Any recommendations for a repairer for a vintage watch face?

[DickyC]

Recently I bought a 1920s Longines. The face has a bit of damage I would like repaired. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for a repairer, please?





Thanks.

[mikeveal]

DickyC said:

Recently I bought a 1920s Longines.

Are you sure about that? Looks like a Ukrainian marriage. They weigh the original silver case in for scrap, rebrand the movement, glue a dial on and bang the lot in a brand new stainless wristwatch case.

I don't think there is much that can be done to repair cracked enamel dials. As far as I know it's a case of filling and repainting by hand. You need an enamel repair kit and a good eye. I don't know of anyone doing it as a business.

Alternatively source a replacement dial on ebay.

You might have some luck asking the same question on https://forums.watchuseek.com/f11/ . If you post a movement picture, they will tell you exactly what the movement actually is too.

[DickyC]

Thanks.

The case seems to be silver. Whatever it is it isn't stainless.

I'll have it to bits and see what lurks within. The dealer's website had pics of it dismantled.

[mikeveal]

But those lugs look suspiciously modern. And pin set watches were mostly replaced by crown set by the 1880s. Not completely replaced it's true. But a pin set with moden lugs sold as a 1920s big brand watch screams of a marriage. There is another less polite name these, a portmanteau referencing a Shelly character.

If you were sold that by a dealer as an original 20's Longines by a dealer you no doubt payed strong money. Get a better opinion than mine from the WUS vintage forum. I'm not the guy to look at a pocket watch movement and tell you when made and by whom. For that you need the WUS forum I linked, a couple of the guys are walking horological encyclopedia.

[DickyC]

Thanks again, I'll follow that up. I have to say I was disappointed to see the dealer now has an almost identical watch, £30 dearer with an undamaged face. It would be interesting to learn there is a production line somewhere.

[RiggaTheMighty]

Unfortunately, that is neither 1920s or Longines.
I can see what it is trying to be portrayed as, but as the above poster said, this is a rather Frankenstein looking watch.
It is basically a pocketwatch with some bits stuck on to fit a strap, which a lot of people did back in the day if they really loved their pocketwatch, but wristwatches became the fashion and they wanted to wear it as such.

Either way, without a movement photo, identification and quality is impossible to tell.

In answer to the post though, no, it is not possible to restore that kind of dial. once the dial is broken, there is no way to repair it that is accepted as being an actual repair. I have seen many Pocketwatches across my bench which have had some kind of white substance added and glazed with lacquer before being painted badly. its not worth it.

If you post a photo of the movement and it is indeed worthy of having some TLC then it would be possible to replace the dial. You can buy a box of these types of dials for pennies and find one that matches.

still looks quite nice to be fair, but whoever sold you it needs a shake.

[DickyC]

Thanks, Rigga. If the photos on the dealer website were of the same watch, the crystal and its surround screw into the case. It doesn't want to unscrew with the amount of effort I'm prepared to exert. I'm 90% sure the case is silver as advertised. Unfortunately, immediately I bought it another very similar watch appeared and the face seemed okay. There are photos for that one and, as I say, it looks very similar. I'll go and have a look and see if the similar one is still for sale.

[DickyC]

No, looks like that's gone too. The dealer is The Vintage Wrist Watch Company in Evesham.

What's the technique for unscrewing the crystal?

[DickyC]

Perseverance was the key to finding the dealer pic. This is the other watch from the same dealer. Almost identical. It's not just the crystal that unscrews.

[mikeveal]

Rigga, thanks for chirping in.

RiggaTheMighty said:

Unfortunately, that is neither 1920s or Longines.
I can see what it is trying to be portrayed as, but as the above poster said, this is a rather Frankenstein looking watch.
It is basically a pocketwatch with some bits stuck on to fit a strap, which a lot of people did back in the day if they really loved their pocketwatch, but wristwatches became the fashion and they wanted to wear it as such.

I was trying to be gentle with the OP.

I don't think either of us can tell whether or not that watch has a Longines movement without seeing photos of it.
I can tell you the the lugs fitted are closer in design to a 2020 watch than a 1920 watch. A 1920's conversion would have solid wire lugs. Those lugs are modern.
I can tell you that the movement almost certainly is not from 1920, for the reasons I posted above.

Given these two things are obviously at odds with the the OP tells us the watch was described, I'd guess that the movement isn't a Longines. It is probably something else with the Longines name added recently.

RiggaTheMighty said:

still looks quite nice to be fair, but whoever sold you it needs a shake.

In my opinion the OP has been conned. Nobody likes to admit they've been taken in, self denial is normal. With two of us telling you the same thing OP, hopefully you'll realise.
It is possible the dealer was clueless but that's no excuse, they are a dealer. What we can see of the watch isn't as described. What we can't see is very likely not as described either.

I don't know how much was paid and without seeing what is actually inside nobody can say what the watch is actually worth. I suspect there will be a huge difference between the two figures.

Get it open OP and post pictures of the movement. If the movement is decent, then the watch will still be worth £100 to £150 as a wearable nice looking thing. Add another £50 to £100ish if it actually has that big brand movement and it's a good quality one.

If I were in the OPs shoes, I'd want to know exactly what I've been given, how it differs from what I paid for and then I'd decide whether or not I'd be keeping it, or whether the dealer would be returning my money.

[DickyC]

Thanks for taking the time to help.

Any clues on getting the watch apart to see the movement? It screws together and I'm reluctant to apply too much pressure.

Whatever happens, I won't be returning it to the dealer. It all makes a story.

[mikeveal]

Looks like a right handed thread, so grab the knurled bit of the case and turn anti-clock wise.

[DickyC]

Tried that.

I'll try with a wee bit more force.

If that doesn't work I'll wait until the watchmaker opens his shop again.

I'm in Newbury. The watchmakers are Drummond in Thatcham.

Thanks again.

[DickyC]

Nope. I can't get enough purchase on it. I'll wait until the watchmakers reopen.

With regard to the case, the dealer's description talked about Longines movements being imported into the UK to be fitted into cases here by retailers and sold as theirs with their name on the face. 'My' one has no name but if I was going to fake a Longines I'd have the name on the face.

Thanks again for your interest.

[nikaiyo2]

DickyC said:

Nope. I can't get enough purchase on it. I'll wait until the watchmakers reopen.

With regard to the case, the dealer's description talked about Longines movements being imported into the UK to be fitted into cases here by retailers and sold as theirs with their name on the face. 'My' one has no name but if I was going to fake a Longines I'd have the name on the face.

Thanks again for your interest.

I think there is classic mix of fact and fiction there.

Yes Swiss movements were often imported to the U.K. and put into locally made cases. Gold cases, very frequently, silver cases very infrequently. Imported watches carried huge import duty (50% I think) so it made sense to keep that to a minimum by casing them here (for silver it was not really worth the savings.)

The one thing you can be 100% sure of, if this was imported like this, it will have correct U.K. hallmarks on the case.

Back then the brand people trusted was the local jeweller, not some unheard of foreign brand. Until Rolex really started branding and marketing their name in the mid 1920s it was really only the very top end makers who put their name on the dial.