Hello, Great forum. This is my first post.

I would like to get information on refinishing dials. Is it all hand work or can computer graphics be used somehow? The kind of work I see on restored dials is hard to believe... wonderful.

I recently bought an Illinois wristwatch with a very dirty dial. Is it possible for a novice to clean and restore it or must I have it done professionally? It is not only dirty, but I can see brass showing through the background color.

Thanks for any and all help. Jim
P.S. What model is this?

I did a search on dial restoration and I can see that it is for the pro's only.Thanks, Jim

That one does look like it's in need of one...

This is one I had done recently by International Dial. The finish is what they call "Dark Radium" or "Antique Radium". It's not perfect, but it's about my favorite of what they do, and for $30 or so, I'm pretty happy. They will do the hands (these are the originals) for another $7 or $8, and I have been really pleased with the ones I've had them do. They currently have a Hamilton Cushion of mine in for this same treatment. I'll post pictures of it when it returns.

The watch is an Illinois Futura, and it's a work in progress.

Regards,

Cary

Cary, looks like they did a pretty perfect job! For comparison, here's an original dial on my Wentworth.

I highly recommend International Dial for Hamiltons. Here's one of my Cushion Forms before and after dial restoration (same camera was used for both photos):

Interesting, Thomas; I wonder what made them switch which parts of the dial would be white, and which gray? Maybe the other was an older (incorrect) redial? I prefer the refinished dial's figuration.

The center portion of the dial has what is called "butler" finish, and depending on the angle light hits it, it changes colors. You'll notic the camera angle wasn't identical between the shots, making it look like the refinished version is different.
Here is one of Bryan Girouard's photos from a couple years ago:

Wow... it's hard to believe such precise markings being done with a pantagraph. And the pricing is also unbelievable.

Cary, It's difficult to see any imperfections in your dial. It surely looks good to me.

Thomas, The fineness of the color work is phenominal. Getting different tones based on the angle must be very difficult.

Thanks all for your input.

The markings aren't done by pantograph. They are engraved into a metal die (or in modern dies, plastic). The dial is mounted in a support, next to another support that holds the die. Ink is spread over the die and then wiped off, leaving ink only in the engraved portions (as in intaglio engraving in the printing industry). Then a press with a rubber dome on the end is pressed onto the die. The ink transfers to the rubber, then the press shifts to the side and presses onto the dial, leaving the printed impression exactly as it appears on the die. It's a true art to do this neatly, which is why some refinished dials have fuzzy or incomplete markings. It obviously requires some precise alignment as well.

Some early Hamilton dials (and probably other companies as well) were engraved. On those the markings were etched into the metal and filled with hard enamel. When these are refinished today the original engraving remains, so after restoring the finish itself the original engraving it filled in again and the dial looks new-old-stock. No printing required. The only problem with these comes from being refinished many times over the years. Each time the old finish is removed it is sanded smooth, and if this is done too aggressively some of the detail of the original engraving can be lost. I've seen that a lot on Piping Rocks, for example.

Thanks René, that is a great explanation of the process. I have a printing background so I get it. You could also call the "Intaglio" a "Gravure" process. One could do it all with a small darkroom and a good tabletop letterpress. All you would need then is about 2000 NOS dials to photograph Or one heck of a good Photoshop technician.

Regards, Jim