Two Tone Rolex rep polishing advice

[lmagg00]

I just picked up a gorgeous Franken Loco Louie 116613LB.

The watch is used and has some usual usage marks, desk dives on the bracelet. It would be great to clean/polish them out a bit from the gold center links.

Going by what LL stated on Warchive, it’s 14k wrapped but I’m not sure if that’s 100% true.

So, how do you recommend polishing the center gold links without changing the color?

I was thinking cape cod but I don’t know if that would also be too abrasive or mild enough to retain the color and polish it.

Thanks!

P.S. The watch is in transit to me but I know I would want it nice and sparkly and slightly de-aged . Photos to follow once I have it.


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[KJ2020]

I just picked up a gorgeous Franken Loco Louie 116613LB.

The watch is used and has some usual usage marks, desk dives on the bracelet. It would be great to clean/polish them out a bit from the gold center links.

Going by what LL stated on Warchive, it’s 14k wrapped but I’m not sure if that’s 100% true.

So, how do you recommend polishing the center gold links without changing the color?

I was thinking cape cod but I don’t know if that would also be too abrasive or mild enough to retain the color and polish it.

Thanks!

P.S. The watch is in transit to me but I know I would want it nice and sparkly and slightly de-aged . Photos to follow once I have it.


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Jonj480 is your man. For a very reasonable amount he can make that watch look new. I know the guy who originally bought that watch, it deserves a spa treatment. Awesome piece.

 

[lmagg00]

Thanks for the response @KJ2020

I spoke with Jon and in fact have two watches with him right now.

Only thing that scared me was that he said the good color changes sometimes depending on what rep it is.

So, I thought maybe starting with Cape cod would be a good step.

Do you think got the LL wrapped one, the risk of changing color significantly is lower?


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[Art Tic]

How much would it take to polish off gold-plating that is only microns thick? Need to be very, very careful unless you also know someone who can gold-plate it.
I had a gold plated watch (not rep). Even wearing sparingly, it lasted about 8-9 months before I gave it to a nephew who cared only its functionality.

 

[KJ2020]

Thanks for the response @KJ2020

I spoke with Jon and in fact have two watches with him right now.

Only thing that scared me was that he said the gold color changes sometimes depending on what rep it is.

So, I thought maybe starting with Cape cod would be a good step.

Do you think got the LL wrapped one, the risk of changing color significantly is lower?


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I wouldn't be the one to know, I've seen a lot of Jon's work so he would know best. Maybe let him try a spare link or the glidelock achor link.

I think CC would do as much changing as a pro polish would. That stuff is pretty effective.

 

[lmagg00]

I wouldn't be the one to know, I've seen a lot of Jon's work so he would know best. Maybe let him try a spare link or the glidelock achor link.

I think CC would do as much changing as a pro polish would. That stuff is pretty effective.

That's spare link idea is very good! I will talk to him and send him a spare link to test.

How much would it take to polish off gold-plating that is only microns thick? Need to be very, very careful unless you also know someone who can gold-plate it.
I had a gold plated watch (not rep). Even wearing sparingly, it lasted about 8-9 months before I gave it to a nephew who cared only its functionality.

I agree. That's why the risk is lower if its really wrapped 14k but if its plated, then the quality of the plating becomes crucial in which case it is not worth the risk.
People on TRF have often used Cape Cod without issue but again that's a different thing altogether.

I'm actually surprised that I didn't find any threads on TT polishing on RWI, RG and RWG.

 

[lmagg00]

Also, I will post the results. So, anyone who's looking for this information can find it.

 

[SUBKILLER]

Also, I will post the results. So, anyone who's looking for this information can find it.

Im very curious. I have a wrap vrf

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[Itto]

I'm adding my experiences for what it's worth:

I have a wrapped vrf (max) and the gold color was a bit too orange. So i polished it a bit (actually quite hard) with normal gold/silver polishing cloth. It resulted in a lighter, more gen-like gold color.

Recently i polished it again a bit (to buff out some swirls) - this time using cape cod - and there's still no steel showing.

 

[lmagg00]

Yes, I did come across some other members having the same experience with the VRF and Gold polishing cloth. That’s pretty good - better color for VRF

Given that the color on mine is already very good, I don’t want to mess with it, will test with Cape Cod and also with Jon.

 

[KJ2020]

I'm adding my experiences for what it's worth:

I have a wrapped vrf (max) and the gold color was a bit too orange. So i polished it a bit (actually quite hard) with normal gold/silver polishing cloth. It resulted in a lighter, more gen-like gold color.

Recently i polished it again a bit (to buff out some swirls) - this time using cape cod - and there's still no steel showing.

That looks very good bro, but did it move toward RG in color?

 

[Itto]

That looks very good bro, but did it move toward RG in color?

It moved indeed a bit towards rg - but in normal lighting conditions / sunlight this is almost not noticeable. Will post some more shots later on.

 

[lmagg00]

Alright! So, I ‘cape codded’ the polishes part of the bracelet and it seems to have worked.

I didn’t rub it for too long but during that limited time I won’t say I was very gentle because the bracelet had many micro scratches. I had made up my mind that if it goes bad I’ll get a BP wrapped one modded by Jon although the BP wrapped is a tad bit darker in color and SEL fit would have been a question mark.

So, I unboxed the watch tonight and here are the “before” photos:

Here are the photos after using Cape cod:

Cleaning the residue was a bit of a pain because I didn’t remove the bracelet from the watch and didn’t want to wash it. So, kept cleaning with cotton cloth and paper towel.

Result: I clearly do see more shine and it has a very nice well cared look now.

Note that per my chat with Jon, one should only use Cape Cod if it’s a wrapped version.


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[KJ2020]

Great news bro, thanks for posting. What a beautiful watch. The SEL fit is perfect, I don't think anything else would come close. And that dial! I was lucky enough to score one of those from the original owner of your watch, he bought two extras from LL. I'm still trying to find a home for it, a lot of "almost but not quites", another one going up for sale today.

Wear it in good health, it doesn't get much better than this, congrats!

 

[lmagg00]

Great news bro, thanks for posting. What a beautiful watch. The SEL fit is perfect, I don't think anything else would come close. And that dial! I was lucky enough to score one of those from the original owner of your watch, he bought two extras from LL. I'm still trying to find a home for it, a lot of "almost but not quites", another one going up for sale today.

Wear it in good health, it doesn't get much better than this, congrats!

Thanks mate!
It’s definitely gorgeous and the movement works really well too - clear difference between the Asian and this Swiss ETA.

And wow, many people didn’t get any LL and he got 3! Wow

Did you further franken it with gen bezel etc?


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[KJ2020]

Thanks mate!
It’s definitely gorgeous and the movement works really well too - clear difference between the Asian and this Swiss ETA.

And wow, many people didn’t get any LL and he got 3! Wow

Did you further franken it with gen bezel etc?


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Sorry if that wasn't clear. It was one watch and two extra dials (and hands set).

 

[dc2_bb6_cu2]

Man.. Louie did have that LB dial down 100%. What a shame. Congrats on a great piece!

 

[lmagg00]

Man.. Louie did have that LB dial down 100%. What a shame. Congrats on a great piece!

Thanks! And yes, he did an excellent job with dial and also the color of the gold is the closest I've seen to gen and sides are gold too. Noob's gold is similar but sides are not gold wrapped or plated.

 

[SUBKILLER]

Alright! So, I ‘cape codded’ the polishes part of the bracelet and it seems to have worked.

I didn’t rub it for too long but during that limited time I won’t say I was very gentle because the bracelet had many micro scratches. I had made up my mind that if it goes bad I’ll get a BP wrapped one modded by Jon although the BP wrapped is a tad bit darker in color and SEL fit would have been a question mark.

So, I unboxed the watch tonight and here are the “before” photos:

Here are the photos after using Cape cod:

Cleaning the residue was a bit of a pain because I didn’t remove the bracelet from the watch and didn’t want to wash it. So, kept cleaning with cotton cloth and paper towel.

Result: I clearly do see more shine and it has a very nice well cared look now.

Note that per my chat with Jon, one should only use Cape Cod if it’s a wrapped version.


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Makes me want to throw away my VRF...i love the sel.

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[lmagg00]

Makes me want to throw away my VRF...i love the sel.

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Haha.. I agree the SEL is really good.

Use the connoisseur gold polishing cloth available on Amazon. It will make the color on the VRF closer to gen.

Jon can do the SEL recess and color improvement on VRF. He has a post on that on horologyboard. Here are some photos I picked from what he showcased there:

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