Washing Dials, Hands and Crystals with dish soap

[TonyMonatana44]

I just tried to wash my dial from my brand new GMT Master Sprite from Clean (saw finger printers from the factory and wanted to remove them). Basically ruined the dial because the "swiss made", and four of the hour marker lines that line up with the rehaut got erased. Didn't use any dishsoap, just used regular water. And noticed that when i put the dial down to dry, it was missing. I'm not sure how it got erased so easily, but super pissed it happened. A new dial and swap is now needed. Be weary of these new CF dials as they're total garbage and clearly they're not printing them thick/well enough.

 

[TonyMonatana44]

Wanted to also say that I did not touch the dial while removing it from the movement and re-installing.

 

[TonyMonatana44]

Also just noticed that the lettering in the "officially certified" got erased a little too on the FF and I letters. Lovely.

 

[pippo]

Sorry to read that.

Unfortunately when it comes to dial cleaning there's no guarantee, especially when working with rep dials
As you said it's all about the quality of the printing, no matter how careful you are.

 

[TonyMonatana44]

Sorry to read that.

Unfortunately when it comes to dial cleaning there's no guarantee, especially when working with rep dials
As you said it's all about the quality of the printing, no matter how careful you are.

Exactly. Just sucks obtaining a dial for the Sprite is nearly impossible lol. If it were any other model GMT I could swap it out with the 100 I have laying around :/

 

[KJ2020]

I just tried to wash my dial from my brand new GMT Master Sprite from Clean (saw finger printers from the factory and wanted to remove them). Basically ruined the dial because the "swiss made", and four of the hour marker lines that line up with the rehaut got erased. Didn't use any dishsoap, just used regular water. And noticed that when i put the dial down to dry, it was missing. I'm not sure how it got erased so easily, but super pissed it happened. A new dial and swap is now needed. Be weary of these new CF dials as they're total garbage and clearly they're not printing them thick/well enough.

Wanted to also say that I did not touch the dial while removing it from the movement and re-installing.

Ack, sorry to hear about this bro. I'm sure I've washed a CLEAN dial or two but not one of the newer 3285 ones. I'd be happy to contribute toward a new dial for you if you want to PM me. I think Ctime should be able to get one. Seriously I don't mind since you likely would not have done this absent this thread.

Others take heed and proceed with caution and at your own risk. Maybe use a thin weak water stream and be extra gentle with a high quality soft artist's brush.

 

[TonyMonatana44]

Ack, sorry to hear about this bro. I'm sure I've washed a CLEAN dial or two but not one of the newer 3285 ones. I'd be happy to contribute toward a new dial for you if you want to PM me. I think Ctime should be able to get one. Seriously I don't mind since you likely would not have done this absent this thread.

Others take heed and proceed with caution and at your own risk. Maybe use a thin weak water stream and be extra gentle with a high quality soft artist's brush.

You are literally the nicest person I've met on the internet. Thank you for the kind gesture. However, I will take a beer in person if we ever somehow meet in person instead

I already reached out to CTime and they said it'll take 3-4 weeks to just source the dial + roughly 10 days to ship. I am leaving in a few days to Europe so it won't come in time. I will just order a new watch from my TD to come in time and just swap the movement altogether. I wanted an Oyster bracelet to be able to swap with my Jubilee anyways so it works out.

I was also planning on washing the dial - with or without this thread, so I am in no way blaming this thread. I have seen a few people complain about how shitty the new Clean Factory dials are anyways, so it's more than likely just a defect. I would say it's safe to do this on all other dials. I really appreciate the info this threads brought all of us.