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029M - crystal AR alert

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korneevy

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A short update on my earlier review of 29M from late December 2011...

So as I feared at that time, the double AR on crystal has not taken long to become a major issue - last night noticed there are more and more scratches under certain angles around the centre of the dial and it is starting to look like s...t - only after a month of decent wear so byer beware.

Still consider this being an amazing watch in all other respects, Swiss movt is great and keeping awesome time.

Now what's the best way to do away with this external AR crap? Tried Cape Codding with a dremmel for some 30 mins and I dont think I am getting a consistent result - this thing is damn hard to remove. Anyone removed theirs? What did you use? Hate taking it back to a watchmaker for this, goinna set me back by $$$ and would take a few weeks turn-around time

Ask me if I am pissed at these morons for using double AR on these things...
 
T

trksh-bzr

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sorry to hear that.

it has been posted here that different AR coatings have different durability.

I removed AR on a DSN crystal with a dremel mounted with a polishing bit and using rough polish paste. took less than 5 minutes.
cape cod didn't do it for me either.

I once heard taka say that he uses a steel brush on dremel to ge rid of it, but I would avoid that unless I had the crystal out of the watch. not sure how rough metal brush goes without dameging the saphire.
 
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Bonesey

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Nothing less than a diamond should scratch the crystal. But it will make a mess of the bezel ;)
 
K

korneevy

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trksh-bzr said:
....
I removed AR on a DSN crystal with a dremel mounted with a polishing bit and using rough polish paste. took less than 5 minutes.
Click to expand...

I'll give this a shot - do you mind telling me which "polishing bit" did you use? May be a picture ref? I've only tried cotton wheel and it didnt do s..t.

Thanks!
 
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trksh-bzr

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I know, that's why using polishing paste should only make the bezel look better :)

other wise take the crystal out first...
 
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co-axial

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Maybe this can help you?

http://www.homageforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=8005&sid=5ff643566a4fd3c9e420a3376b3a63f9

"Borrowed" from a crocodile (aka prime straps) thread :)




"I've had this DSN Vintage 47mm watch for some time now and although the AR was very subtle, it still bothered me at times. I've been thinking of buying a new crystal but decided to give this a shot first. I have seen threads suggesting jewelers polish and a dremil, cape cod, and I think even sun lotion!? Since I had a fresh Cape Cod cloth I used that.

Once you take the watch apart, plan to spend about 45 min on this, I have read some people say it took them 15... I have to imagine there are different levels of AR, some may take longer.

"Here is what I did exactly:
I never removed the crystal, just the movement and dial. I cut small pieces of the cape cod and simply polished the inside of the crystal in a circular motion for a while, then wipe it off and angle the crystal to see my progress. Once the coating begins to come off you will be able to see what areas still need work. The crystal will look scratched at some point and possibly freak you out, keep going. I held the crystal against a white and black background to allow me to see where there was still coating. You must wipe off the Cape Cod slime in order to see your progress. Once the AR starts to come off the bluish color may disappear leaving a film that is less noticeable. Look carefully to be sure it is all gone, I thought I damaged the crystal but kept polishing and eventually it was all gone leaving nothing but a very clear crystal.

Once I was sure I had it all, I rinsed the case / crystal and washed with a bit of soap. MAKE SURE IT'S DRY before putting your watch back together. I had a few cans of air to help me here, but you definitely don't want any water inside the case once you seal it all back up. I used a microfiber cloth and polished the inside of the crystal a lot to be sure there were no streaks or marks, then air can to remove any dust before finally re assembling the watch. It's perfect!! ""
 
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korneevy

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Mickey Padge

Mickey Padge

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Don't see why people wouldn't remove the outer AR anyway? As it's in no way accurate to the gen like that, and looks wrong, would be a simple tell it's fake......

As mentioned, a soft polishing mop on a Dremel, with a not so fine polishing compound should remove the AR in five minutes or so. That was the first thing I did to my 029 when I received it, now it looks just like the gen :)
 
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korneevy

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Mickey Padge said:
As mentioned, a soft polishing mop on a Dremel, with a not so fine polishing compound should remove the AR in five minutes or so. That was the first thing I did to my 029 when I received it, now it looks just like the gen :)
Click to expand...

OK so these are good news - you've managed to get rid of it then? What exacly did you use? I've spent 2 hrs or so trying to polish it off with Cape Cod and dremmel with cotton wheel and it didnt produce any spectacular results.
So:
- Which compound did you use?
- Which mop did you use it with - a photo off google will do
- How long did it take you?

Thanks!
 
Mickey Padge

Mickey Padge

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I used a tub of this grey coloured satin polish and just a standard soft mop, took it off in five minutes. You are using the wrong compound, much too fine, the satin metal polish I used is a bit more abrasive :)
 
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Migge

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Mickey Padge said:
I used a tub of this grey coloured satin polish and just a standard soft mop, took it off in five minutes. You are using the wrong compound, much too fine, the satin metal polish I used is a bit more abrasive :)
Click to expand...

Pics Mickey, or it never happend!

J/k mate, but would love to see some pics with single sided ar?

BR
Mike
 
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korneevy

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OK folks, I managed to strip it off - but it took me a good 2 hours with a dremmel, equipped with soft mop and cotton wheel, and multiple application of the following:
- Bronzo
- Polywatch
- Cape Code

The crystal looks great - clean and all of the scratches are goooone. Worn it today in a pretty bright light and didnt notice much of a difference with the previous double AR coating so my advise is to get rid of the outter AR as soon as you get the watch - it is bound to go ape-shape sooner or later anyways.

Not sure why it took so long in my case though - most ppl reported AR removals taking 10-30 mins but this one was a real b..ch to get rid off!
 
trailboss99

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korneevy said:
OK folks, I managed to strip it off - but it took me a good 2 hours with a dremmel, equipped with soft mop and cotton wheel, and multiple application of the following:
- Bronzo
- Polywatch
- Cape Code
Click to expand...


It took you so long because the abrasives you used were all wrong mate. Bronzo is hardly more abrasive than Cape Cod, it gains most of it polishing action from a chemical action that works on Brass and copper but has no effect on mineral crystal.

Polywatch is designed to polish perspex crystals (thus the name) and has no abrasive action whatsoever. It is a chemical polish and useless on glass let alone sapphire. It works by "melting" the top layer of the perspex crystal and filling in the scratches something it obviously can't do on glass/sapphire.

A large portion of the polishing action of a Cape Cod is also chemical. By chemical I mean they use a chemical action to dissolve the tarnish on the metal. This tarnish is then removed with a gentle abrasive in the case of the Bronzo and Cape Cod whereas some chemical polishes (even for metal) contain no abrasives whatsoever much like the afore mentioned Poly Watch.

What was needed here is a rouge based compound like that linked to by trk on the first page. Sticks of this big enough to last a lifetime of watch polishing are available at the hardware store in set of 3 grades at under ten bucks for the small size. You will find a typical range of grades here: http://www.grobetusa.com/polishing/rouge_sticks/index.html This brand should be commonly available in most corners of the earth. They also carry a range of very good quality buffs from 8" down to 7/8ths of an inch.

The other one that would have worked really well and fast is a set of diamond compounds for polishing glass/sapphire such as the one Watchbitz sells here: http://www.watchbitz.com.au/shop/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=39 that and a dremel would have had the AR removed in less than ten minutes. Both the rouge and diamond paste compounds should be on the bench of anyone doing even hobby type watchmaking as they are used in the most basic of DIY work, polishing crystals and cases.



Hope that helps.
 
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korneevy

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trailboss99 said:
It took you so long because the abrasives you used were all wrong ....Hope that helps.
Click to expand...


Now this is what I call quality advise! I wish you replied to this earlier so i would have saved me hrs of this non-sense but live and learn...worthwhile pinning somewhere since I am pretty sure most of these recent 2-side AR crystals are going to get scratched and have to be delat with sooner or later...
 
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