Watch cleaning

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Watch cleaning

Post by perho »

How do you clean your watches (without straps)? Only with cloth, with water, soap, any cleaning detergent,...?
What about watches with rotating bezel, between bezel and case, some serious dirt can pile up in there :shock: and unfortunately you can't take bezel off. Maybe with toothpick?
And bracelet, between links, do you take whole bracelet apart and clean each link separately?
Maybe use ultrasonic cleaner for bracelets, I guess for cases with movements inside isn't recommended.

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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by PaulWB »

I tend to use the CWL cloth to keep my watches clean (or Selvyt cloth which is similar).

For the difficult corners (between lugs and edges around dials). I use a silicone tool which is meant for cleaning computers as it gets into tight corners and doesn't mark. It has a brush at one end and a pointed silicone end that I use for watches.

If you have a brushed finish, a gentle go with a Bergeon 5444A satin finish bar will bring the surface back nice and even.

If you have polished surfaces, you can use Cape Cod cloths.

I also use an ultrasonic cleaner for bracelets.

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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by Psalty »

Never cleaned a CWL bezel, but my Sub bezel got dirt under it and, if left long enough, made the bezel difficult to rotate. Cleaned it in running water and spinning the bezel till it was free.
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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by gaf1958 »

Psalty wrote:Never cleaned a CWL bezel, but my Sub bezel got dirt under it and, if left long enough, made the bezel difficult to rotate. Cleaned it in running water and spinning the bezel till it was free.
That's the method I've usually used. Sometimes I've had to resort to removing the bezel, but that hasn't been too common for me.
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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by Psalty »

gaf1958 wrote:
Psalty wrote:Never cleaned a CWL bezel, but my Sub bezel got dirt under it and, if left long enough, made the bezel difficult to rotate. Cleaned it in running water and spinning the bezel till it was free.
That's the method I've usually used. Sometimes I've had to resort to removing the bezel, but that hasn't been too common for me.
How does a CW bezel remove?
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Watch cleaning

Post by gaf1958 »

Same way as they usually do, using a case knife. I prefer the wedge shaped ones where you can get the narrow sharp end in place, then twist.

However, with a ceramic bezel, which is tough and almost scratch-proof, they can easily crack when twisted slightly, so I'd use a bezel remover that I own. It has four angled blades which squeeze slowly into the gap between case and bezel so that it doesn't twist. Actually on a ceramic bezel I'd probably be hesitant to remove it unless it was really needed, the risk of cracking it may not be worth it.
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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by Psalty »

gaf1958 wrote:Same way as they usually do, using a case knife. I prefer the wedge shaped ones where you can get the narrow sharp end in place, then twist.

However, with a ceramic bezel, which is tough and almost scratch-proof, they can easily crack when twisted slightly, so I'd use a bezel remover that I own. It has four angled blades which squeeze slowly into the gap between case and bezel so that it doesn't twist. Actually on a ceramic bezel I'd probably be hesitant to remove it unless it was really needed, the risk of cracking it may not be worth it.
How about an oyster knife? :D

I was asking because I read a post in the For Sale section from someone who had bought a red bezel C60 600 and had been planning to use the bezel on another C60 600. According to his post, he realized it couldn't be done, which was why the watch was for sale. Perhaps I read the post wrong in some detail.
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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by Bounce »

perho wrote:How do you clean your watches (without straps)? Only with cloth, with water, soap, any cleaning detergent,...?
What about watches with rotating bezel, between bezel and case, some serious dirt can pile up in there :shock: and unfortunately you can't take bezel off. Maybe with toothpick?
And bracelet, between links, do you take whole bracelet apart and clean each link separately?
Maybe use ultrasonic cleaner for bracelets, I guess for cases with movements inside isn't recommended.

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Soapy water & a toothbrush cleans most of the dirt out, Ideal for cleaning around bezels as well.
I use this method on my Sub & Seamaster plus my old Aquaracer, the bezels move quite nicely after a good clean & then a thorough wash with cold water.
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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by gaf1958 »

Psalty wrote:How about an oyster knife? :D

I was asking because I read a post in the For Sale section from someone who had bought a red bezel C60 600 and had been planning to use the bezel on another C60 600. According to his post, he realized it couldn't be done, which was why the watch was for sale. Perhaps I read the post wrong in some detail.
Never done it on a 600, but the MkI works that way, as does the C6 Kingfisher.

My view is if they can fit it, it can be removed. I think that the "can't be removed" mantra is a bit of urban myth that CW have come up with, as they don't want to get into the complexities of selling bezels as separate items and having people mess up the changes... and then sending them back to CW for fixing. :wink:
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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by Psalty »

gaf1958 wrote:
Psalty wrote:How about an oyster knife? :D

I was asking because I read a post in the For Sale section from someone who had bought a red bezel C60 600 and had been planning to use the bezel on another C60 600. According to his post, he realized it couldn't be done, which was why the watch was for sale. Perhaps I read the post wrong in some detail.
Never done it on a 600, but the MkI works that way, as does the C6 Kingfisher.

My view is if they can fit it, it can be removed. I think that the "can't be removed" mantra is a bit of urban myth that CW have come up with, as they don't want to get into the complexities of selling bezels as separate items and having people mess up the changes... and then sending them back to CW for fixing. :wink:
Chewing on the rationale behind this... Seems I read that one cannot order a bezel from CWL. Is that true?
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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by gaf1958 »

Psalty wrote:Chewing on the rationale behind this... Seems I read that one cannot order a bezel from CWL. Is that true?
That is the 100% gospel truth. It's long been a point of contention with forum members; while it would be nice, CW are not alone in doing this. In addition CW will not swap your existing bezel to another colour either - only the original colour, and they only do it by re-casing the watch, not replacing the bezel. I guess this gives you a pristine result.
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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by Psalty »

gaf1958 wrote:
Psalty wrote:Chewing on the rationale behind this... Seems I read that one cannot order a bezel from CWL. Is that true?
That is the 100% gospel truth. It's long been a point of contention with forum members; while it would be nice, CW are not alone in doing this. In addition CW will not swap your existing bezel to another colour either - only the original colour, and they only do it by re-casing the watch, not replacing the bezel. I guess this gives you a pristine result.
Refusing to swap out bezels, dials, and hands does give CWL control over its editions.

But not replacing the bezel without a new case... :?
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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by gaf1958 »

Psalty wrote:
gaf1958 wrote:
Psalty wrote:Chewing on the rationale behind this... Seems I read that one cannot order a bezel from CWL. Is that true?
That is the 100% gospel truth. It's long been a point of contention with forum members; while it would be nice, CW are not alone in doing this. In addition CW will not swap your existing bezel to another colour either - only the original colour, and they only do it by re-casing the watch, not replacing the bezel. I guess this gives you a pristine result.
Refusing to swap out bezels, dials, and hands does give CWL control over its editions.

But not replacing the bezel without a new case... :?
To be fair, their prices for recasing are actually very reasonable...
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Re: Watch cleaning

Post by Psalty »

gaf1958 wrote:
To be fair, their prices for recasing are actually very reasonable...
That's good to know but... why change the case? I understand keeping a lid on editions, but insisting on a new case for a rebezel (if I may use that term) is mystifying. I must be thinking about this the wrong way.
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Watch cleaning

Post by gaf1958 »

Ours is not to reason why... :wink: In other words, I don't know why either...
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