Re-plating a watch strap, can it be done/worth doing?
Discussion
Hello,
I have a watch that my parents gave me 15 years ago for my 21st, it is showing its age now with the plating worn very thin on the edges of the strap, I have not worn it for a while but would like to start wearing it as a dress watch again and am considering getting it re-plated if such a thing can be done?
I have done some googling but it's hard to know if a strap with lots of little bits could be done or if it would need to be stripped right down and not worth it? I don't know much about it but it does have a lot of personal value to me so would like to wear it rather than replace it. Also anyone know where I could get it serviced as needs a new bat and the place they bought it from is long gone, any old high street jewellers??
Anyway here it is....
Ta
I have a watch that my parents gave me 15 years ago for my 21st, it is showing its age now with the plating worn very thin on the edges of the strap, I have not worn it for a while but would like to start wearing it as a dress watch again and am considering getting it re-plated if such a thing can be done?
I have done some googling but it's hard to know if a strap with lots of little bits could be done or if it would need to be stripped right down and not worth it? I don't know much about it but it does have a lot of personal value to me so would like to wear it rather than replace it. Also anyone know where I could get it serviced as needs a new bat and the place they bought it from is long gone, any old high street jewellers??
Anyway here it is....
Ta
They can certainly be replated, but getting them replates well is likely to be a problem.
Plenty of places will "brush plate", which will make it shiny and gold coloured for a few months in regular use but to get anything like the original quality it needs to be done in proper baths with proper "hard" plate. It should also be stripped and done link-by-link, although that's not a big problem in itself.
You should be able to get the battery done just about anywhere, but if it's been sitting for a while you're quite likely to get the dreaded "it's not the battery, Sir" followed by an offer to arrange a new mortgage for you. If that happens, thank them kindly and come back for more advice before committing to anything
Plenty of places will "brush plate", which will make it shiny and gold coloured for a few months in regular use but to get anything like the original quality it needs to be done in proper baths with proper "hard" plate. It should also be stripped and done link-by-link, although that's not a big problem in itself.
You should be able to get the battery done just about anywhere, but if it's been sitting for a while you're quite likely to get the dreaded "it's not the battery, Sir" followed by an offer to arrange a new mortgage for you. If that happens, thank them kindly and come back for more advice before committing to anything
You're welcome. A possible, permanent, (and much cheaper) alternative would be:
Being an Eterna, it's almost certain that the whole watch and bracelet are stainless steel. It would be a pretty straightforward job to polish it all back to that and replace the crown with a stainless one.
Obviously, you wouldn't have the "original" look that way, but you'd end up with a very presentable custom watch, which would keep its looks indefinately.
It's also the first stage of having it re-plated properly so, if you ever wanted to return it to GP, there's no harm done
Being an Eterna, it's almost certain that the whole watch and bracelet are stainless steel. It would be a pretty straightforward job to polish it all back to that and replace the crown with a stainless one.
Obviously, you wouldn't have the "original" look that way, but you'd end up with a very presentable custom watch, which would keep its looks indefinately.
It's also the first stage of having it re-plated properly so, if you ever wanted to return it to GP, there's no harm done
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