Hello all. I picked up this nice size 12 1936 Waltham Colonial Riverside. There is some dirt on the dial and I wonder if there is guidance on cleaning it. What is the possibility that the dial would be ruined if I tried? Thank you in advance for your help!

front with bezel

...and the movement

Bonus question. Any guesses on what "First Class" was? Top of the class in school, at work??

I've seen far worse dials. I'd leave the dial alone. The only watch dials that can reasonably safely be cleaned are enamel dials. Painted metal dials like your dial are fragile. Anything you do to clean the dial, apart perhaps from very gently brushing away any dust or dirt particles, likely will damage it. The only safe alternative is to find a replacement dial you like. You probably can find one in good condition that isn't too expensive. Because your watch isn't a rare or scarce collector's item, I wouldn't hyperventilate about installing a different style dial that you like. A more expensive and less satisfactory alternative would be for you to have the dial refinished. A few firms specialize in refinishing dials. They usually do a good job, too good a job in my opinion. Refinished dials often look disconcertingly new. Worse, the refinishers have a hard time making dial signatures look original and sometimes they change the fonts or even the design. I speak from considerable hard experience. I now only would have a dial refinished if finding a good, unrefinished replacement dial would be difficult and I cannot stomach the existing dial.

Thank you Ethan.

I'm with Ethan. Dial to me isnt that bad and you will ruin it trying to clean. You cant clean a metal dial it is what it is. Leave it be and enjoy it. My .02

I know this is not where this goes but I can't get into other topics due to my membership expired. I have emailed the administrator 3 time over a month with no reply. Can someone contact them or tell them I need help with my membership?

Thank you,
Larry

Debbie
I replied did you get my email?
Larry

Debbie
Did you get my e-mail?

Larry

Larry;

Just paypal $12 to ihc185@roadrunner.com with your name and email address and Dr Debbie will do the rest

Debbie
I just sent the money to the ihc185roadrunner.com account.

Larry