I picked up a private label 974. It is signed M.W. Bassett, Hartford, Conn. It has a 4 foot dial.

The dial has hairlines and a chip at the 2 position. What are the odds of finding another dial in good shape? None to impossible? That would be my guess.

Would one of the dial repair shops do a good job and are they expensive? I have never used one and I don't know which one does the best work. Should I clean it and put a dab of porcelain repair stuff on it or would that hinder the dial repair shop?

Or maybe some of you who have a lot more experience in these matters may have another better suggestion.

All recommendations are welcome.

Thanks,
Harry

Here is a rather extensive dial cleaning thread. Be careful if the dial has red numbers not to leave it in some of the the cleaners to long as red will fade a little.

Hello Jim,
Thank you very much for that information. I had actually read the first page but after your post I went back and read all of it.

I was using (and still am) a jewelry clean that has two speeds. It does not have heat but just vibrates. I was using a professional jewelry cleaner that worked very well but I decided to try the comet and it worked just as well. But the post really did not answer my question about the dial and weather I should clean it before sending it off to have it repaired. Sometimes that could make the repair job more difficult.

Harry

Go ahead and perform your "magic" to the dial repair.

Professionally repairing porcelain/enamel dials generally start at $350 on the low end and go up from there into really big $$$$

The four footed dials are hard to find in better condition. A pristine correct four footed seconds sunk dial for your 974 will set you back $125.

Generally you will find a whole lot of Private Label four footed dials on the lower grade Hamilton's. One of the main reasons is because they have been switched "down" to the lower grades and the "Hamilton" signed four footed dials have been switched "up" to the higher graded Hamilton's.

For that reason I stay away from the PL dials unless the movement is also marked with the same PL.

regards,
bb

Hi Buster,

In this case the movement is also marked M.W. Bassett. So the dial is correct with the movement but to me $350 is a lot of money so I'll take your advise and do what I can to make the dial look better.
Thanks,
Harry