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Flave

IWC Scratch on Crystal

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Flave

Howdy gents. I have a tiny scratch which is invisible unless bright light is cast on the face, which creates a visible shadow on the dial. Wondering if there is a way to remove the scratch without making the problem worse. 

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Glaude

Sapphire crystal if I'm correct right ?

That'll be hard to do, if there's an AR coating on top you'll have to ruin it to get rid of the scratch, if the AR is on the inside of the crystal, you may have a chance.
You'll need some cerium oxyde powder and some time in front of you.

Quicker would be to replace the crystal

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Luxuracer

Sapphire crystal is very hard to scratch. It might just be a scuff. Run your finger on top of the crystal to make sure it's a scratch.

You will need dia-paste compound to buff the scratch out.

- Apply a small amount of 3µ paste to the scratch, working it in a firm circular motion with the cloth. After a few minutes, you should start to see the scratch disappearing.
- Once the scratch has faded, wipe away the excess and apply the .25µ paste. Pick a new spot on your cloth and begin the same circular motion as before. This ultra-fine paste will give your crystal the glass-like finishing it once had. When you’re satisfied with the disappearing act, wipe away the excess paste and inspect your work.
- If the scratch remains, repeat the two steps. If it’s gone, wipe away residue or fingerprints with a watch cloth.

Everything You’ll NeedScratched-Crystal-Gear-Patrol-Buying-Guide

0.5 Micron Lapping Paste by TEMO $7
3 Micron DP3 Dia-Paste by DMT $17
Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape by 3M $3
Microfiber Cleaning Cloth (6 Pack) by MagicFiber $9

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Glaude

But if there's an AR coating on top... that will be a problem no matter the abrasive used (cerium oxyde do also work on sapphire but your diamond paste will do the job quicker I think)

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Luxuracer
3 minutes ago, Glaude said:

But if there's an AR coating on top... that will be a problem no matter the abrasive used (cerium oxyde do also work on sapphire)

I do not think the IW5001 has 2xAR

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kennycoder
31 minutes ago, Luxthucraper said:

I do not think the IW5001 has 2xAR

It does

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Luxuracer
22 minutes ago, kennycoder said:

It does

.... then ... FUCKED!

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Flave

Thanks gents. I may just try to not be so OCD and live with it. 

Does anyone know if IWC made this color combo - white dial with silver hands? Most white dials I’ve seen online have blue or gold hands. 

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Luxuracer
1 hour ago, Flave said:

Does anyone know if IWC made this color combo - white dial with silver hands? Most white dials I’ve seen online have blue or gold hands. 

Yes ... !

The IW5001-04 is this combo, SS case, white dial, SS hands and indies. 

The IW5001-05 has blue hands and indies.

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Ramonessnl

I am A very clumsy guy I have 2 watches with A scratch like that.

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Flave

Thanks for the input everyone 

Edited by Flave

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Flave
7 hours ago, Luxthucraper said:

Yes ... !

The IW5001-04 is this combo, SS case, white dial, SS hands and indies. 

The IW5001-05 has blue hands and indies.

I thought that might be the one, but isn’t the 5001-04 the platinum case edition? They only made 500 of them. Ian there a stainless version with a white dial and silver hands?

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GingerApple

Have you looked into replacing the crystal? It shouldn't be expensive.

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Rx4Time

can always use it as an excuse to swap in a 2AR crystal? 

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Baz1872

I can't be sure but I'm pretty certain that what you're seeing is a shard of glass/ plastic. I had the exact same thing happen to me with this model of watch and thought it was a scratch. I then had a friend take a look at the watch and he removed the crystal and it turned out to be a shard that had come away and was sitting on the crystal. 

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Glaude
8 hours ago, Flave said:

I thought that might be the one, but isn’t the 5001-04 the platinum case edition? They only made 500 of them. Ian there a stainless version with a white dial and silver hands?

Exactly, but nobody will doubt if you say your case is platinum ... :D 

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Flave
On 09/01/2019 at 10:34, Baz1872 said:

I can't be sure but I'm pretty certain that what you're seeing is a shard of glass/ plastic. I had the exact same thing happen to me with this model of watch and thought it was a scratch. I then had a friend take a look at the watch and he removed the crystal and it turned out to be a shard that had come away and was sitting on the crystal. 

I think you may be on to something here. The glass is completely smooth to the touch, as if the scratch isn’t there, or is on the inside of the glass. How easy is it to access the glass? Is it a matter of removing the case back, followed by the crown stem, movement/dial, or is there an easier way?

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Baz1872

It’s the exact same as I had with my watch, completely smooth to the touch.

Im pretty sure it’s a case of as you describe, removing case back etc but I’ll ask my friend how he done it and get back to you.

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andyboy
2 hours ago, Flave said:

I think you may be on to something here. The glass is completely smooth to the touch, as if the scratch isn’t there, or is on the inside of the glass. How easy is it to access the glass? Is it a matter of removing the case back, followed by the crown stem, movement/dial, or is there an easier way?

Caseback off and remove the movement. No easier way to do it. 

Lift the shard of plastic off with a piece of rodico or use a dust blower. 

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Flave
56 minutes ago, andyboy said:

Caseback off and remove the movement. No easier way to do it. 

Lift the shard of plastic off with a piece of rodico or use a dust blower. 

Sounds easy enough. I will give it a shot. I had another issue come up today that will require opening it up. The watch stopped today and I noticed a loose screw impeding the balance wheel. Any idea where the loose screw and the other loose part in the pics below are coming from?

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Luxuracer
4 minutes ago, Flave said:

Any idea where the loose screw and the other loose part in the pics below are coming from?

Those are your movement hold down screw and tab.

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GingerApple

Like Littlepecker says, its one of the tabs that holds the movement in place. You can see another one circled in green. Your loose one is probably hidden underneath the rotor on the opposite side of the case. Rotate the rotor and took spot it easily.

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You'll need to take the movement holders out to remove the movement anyway so it's not the worst timing. It may even be that when the tab fell out, the movement became loose and wobbly and led to the shard of plastic (or whatever it is) floating loose.

I have to say, although it's not hard to do what you're planning to do, if it's your first time ever, it might be sensible to practice on a scrap/broken watch - make your mistakes there, not on your pride and joy. A watchmaker would fix this very cheaply as an alternative - at least a forum friendly one.

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Flave
5 hours ago, Baz1872 said:

It’s the exact same as I had with my watch, completely smooth to the touch.

Im pretty sure it’s a case of as you describe, removing case back etc but I’ll ask my friend how he done it and get back to you.

This is exactly what it was! Thanks for chiming in and leading me down the right path!

 

4 hours ago, AskGinger said:

Like Littlepecker says, its one of the tabs that holds the movement in place. You can see another one circled in green. Your loose one is probably hidden underneath the rotor on the opposite side of the case. Rotate the rotor and took spot it easily.

7Fxjr.jpg

You'll need to take the movement holders out to remove the movement anyway so it's not the worst timing. It may even be that when the tab fell out, the movement became loose and wobbly and led to the shard of plastic (or whatever it is) floating loose.

I have to say, although it's not hard to do what you're planning to do, if it's your first time ever, it might be sensible to practice on a scrap/broken watch - make your mistakes there, not on your pride and joy. A watchmaker would fix this very cheaply as an alternative - at least a forum friendly one.

I’ve replaced a watch stem before, so I decided to give it a whirl. I was able to remove the movement, blow the glass shard out, and replace the movement holders and screws. Thanks for the input! This forum is awesome. Appreciate everyone’s input  

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fatarms

Fuck yeah, bud!  Nice work :thumbsup2:

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Mystery Shopper

Great result.

 

Flave, you realise of course, you now could be a qualified watch repairer in Finland.   :D

 

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