Torsten from Hong Kong sent this watch in. It’s in need of a service, and the case is badly damaged, and the gold plating has come off in places.
The dial and hands are in super condition, so it’s well worth investing a bit of money in the case.
This photo shows the damage and the missing plating in full glory. I take the movement out, and send the case off to Peter from Replateit.com. He is in Canada, but if you want it done right, that doesn’t matter.
Not only the case needs some attention, the movement could do with a service as well.
The Junghans movement has pretty complex calendar works.
The auto winder is unidirectional.
No lack of parts for an automatic day/date.
The base movement back together. I won’t get into too much detail, as there is already a more detailed post about this movement.
Not bad for a first adjustment.
Peter did an absolutely stunning job – the case couldn’t look better.
What a stunning watch! And so retro – prepare to grow some sideburns!
Torsten sent me this shot of the watch on his wrist:
Christian,
Great of you to document this for us to see. Many, including venerable re-plating specialists, have told me that a dent in brass cannot be welded and then re-plated to look like new. Yet this watch has a dent. Is the base metal brass and did replateit make it new again? It appears he has! Peter himself has told me he could fix a gold plated watch with a dent, after sending him a photo of mine, but since he’s the only one I know of who says he can repair it I’m skeptical.
Cheers,
Massimo
He can indeed!
Do you have a contact email for Peter at replateit.com? I tried the email on his web site but my email was return. Have you ever used someone in the uk that was good too?
Christian, how did you go about with the Crystal? Did you polish it or got a new one in?
I’ve been hooked up to your blog since your second post, thanks for sharing with us the intimacy of watchmaking and watch restorations.
I put in a new crystal – this is an acrylic one, and they are pretty cheap, anyway.
Christian, The watch looks fantastic! Thank you. The bell bottom pants and plateau shoes are lined up and waiting in Hong Kong for a night out.
What a stunning job they did on the case repair, I’m blown away! Pricing looks very reasonable as well, considering the quality. Did it take long for them to do?
Not too bad – I think it was around 4 weeks. Stunning workmanship, and I would wait any amount of time for that.
Yes.. I think I may have a job for replateit!
That dial compliments the case so nicely – would be interesting to see what strap Torsten picks for it!