This is a watch that was given to me about a week ago. It was in a box with a few other wrist watches, all of which were broken. This watch needed a band, a stem, a crown, and a new crystal. I found a stem in my inventory that matched the broken one, then added an over-sized crown for ease of winding. Instead of replacing the crystal, I spent about an hour hand polishing the original. The gold-clad case (a fairly thick overlay is evident) was caked with green waxy crud. It took a full 1/2 hour in the ultrasonic cleaner to clean it up. The movement would not run, but a tiny application of Mobius 941 to the tips of the pallet jewels got her to fire up. The band is genuine crocodile and cost under $10 from a Thailand seller on eBay. I tried to find the model name, year of production, and approximate value from various sources, but could find nothing. I am guessing it is probably from the mid-forties. If anyone can help me with further information, I would be most appreciative. I am sure this is not a valuable piece, but I love the mechanical, almost industrial look of the case design. Should be fun to wear every now and then.
Posts: 718 | Location: Upstate New York in the USA | Registered: November 21, 2008
One screw-up on my part was when cleaning the dial. I thought the color difference on the inner part of the dial was dirt, but it was actually a varnish-like coating that had worn away. I tried to make it all one color by cleaning it with alcohol and a q-tip, but in doing so, I managed to wipe away the left bottom leg of the "H" in Helbros. Boy was I ticked off. Needless to say, I decided to clean no further :-O
Posts: 718 | Location: Upstate New York in the USA | Registered: November 21, 2008
