thegolfman 38 Posted July 8, 2020 So, I finally decided to take a pass at cleaning up my gen DJ after leaving it on the sideline for my Apple Watch over the past year. In hindsight, that was probably a mistake, but so be it. After finding this site, getting some basic watch tools and educating myself, I felt prepared to do something productive. The watch is in very good condition, rarely sees rough contact, but over the years, I have played a considerable amount of golf with it on. So I did the following: 1. Removed the bracelet and gave it a soak in the wife’s ultrasonic. In a word, gross. Needed multiple run throughs but came out great, particularly after a toothbrush scrubbing. 2. Started in on the crystal, which was probably in a “5” condition out of “10”. Nothing too deep, but a surprising amount of surface scratches when putting some light on it. I didn’t think to take pictures, sorry! It was only today that I thought of writing this up… 3. Gave it a thorough sanding with 1500 grit and did a fair job at completely clouding the surface. Was a little nervous now. Ok, a lot nervous…moved on to a fingernail buffing stick (again, thanks to the wife…) of three different grits and really made some great progress by the time I reached “smooth”. Definitely, alleviated some concerns…Finished off with toothpaste on a microfiber cloth and voila, got it restored to a “9” range. What a difference! 4. Did a light sanding with the same nail buffing stick on the case and really emerged with a nice shine. Never realized how dirty the case gets under that first fixed link, but it was rally pretty bad. It’s remarkably unfinished under there, kind of lame for Rolex not to provide a finished surface, but this is a pretty old watch, circa 1987 (and, yes I’m that old to be the original owner). 5. Reassembled and enjoyed its new gleam all day. Could litterally be in a toothpaste commercial with the sparkle it now has. Some great info and help on this site, thought I could at least contribute something back! Sorry for the poor iPhone pics, but it is what it is.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Adit 642 Posted July 8, 2020 Good work golfman, thanks for the write-up 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thegolfman 38 Posted July 8, 2020 Sorry the pics stink...if I can grab my wife's (better) iphone 11, I may get better pics up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jhdscript 41 Posted July 9, 2020 Mint watch. I m looking to buy one too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GenTLe 1,510 Posted July 9, 2020 Good job mate! Also, if it's more than 5 years from the last service, it would be good to give it one to clean the movement and refresh the lubricants 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dylan88888 24 Posted July 9, 2020 It’s a beautifully watch and should be apart of any gentleman watch box. You are a braver man than I to dive in with the polishers. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FunnyStarSystem 7,538 Posted July 9, 2020 Very nice! I know it takes guts to sand down a crystal on a gen, so very well done. And you got all those divots out of the SEL Question - have you ever had the movement serviced? Do you have a local watch smith you know/trust? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
