How do you remove tarhish from a nickle watch movement without removing the damaskeen? Thanks

A normal cleaning in a commercial watch cleaning solution followed by three rinses will do a good job.

Don

I wouldn't begin to advise anyone until I saw the plates themselves. There are all kinds of tarnish... some caused by ordinary dirt and oxidation and others that might be caused by exposure to chemicals.

And... since we are NOT seeing pictures of the plates, perhaps we should not assume that the watch has been torn down. A watch MUST be disassembled to be properly cleaned. The plates cannot be subjected to any chemical while the watch is assembled.

The only exception that I would allow would be the used of Radico, an artist's non-shedding eraser on the plates to remove fingerprints and a bit of surface dirt.

There ARE more aggressive techniques but I'm not admitting that I ever tried them and would never recommend them to others. Rinsing is extremely important. Even the most mild solvents can damage plates if they are not rinsed clean.

If you have not serviced a movement before... please.... read some articles, watch a video or take a class. If you cannot clean your watch as instructed by established procedures, do yourself and your watch a favor and have it professonally cleaned.

I agree 100%. I picked up a Hampden General Stark that was completely disassembled - all the parts look to be there. One of the plates has some serious corrosion. I ran it through my cleaner (wash and two rinses then the dryer box) and didn't take it off. I got creative with a soft brass brush and some #111 cleaner and it did a good job. Damaskeen intact. (I took the jewels out first).