almost everyone here hate scratches on our beloved pieces.

As long as you are happy with the result but my recommendation would to take it to a AD that has a polishing wheel. When doing like you have done one ends up with a dull finish on the polished areas. You are pretty much hiding bigger scratches by making smaller scratches.
I would take it to the AD and ask them to just touch up the polished parts a bit to make it shine again.

Yeah, I'm going to go for a nice finish once I hand the watch over to RSC for a service. So far the watch has kept excellent time, so I won't bring it in for a service just yet, but I wanted to get rid of some of the scratches. Even if i am the only one who knows that they are there, since the majority were on the case back, it kinda annoyed me :D

[joli160]

Job well done

[ttomczak]

Originally Posted by Tomas Eriksson

Thank you for sharing, almost everyone here hate scratches on our beloved pieces.

As long as you are happy with the result but my recommendation would to take it to a AD that has a polishing wheel. When doing like you have done one ends up with a dull finish on the polished areas. You are pretty much hiding bigger scratches by making smaller scratches.
I would take it to the AD and ask them to just touch up the polished parts a bit to make it shine again.

I had the same results, lost the hairlines but slightly dulled the finish. Is there anything a diy person can do to lightly buff it back to a bright finish? I know I can take it to my AD for a light polish but wondered if there was something out there. (I’m sure there has to be).

[Jim Smyth]

You can not recreate the polished finish by hand only. Powered tools are needed and thats only after scratches are appropriately removed so buffing can create the mirror like finish. Also to do it correctly the watch would need to be fully disassembled.

With that being said if your a amateur buffer that doesnt know what your doing you may create more damage. Very easy to round off corners that need to be sharper edges. The buffer is very unforgiving. I would stick to cape cod clothes if your now sure what your doing. You cant get in much trouble there.

I am not a watchmaker but work in metal products that we cant discuss here. Here is my buffer and also my grinder used for satin finishes. Makes satin finishing bracelets a breeze.

[Mike58]

What is the brand of blue masking tape?

[ROLLiWORKS]

Kapton tape is going to better than the blue tape. Interesting to see a machinist's perspective to watch polishing.

We use a 5 stage German Paste, Menzerna. We import this from Europe. Varying degree of cut and gloss action will leave the ultimate shine. Silky. We use multiple wheels. hard felt to soft felt to soft mop and mix in a foredom rotary tool for some spots. Especially helpful on clasps.

We see a huge difference compared to those that use the more basic 2 or 3 stage. It doubles our work time but the results are unmatched. The last stage "super fine" is worth all the money!

[ROLLiWORKS]

All work done in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

[ROLLiWORKS]

Heres what a couple grand worth of polishing paste looks like




All work done in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Nice. I have some menzerna car products.

As for watch and jewelry polishing. This stuff is amazing as a final polish. It would probably take care of everything the OP showed in a matter of seconds too.

https://www.stuller.com/products/47-3246/?groupId=20802

Here's a quick and dirty results pic of my two step process on a junk bracelet I had.

[ROLLiWORKS]

Watch polishing stations with 1100 cfm 2 micron plumbed dust collector and rotary tool at each station. Ray Foster variable speed polishing lathe.




All work done in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Nice Setup!! Sweet.

[nboyer]

Very nice setup indeed, industrial! Cheers. -Norm

Originally Posted by ROLLiWORKS

Watch polishing stations with 1100 cfm 2 micron plumbed dust collector and rotary tool at each station. Ray Foster variable speed polishing lathe.

All work done in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

[ROLLiWORKS]

Thanks. The dust control in the polish room improves safety for our staff (polish paste is nasty stiff and doesnt belong in our lungs). The dust control in the polish rooms also help us control dust travel into the watchmaker room as well.

We have a positive pressure HEPA clean room for the watchmaker clean room, filtered to 2 micron as well. Really saves us $ on HEPA cartctidge changes.


All work done in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

[ROLLiWORKS]

All work done in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

[ROLLiWORKS]

All work done in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

[Jim Smyth]

Originally Posted by ROLLiWORKS

Interesting to see a machinist's perspective to watch polishing.

I see some carry over to your world from mine. Fortunately I dont have to be as refined as you do. But I love color and have been polishing all types of metals for a long time. Stainless is actually pretty easy. It isnt gummy like Titanium is.

[ROLLiWORKS]

Actually much more carry over than you would think.

We have a CNC Mill, shear/brake, band saw, bench belt sander, disc sander, a few arbor presses, TIG welder, MIG welder, laser welder, drill press, metal lathes, polishing lathes, half a dozen drill press vises, taps, Jet dust collector, the list goes on.

[037]

Watchmaker = tool and die maker but with really small parts.

[Rolexwatch12]

Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful piece of information, i hate any form of scratch on my watch.

[Wedders]

I have a motorcycle that I work on so I have a bench polisher for large parts, but for my watches I use a dremel which does the job admirably.

[Jim Smyth]

Originally Posted by Wedders

I have a motorcycle that I work on so I have a bench polisher for large parts, but for my watches I use a dremel which does the job admirably.

I use a foredom.

[Wedders]

Originally Posted by Jim Smyth

I use a foredom.

Sorry I don’t know what foredom is

Just googled it now I know sorry.

[Jim Smyth]

Dremel on steroids with a foot pedal.

[ROLLiWORKS]

Dremel is fine. The torque from the Foredom is nice but not required. Less pressure less torque more time. Its really about the materials and the various wheels used (and skill) that delver the quality results. I think if we grabbed one of everything that used on the daily basis, it might fill a 5 gallon bucket. Crazy how many materials we have for all the different things we run into.