Apologies if this topic has already been discussed in a pervious thread.

Can anyone recommend a good company that can refurbish vintage Bulova watch dials?

The dial on this watch is a little worst for wear and am wondering if it's worth getting re-done.

Stephen,

International Dial, among others, does good work on dials of that type. Their rates are quite reasonable.

I believe that your dial is one that has the numerals and text hard-enameled to a sterling base, and that the refinisher only has to properly align the screens for the base color and the numerals in order to achieve a near perfect configuration. As long as you are comfortable with a new-looking dial in an eighty year old watch, it should work out well.

Do a board search for "International Dial" to find contact info, testimonials and examples of their work.

Regards,

Cary

Thanks Cort.

It looks like they have let the website registration lapse.

Does anyone have an email address for them?

Stephen.

I don't have an email but here is an address:

International Dial Co., Inc.
P.O. Box 970
58 W. Sugartree St.
Wilmington, OH 45177

ph: 937-382-4535
fax: 937-382-5958

Here is an example of a recent restoration by International Dial:

Thank Tim, I'm in Australia so a bit tricky to contact them.

Thomas, they certainly do a wonderful job. If you don't mind me asking how much (ball-park) did this restoration cost?

Stephen.

The cost was $22US

WOW, thats a great price. I just had another company want to charge me $300 to redo the dial and service the movement.

As I've already serviced the movement myself it would be a waste of money.

Looks like it will be worth sending to them.

Cheers!

Stephen,

It's basically a screening process. The dial is cleaned down to it's base, a new background coat is applied and the text and numbers are applied, much like silk screening a t-shirt design. As Tom's dial is a one color screen on a one color background, it's one of the simplest and thus most inexpensive dials to refinish. International does great work for the money on these type dials. Ballpark estimate (based on similar work I've had done recently) for your Bulova dial would be $35 or so, plus postage, as the luminous has to be applied in another step, after the dial base is redone.

More complicated designs, involving intricate details, multiple colors, applied numerals (which have to be removed and reset), diamond dials, subdials, and things that are so unique that new screens have to be created for them are more expensive. I'd say that dials I've had done recently (I use four different companies) have ranged from about $25 to about $50, with the average in the $35 range.

Of course, I can refer you to companies in Switzerland that do wonderful work starting at around $200. If I were doing a Rolex bubbleback or a nice Patek, I'd use one of them. But for a watch that may not be worth that much when complete, the prices charged by most of the US firms are reasonable, and the quality of the work is usually very nice.

Regards,

Cary

And... don't forget the hands. International will do them also . It might be a good idea especially with luminous hands.

Regards, Jim

Do you know if International Dial take international orders? Seems a funny question really doesn't it. Do they take Paypay?

Ahh I wish they had an email address......

Is it just a simple case of mailing the dail to them with a return address? How is payment usually made?

Thanks for the info Cort!

Here's a link to their website:

International Dial Co.

Hi Stephan,
This is a fairly good photo of the dial of my watch. The dial was really trashed when I sent it to Sammi Smith. I don't know who he had repair it but I really didn't think it was ever possible for it to look like this. By the way, his work is SUPER. The watch is very accurate. Thanks Sammi.