Spa treatment. Baby oil vs. chain lube?

[300kph]

Finally got around to unpacking my new TC V6 and realized my camera is at my office. I had quickly checked it out last week when it arrived but was so busy it just stayed in the box and package until tonite. I spent a lot of time looking at it under my magnifying lamp and I am blown away with the overall quality. I own a bunch of gens and am speechless by how good a replica it is. I got one of TC's Yachmaster last year and have to say as good at it was the V6 is better. I had heard the bezel insert was the only weak point and while a gen insert would not doubt rock, the one it comes with is excellent even under magnification. The pearl is beautiful. If I were to come across a gen insert for under $200 new I might be tempted but the one it comes with is outstanding.

Great lume and other raves for this watch but more later... The pics will have to wait as I got excited and decided to size it. My wrist demanded 2 links be removed and a small adjustment on the clasp. Fits and feels very gen. The bracelet is stunning but just to secure it all I will pick up some jewelry grade loctite tomorrow and snug it all up. There is just a little rattle to the bracelet and I have decided that I will give it a "Spa" treatment... I have never done this but have read tons on the subject. I hear that it goes a long way to making the sub bracelet silky smooth and removes any "clinkiness"... I read a bunch of posts and have see that baby oil is what a lot of people use.

I also read a few posts about chin lube and like what I hear that it forms an inner "coating" that makes it smooth and rattle-free. Thats not to say this is a clinky or rattly watch. It is very close to gen but the precision of gen links will always win out. I have a feeling a "lube job" will make this rep a "10" I have some good dry spray motorcycle chain lube. Should I source something better or go the baby oil route?

Baby oil or chain lube? Who's tried both and can steer me in the right direction?

OK, just to eliminate the "didn't happen" posts, here's one crappy pic from my old school Blackberry. I know I should stop buying watches and get a better phone.

W

 

[flyr]

I would use teflon bike lube,it does not attract dirt and grit like baby oil.
Just make sure you have tightened and loctited any screws before giving the band any kind of lubricant bath, as if you try to after you may find the screws loosening on you.
Good luck!

 

[mech500]

Congratulations. I've tried chain lube, baby oil, WD40 etc and can say that they all well enough. Really makes no difference to me.

 

[d4m.test]

Hi and congrats on the new TC. I have been using the 24 hour or longer baby-oil bath and just confirm longer is better than 15 mins or 1 hour. After a thorough wash afterwards with toothpaste its fine and smooth, never attracted any dirt. Have been careful until now with other products containing chemicals.

Read that Tuf-glide is even better than Dupont PTFE Dry-Lube and will get one or the other to try out in the future.

 

[silverclaw]

Vaseline for the bracelet.

I'm serious. It gives it a very very smooth feel, with just enough firmness - just like the gen.

Ask Lou88 - he was considering a gen bracelet, and after vaseline, he's not anymore!

 

[Lou88]

Vaseline for the bracelet.

I'm serious. It gives it a very very smooth feel, with just enough firmness - just like the gen.

Ask Lou88 - he was considering a gen bracelet, and after vaseline, he's not anymore!

Yes! It's about time to give it the vaseline treatment again. I will be doing it when i get off work.

 

[dmc71]

I put all of my racelets (rep and gen) in a deep baby oil bath for 72 hours. Agitated the bath a little every few hours I was at home, and just let the oil do it's thing

At the end the oil was filthy and had to be thrown away. A good clean with warm saopy water, and a thorough clean and the bracelets are a revelation!!The gens feel silky smooth, the reps silky smooth too. Just lovely.

I was nervous about putting anything chemical on the bracelet that would slowly seep in tiny amounts onto my skin and possibly stay there for long periods.

Sure it wouldn't be a problem, but just not worth the risk. There's a reason mechanics wash their hands so often.

 

[SUMIKITO]

Many of those lubricants mentioned may work but are not meant to be in close contact with your skin. Good for bicycles, fishing reels, guns, padlocks, door hinges, etc. Soak the whole bracelet in soapy warm water with plenty of dish liquid detergent first. Take all of the scum and polishers rouge that is imbedded deep in the crevices !! [the crude rouge is there, I kid you not ! ] that's why your soap-wash now turns grey ! Swish it around like you wanted to drown an ant that is hiding in there ! ............Then rinse it very well with clean flowing warm water. shake, dry with a cotton bath towel, and use a hair dryer to rush the drying if you want. And NOW that you know you have a clean bracelet, lube it all you want with lubes that are ok for your skin. It's like sex, wash very well first, then lube !! Not the other way around !! Have fun !!

 

[PaMister]

Many of those lubricants mentioned may work but are not meant to be in close contact with your skin. Good for bicycles, fishing reels, guns, padlocks, door hinges, etc. Soak the whole bracelet in soapy warm water with plenty of dish liquid detergent first. Take all of the scum and polishers rouge that is imbedded deep in the crevices !! [the crude rouge is there, I kid you not ! ] that's why your soap-wash now turns grey ! Swish it around like you wanted to drown an ant that is hiding in there ! ............Then rinse it very well with clean flowing warm water. shake, dry with a cotton bath towel, and use a hair dryer to rush the drying if you want. And NOW that you know you have a clean bracelet, lube it all you want with lubes that are ok for your skin. It's like sex, wash very well first, then lube !! Not the other way around !! Have fun !!

you must be talking about a*al...

 

[Helldiver]

Baby oil or chain lube? Who's tried both and can steer me in the right direction?



W

Thank you for starting this post (and to anybody who left comments and advises). I am sure that a lot of people will keep it as reference.

 

[Metalmickey]

You persuaded me to wash the bracelet on one of my reps and a 25 year old Seiko. The Seiko was certainly ready for a clean...

(Edit, I know photos or it didn't happen...)

 

[300kph]

Well, I took a leap of faith... First off I used blue Loctite on all the screws on my new V6 and re-connected the bracelet with the clasp and put it in a Tupperware bowl and sprayed copious amounts of aerosol spray chain lube over the entire bracelet. I put the lug pins in a separate little baggie as to not have them scratch anything.

It is an ugly, slimy tan-colored fluid that sticks like crazy to your hands. It took a lot of dish-soap and a scrub brush to get it off me. In retrospect, I shoulda' worn rubber gloves.

Being such messy stuff and not wanting to have to stir it around constantly I came up with an idea. I took a large Ziploc bag and laid the bracelet down on the bottom and dumped the lube from the Tupperware into it and even added more. It is completely immersed in the goo and you can ply the bag and squish the stuff all over the bracelet without getting any on your hands. I used a magnet and hung it from my fridge door completely bathed. It looks gross. LOL!

I am going to let it soak for at least a day and then try to clean it off. I suspect that will be challenging with how this stuff sticks. I will probably don rubber gloves and use lots of soapy water. I just hope I don't undo all the good work and wash the stuff out of the links and crevices.

Another option is to avoid using soap & water altogether and simply wipe it all off with paper towels and then use something like brake cleaner or nail polish remover on a q-tip to get the last of it cleaned away. It will no doubt be tedious but hopefully leave me with the silky feel I am hoping for.

Thoughts?

W

 

[bc1221]

i tried out the pjelly method and i gotta say, its pretty nice.
very smooth.

thanks

 

[300kph]

Well, We'll see how this goo from Hell works!

W

 

[bc1221]

it helps if you have some latex gloves. i bought a giant box after working on my first watch and getting fingerprints on the dial and recasing a 100 times.

i just massaged the jelly in to all the grooves. moved it around a bit, let it sit for a little while and whiped excess off with a paper towel.
now its all silky smooth.

even the clasps on my omegas sound smooth when they click in to place.
id done the baby oil treatment before. this is muuuch better.

i also soaked it in warm soapy water using car wash soap (not as harsh on oils as dish soap) to get rid of some of the funk in the nooks and crannies.

 

[300kph]

Pulled the bracelet out of it's mega-greasy chain lube bath today and wearing latex gloves (thanks BC) it cleaned up quicker than I imagined. Used a dozen paper towels and a whack of Q-tips and then some soapy water to cut the last of the tackiness. I am very pleased. The bracelet feels very close to gen. I liked it so much I stripped down my TC Yachtmaster that I picked up last year when he did that limited "Factory Direct" model... Loctite on the pins and into the bag it went.

More on the V6. I cannot say enough about what a mind-blowing replica this is. Its closer to gen than any other rep Rollie I have seen. I'm pretty sure you could hand this to an average sub-wearer of the same vintage and they would not be able to tell short of pulling the crown and discovering the reversed time advance. How many people do you know that would say "Mind if I re-set your time?" Even the winding motion on mine is closer to gen than anything I've seen or handled.

Its funny how replica enthusiasts are often better judges of rep vs. gen than simply gen owners.

I know I'm going way off topic here but I was not disappointed that the V6 has no serial or model numbers on the case. When I pulled the bracelet off the Yachtmaster I was reminded how nice that case was with full model & S/N's. Personally I don't care that the V6 does not have the markings. They are a moot point (again, who is going to ask to see your serial number?)

W

 

[bc1221]

I think the folks here know more than ADs.
It's amazing sometimes how folks here can pick a watch apart. Down to what factory it came from.

 

[silverclaw]

it helps if you have some latex gloves. i bought a giant box after working on my first watch and getting fingerprints on the dial and recasing a 100 times.

i just massaged the jelly in to all the grooves. moved it around a bit, let it sit for a little while and whiped excess off with a paper towel.
now its all silky smooth.

even the clasps on my omegas sound smooth when they click in to place.
id done the baby oil treatment before. this is muuuch better.

i also soaked it in warm soapy water using car wash soap (not as harsh on oils as dish soap) to get rid of some of the funk in the nooks and crannies.

latex and petroleum jelly don't mix well, especially for petroleum distillates. I would be careful with that.

I'm glad you had the same reaction I did when I used the jelly- it's amazing!

 

[letterboxmind]

Thinking of giving my new nd sub a bracelet bath. Here's what I plan to do:

1. Soak it in warm soapy water or dishwashing detergent? Maybe 6-7 hours
2. Use Vaseline (I have a tub somewhere) as silverclaw suggested and grease the links in the bracelet. Wipe off excess with paper towel.

Is this correct? Or should I leave the Vaseline on for a couple of hours and let it do it's magic before wiping off?

 

[Skägg]

Babyoil worked for me, 27h.