I had this 714AWD glass for some time and last week I decided to have a watch maker mount it on my vintage snorkel 666 ft (714 case). The glass developed some very tiny stretches that looked like very tiny 1mm scratches, so I decided to try polish the glass with polywatch but after a lot of rubbing and what seemed successful removal the stretches came back after just 3 hours, in the same positions as before. Also, the whole glass is now covered in very thin hairline cracks that I can see in the sun moving the watch. I guess this glass is somewhat "cooked". Do you have any clue as how I could have this glass ploished the right way? I will add a picture later.
The crystal is fractured. Stress cracks like that are from inserting a wrong sized crystal, or by inserting it crooked. Either way, that's got to come out, it will not protect from moisture and eventually the cracks will continue and break the crystal. Vintage crystals are often more brittle than modern ones.
Aftermarket crystals vary widely in their dimensions, as do many aftermarket parts. As we have seen, there were a lot of Snorkel variants, and the only way to ensure a correct fit is to properly measure the bezel and fit a modern armée crystal. An easy fix.
Thanks Rev, however I found the ref for the correct crystal in this site. There's a post which says the ref is 714AWD. Now I found another one but I don't know what to do. The watchmaker told the signs were caused by rubbing of the crystal on the paper (the paper bag). That's doesn't seem true to me.
Now I don't know if I should have him reinserting the original one, what if he fails to mount that one too? I don't even know if I can find an aftermarket one.
I only wanted to put this one as my watch came without magnifier.
good news, today I went back to the watch maker, he seated the glass correctly. Then I polished it using p1000 sand paper and water and then polywatch. The result is pretty nice. Probably better result can be obtained with p2000 or p2500 sand paper but I didn't find it in the store.
Glad to hear you got it sorted.
Save some money, use Brasso instead of polywatch after using 1200-1500 grit wet&dry paper.
You get a good clear finish, same as expensive crystal polishes. Only good for plastic type crystals though.
For glass or other hard crystals, try diamond paste in different grades available from your favourite auction site.
2000-2500 is much too fine for crystals, but is good for steel cases. Trust me, I tried it!
In reply to Glad to hear you got it by bobbee
In reply to I read that brasso contains by chris
[quote=chris]
I read that brasso contains also chemicals, I wouldn't use it as there's a risk of brasso touching the bezel insert (which is in bakelite I think) and ruin it. Since I don't want to take the risk to take off the bezel and ruin the bezel insert.
[/quote]
I use masking tape to protect my "delicates"!
Polywatch and sandpaper cause more damage to bezels and inserts than any amount of Brasso ever could.
The insert is made from aluminium, then enamel painted.
In reply to Modern Armée crystals are by Reverend Rob
Just for anyone who is not aware, GS crystal is alive and well, still staffed with descendants of the original families. I buy crystals in bulk from them.
Crystals for almost any vintage watch are still available, with cyclops (magnifier) in various designs. I do have a massive cabinet with thousands of old crystals, but I find that the older ones are more brittle. Whenever possible I use new round crystals, especially some degree of water resistance is desired.
In reply to Just for anyone who is not by Reverend Rob
[quote=Reverend Rob]
Just for anyone who is not aware, GS crystal is alive and well, still staffed with descendants of the original families. I buy crystals in bulk from them.
[/quote]
I contacted them once regarding this 714AWD glass and they sent me a cross reference table with their bulova compatible glasses but they don't have this one.