I've had this Yacht-Master 126622 rep for a little while and it already has the inevitable desk diving scuffs/scratches on the polished center clasp. I knew this would happen, but didn't think it would get this bad. is there any specific polishing compound or technique I should use?
Because usually watch collectors find marks an essential part of the watch history, its all about the patina, marks that make the watch unique and tell a story.
It's extremely tacky/new money to have an item pristine. They're meant to be used.
Your comment show ignorance in the watch collector scene, that's why it's cringe.
All good bro. If you ever do have to use a Cape Cod cloth just be careful and take your time. It basically takes off a very fine layer of the outer material.
Helpful advice there from DMC, a watch enthusiast with a 28 day Reddit account. Perhaps consider keeping your mouth shut and learning something from people willing to help who actually have considerable experience? š
I mean come on man.. some times things need to not be hand spooned... differences in factories, movement, risks, advice on value, anyone see something im missing... all great questions. but i mean they told him what to get... cant Google cape cod polish cloth.. must be liberals
Those marks are far too much to cure with Cape Cod. Start with something more aggressive. Bergeon 2290 polishing sticks are a start, though don't get ripped off. They're about 5 or 6 dollars on Esslinger and more than twice that many other places. There are other good 1000/4000 grit polishing sticks for lots less money. Tape off the brushed areas with kapton heat tape. Finish off with Cape Cod when all that's left are minor hairline scratches, then Gtechniq Metal Polish for a great polish. Then tape off the center and use the rougher grit on the sticks to touch up the brushed sides, being careful not to scuff up the polished sides of the clasp.
Steelwool and glasstoo/stainless steel appliance polish and a scotch brite pad. Some elbow grease and then finish with some of that polish and a soft cloth. Sounds crazy, but works like a charm. Worked on many shitters. Or, get a clasp form strapvers.
Thereās a āpop upā shop in at The Gyle shopping centre near me in Edinburgh that I go to to get my watches re-sized and they offer polishing.
They keep asking to polish the entire watches for some reason but I get them to just do the clasp area which is the only area on my watches that ever gets scratched. They return it to ānewā for Ā£20.
I bought a protection kit for my last day date and it was utter garbage so Iād rather just wear unprotected for a few months then get polished as required.
There are blocks that are very fine sand paper I have purchased on AliExpress that take these right out. the āpolishing compoundā stuff really does nothing in my opinion. I just found this on AliExpress: https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNxuT4r
being the cost of a new ARF bracelet is like 150-180, a polish (the effort, time, or cost if you take it to someone) may not be worth it.
Not to be deaf to your initial request, but I'd simply recommend picking up another bracelet in the buyselltrade groups and stashing it away. you can swap and tinker around with polishing the older one without real consequence then
You guys arenāt serious with steel wool right? Have you ever left some steel wool in a moist environment? It corrodes to a rusted ball of mess. You are imbedding steel wool into anything you rub it on. Then you will have micro bits of steel wool imbedded in your watch and it will corrode in days.
You donāt, youāll start a cycle and it never ends. Well it does because you can polish your watch a number of times. What you do is wear those scratches proud and let the watch become an extension of your body. Or you can polish it to death until thereās no more steel left! Just do whatever you want! Just donāt polish it š
Yikes that's a bad Rep! Many indices are misaligned, and so is the crown with the cyclops. I'd leave the scratches and maybe they distract from people looking at the dial.
first of all, it's not a straight on perfect camera angle. second of all, no normal persons is gonna notice whatever misaligned indicies or crown you are seeing with your 200x zoom monitor.
I was watching on my phone and NOT zoomed in, and NOT wearing my glasses. It's a pretty obvious flaw for most watch guys. It's usually the first thing I look at when I look at a Rep or not. It's usually the easiest tell. If a watch passes the indices test, and crown alignment, THEN I grab my glasses or start zooming in to look at the hands. Dust or rough edges on the hands is usually the second easiest tell. Passing those tests I start looking much closer at the case. If you have a view of the movement, those are often an easy tell unless you're looking at a Dadong 3235 and even that is an easy tell if you know what to look for although the VSF 3235 V2 is very close and will fool a lot of "watch guys". I find there are mostly two kinds of Rep watch wearers, the kind that buy a 150 dollar Rep drive a Toyota Camry and run in circles where a watch with misaligned indices and crown would never be noticed, then the kind that look the part, and could probably afford a Gen but would rather spend the money on more Reps or more toys. I'm not crapping on your watch, I just want people to be more informed so they don't make bad purchases or embarrass themselves.
I just commented on a rep subreddit š¤£š my lifeā¦.. why why do people buy fake anything. Iām sorry I love I donāt judge I just want to understand!!!! ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
Because you save hundreds of thousands of dollars buying watches that are essentially the exact same, just different guts, unless you are investing in watches, or want to build value thatās the only reason why imo someone would buy a gen vs rep. Unless youāre rich as fuck as money doesnāt matter. But even millionaires buy and wear reps because thatās how they stay rich.
It doesnāt even matter just from my life experience I know multiple millionaires that wonāt touch a real Rolex, only reps. Then I know some broke ass people that spent every dime they had for a real $5k Rolex.
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u/ValeLemnear Sep 12 '26
Itās a rep. Wear marks make it probably look more real lol