Perhaps this has been discussed elsewhere, I can't find it.

Can one remove stains from movements? If show, how?

I think running the movement thru the appropriate cleaning solution[s] and rinsing, drying properly will be all that can be hoped for. Properly done it will brighten and clean the parts/plate and remove slight staining.

Buffing a plate or polishing it will be short lived as it will tarnish quickly and may be unnatural looking.

regards,
bb

Jim, removing stains on movements is full of surprises, nice and not so nice.

Firstly, try just cleaning the plates. Many stains are actually various forms of dirt and residue that get on the plates and just clean off! Nice!

Some stains "blush" on Nickel or are "darker haze" on Gilded movements can rub off with a little elbow grease and Rodico which will not burnish the metal.

Some stains are left from when a watchmaker left some of their horrible cleaning acids on the plates, etching them with a "burned" look. Those are permanent.

Some stains on the brass and steel parts that look like little worm tracks are thought to be "spit" stains left when someone coughed out some of their acidic saliva which then migrates about driven by various levels of humidity helping the etching process on the steel part and thusly propelling the remaining "spit" along to greener pastures until it just poops out of salt. Careful polishing MIGHT remove these.

Rust stains from moving parts of the watch are sometimes found on the Plates. These usually clean off with a cycle through the watch cleaner followed by Rodico for the last residues.

FINALLY there are the few stains left by those lunatics who thought the plates were made of GOLD and dropped bits of their awful "gold test" acid on the plates. A permanent reminder of someone who accidently escaped Darwinian expulsion from the Gene pool.

Darwinian expulsion from the Gene pool

Good one Dave, and another extremely thought out and well answered post.

Buster and David:

Thanks for great adivce!

Jim

I've heard old time watchmakers used cyanide to clean plates. Is this corrosive as well as dangerous?

YES!

Thank you.

I will have to give the Rodico a try.

Doug