Polish or service?

[Adam B]

I have a s/s daytona which has lots of surface scratches on the bezel and strap and I would like to get it looking like new again (or close at least).

It is 2 years old and I have never had a watch serviced other than change of battery on my old Tag, so the question is:

Can a watch like this be polished to remove the scratches or do you have to replace parts? cost? best place to go (I am in London)?

the alternative is gettng a service which is going to cost (£150-200?) on the understanding they will do all the polishing anyway making the cost of the service seem less.

What do people recommend?

thanks

Edited by Adam B on Thursday 26th July 13:59

[Maxf]

I think the service might cost more than £150-200. I think my datejust is costing about that - certainly submariners and sea-dwellers cost more. They do come back looking very good though.

[Hunttheshunt]

I asked about this for a WG Daytona and was told that they do this at the service, comes back almost like new, although I was advised not to bother until I had had it for 5 years!! I think the service is several hundreds of pounds.

[hutchingsp]

I guess there's always the caveat of make sure you pick a good one, but any competent Jeweller/watch specialist should be able to remove the surface scratches.

I'm fairly sure Rolex themselves will not do just a polish, as you say it goes away for a service, they do a polish as part of that and it should come back looking like a new watch.

[Dominic H]

Ballpark figure for a service of a Rolex Daytona at Rolex UK is £300-£350 IIRC. This will include a case/bracelet re-finish. I think there is a limit to how many times the bezel can be polished before you affect the enamel calibration.

[sparkyhx]

http://www.watchbandrenew.com/Products.html

If you don't want a service, but want it in better condition - try the above

The kit is really good, and with a bit of patience you can get excellent results. I shined up my wedding ring to practice on - then started on my titanium oris which had loads of scratches, then did a couple of ultra shiney bracelet links that had small surface scratches in my GP.

[gandhi]

sparkyhx said:

I shined up my wedding ring to practice on - then started on my titanium oris

Haha, practice on the wedding ring first, beautiful!

[Adam B]

Dominic H said:

Ballpark figure for a service of a Rolex Daytona at Rolex UK is £300-£350 IIRC. This will include a case/bracelet re-finish. I think there is a limit to how many times the bezel can be polished before you affect the enamel calibration.

ouch, thanks all for the advice

[milw50717]

You may want to think twice about having it refinished. If you ever think of selling the watch any number of Rolex collectors prefer watches in an all original condition. Having the case refinished or the dial/hands relumed may detract from the value. On the other hand, you may want to continue to wear the watch and prefer a "new" look to it.

You may be able to specify what work you want the Rolex Service Centre (RSC) to perform, so maybe call them up and ask them their costs.

[flow99]

Just had an IWC away for a service (£315.00), but the polish was an additional £165.00!
So keeping with the slightly worn appearance.

[wazza]

Take the watch into an authorised Rolex Jeweller. They will polish the watch for you. Takes the risk out of trying to do it yourself.

[Adam B]

wazza said:

Take the watch into an authorised Rolex Jeweller. They will polish the watch for you. Takes the risk out of trying to do it yourself.

think I will do that in the first instance, all it needs is some light scratching to be polished out of the strap and bezel so no "refinishing" I hope.

I have no intention of selling, just want to give it the "as new" look again