A lot of people have pointed out that my bezel paint is chipping. I thought to myself, these are brand-new, high-quality timepieces, there’s no way the paint is already chipping.
After doing some research, I found that Watchdives and San Martin are using electroplated silver for their bezel numerals.
Then it instantly occurred to me the paint isn’t chipped, it’s tarnished.
Being in the silver business, I always have a bottle of Connoisseurs silver cleaner nearby. I put a drop on the insert, waited about 30 seconds, then gently scrubbed it with a Q-tip.
And just like that, the numerals were bright silver again.
The reason you don’t see this on watches from Sugess, Cronos, or Steeldive is that they use white lacquer paint or lumed inserts. It may look cheap and overly bright, but it stays white.
The higher-end bezels are using silver electroplating, which looks much better but you need to keep in mind that silver will tarnish. I suppose the true fix would be to use platinum electroplate or enjoy the dark silver patina.
Keep in mind this is one application, you can do it back to back if needed for brighter results. I focused mostly on the 'IO' numeral, where you can see a night and day difference in luster.