Can anyone tell me what causes;what looks like a fungus or mold to grow around the outer edges of a dial.And is there some way to clean them up. Second,what are the causes of the tiny dark spots that occur on some silvered dials.Any way to clean them, and get the dial looking good again.

Frank Juchniewicz

Frank,

Are these questions related to metal dials?

I believe the root cause of fungus activity is storage in a damp, dark area. Even though I live in the California desert, where the average relative humidity is below 30%, I keep a large bag of silica gel in my watch safe.

My father's old Elgin had a metal dial that turned green with some kind of fungus, don't know what it was. The watch spent its entire life in Kentucky. It was stored in a drawer without a crystal for about 25 years. I soaked it briefly (about 5 minutes) in my watch cleaner, gave it a light brushing with a soft bristled tooth brush and rinsed it in denatured alcohol. It turned out okay BUT....BUT....BUT....I tried the same thing on another metal dial and let it soak for a longer period. When I brushed it, the numbers starting coming off!

IMHO, I would never use anything harsher than a mild soap detergent on metal dials, if that. I have some old dials that are badly scratched that I plan on doing some cleaning experiments on. I will make a future posting on the before and after results.

John D. Duvall
NAWCC Member 144772
NAWCC IHC Happy Camper 192
Chapter 185 Watch Repair Moderator

[This message was edited by John D. Duvall on June 19, 2003 at 1:03.]

Yes John, the two dials I came across where metal. So I guess there is no" magic restoratve" for these guys.

Frank Juchniewicz

I tried the watch cleaning solution on a junk metal dial with no feet and the numbers were all in the bottom of the jar after a couple of minutes. Some of them were complete and looked as if I could fish them out and put them right back on.

Mild soap and water is all I would recomend.

Aaron Bereiter
NAWCC# 156432
Chapter 185 Charter 23
Chapter 185 Finance VP
God Bless America

HI Again, If the dials your'e discussing are enameled or painted on copper then untreated or possibly chipped edges will go green, this is a natural chemical atmospheric reaction.This PATINA as we call it is highly desirable on copper roofs and flashings in England.I think you'll find the spots on Silvered dials is where the atmosphere is getting through to the base metal brass or copper and the only long term solution is to re-silver the dial,you can prolong the life of the dial and put off the evil hour by light wipe over with oil.If dials are not copper then forget I posted this.Allthe best ,GED

The light wipeover with oil, on the silvered dials, sounds good to me.

Frank Juchniewicz