The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I have an old Omega which I bought brand new in about 1964,its solid gold not plated.

The years took their toll and it stopped working.I gave it to a guy who repairs old watches and he repaired it for me.

When I got it back the first thing I noticed was how clean it was.The gold case was very clean and it seemed to be a slightly lighter colour,at first I was pleased but now there is a problem.

The gold case has now gone a dark colour,instead of a gold colour its now more like a bronze,it has become tarnished.

Clearly he cleaned it with something,any ideas what he might have used to cause it to go like this ?

I would like to clean it but I am not sure what to do. I have read on here about Cape Cod cleaning clothes.Should I use one of these ?


It struck me that the watch repairer might have used one on it and that this is perhaps what might have caused the problem in the first place.


So any advice please, how to best clean it, I dont want to have this tarnishing to come back though.




Mike.

Gold is an extremely non reactive metal and doesn't tarnish just from exposure to the atmosphere. If it has blackened then it will be as a result of either some residue left from whatever the restorer used or from a reaction to something - commonly perspiration, but any sulfur compound can be responsible - even from chopping onions.

Cape Cod should remove it as it's only a very thin surface coating, but I would first contact the restorer and find out what they used as that's the most obvious thing that changed. Also, if you are storing it in a different box than prior, switch back to the original box - over time some storage materials can cause discolouration, though that's less likely.

Sorry to hear about your issues Mike, but I'm sure it's reversible.

I also have a solid gold Omega. I polish it using brasso on a soft cloth. This has given good results for the last five years.

Do you have any pictures of the watch in it's current state?

As Roff says, your first action should be to contact the restorer.

Good luck.

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Thanks for the advice. The watch is stored in my watch box with my other watches,before and after repair.

In all the years I have owned the watch,about 45,this never happened before. It came a couple of months after getting it back from the repairer.








Pictures dont show the colour too well,but I think you should see what I mean. The colour is actually darker in real life than in the pictures.

I will get a Cape Cod cloth.


Thanks,


Mike.

A couple more pics to try to show the colour of the Omega contrasted against the Seiko.