What is the best way to clean this type dial?
Thanks..Paul

Very gently, I use plain dish soap and water on painted dials as its easy to clean away the paint if you do to much.

Jim: Thanks for the reply. Do you soak the dial in the liquid or use a Qtip? Paul

I use a soft cloth with the soapy water on it. But to be honest I have pretty much stopped buying watches with painted dials as much as I can. They never clean up well for me.

That's a fairly nice Hammie dial as it is. I would put it in a small bowl of tepid water with some Joy, face down for 30 minutes. Rinse under clear warm water and blow dry with the hair dryer. No rubbing, no Q-tips. Anything else and the paint will start coming off the markers.

If you're still not satisfied, send it to International Dial to be repainted in the very same style.

regards,
bb

Buster thanks. I was talking with a friend about internation dial yesterday. Any idea what they charge for a restoration like that? How good of a job do they do? Thanks...Paul

Paul,

Warm water with a good concentration of dish soap has worked well for me in the past and a good tool would be a medium soft artists paint brush. Unfortunately, none of this ever works miracles since these dials are usually plated metal with a thin lacquer coating that deteriorates over time, but this is a relatively safe way to make them look their best.

Good luck.

William

Paul, about $35/ 40 Plus shipping. Their work is top notch.

Before and after cleaning with soap. Not perfect but it did make a big difference. Thanks for all the answers. As always great information is available here. Paul

After

I can echo Phil's advice having used International Dial several times and always had good luck and excellent work from them on painted dials (which is the only type of dial they rework) from various watch companies.
Regards, John

Nice cleaning job Paul, a slight bit of patina remaining, just as it should be. This is an old watch after all, and the rest of the watch is probably also showing signs of age too. You wouldn't want the dial to appear brand new.

Ed's right Paul. Dial now looks just fine.

Hi Paul, Sorry to resurrect a post over a year old but do you remember exactly what method of washing with soapy water you used? Did you use a soft cloth, fine brush, or as Buster suggested...a 30 minute soak with no rubbing, followed by blow drying? Thanks, Greg