Monday, May 6, 2013

1967. Rolex GMT Master Ref 1675 : yet another water damaged watch :-(

Arrived at our workshop at 4pm today, still full of water. Last serviced in 1998.

Obviously with no time to spare, all other jobs were pushed aside.

Once the movement was out of the case, the full extent of the water related damage was revealed: luminous material was partially diluted and spread all over the matte dial. And exposed to normal room temperature, it quickly dried, attaching itself to the dial surface.

The only way to clean the debris was to dampen the dial once again and then carefully remove excess luminous material, while trying to preserve the hour markers, writing and minute track intact.

The entire operation took about 30 minutes and the dial was then washed once again and left to dry at room temperature.

Beyeler, Singer, Stern, Lemrich and Metelem are just some of the Swiss dial makers who produced dials for various Rolex models.

This particular dial is a nice example of a fully signed Beyeler tritium dial. The GMT hand is a later replacement, but the watch features its original riveted bracelet.

The watch was bought in early 1970 for $400 and still belongs to it's original owner.

Overall result? We'll - you be the judge.

Another vintage 1675 dial preserved for the future :)

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