The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi guys

I was "shopping" at a Rolex dealer today, pretending I didn't know anything about watches, and I heard a very wrong statement from the dealer that I would like to clarify to anybody who's heard the same....
*He told me you can polish a steel watch 1000 times without affecting the tickness of the steel, because the steel Rolex uses is so dense!*
This is BS! Yes, it is a fact Rolex uses the hardest steel, but you cannot do this! I know there's some guys around here who always promote high polishing of brushed bracelet... as a watchmaker I completely discourage this, because the amount of steel they have to take of this bracelet to get the high polish perfect, is immense! You can tell right away by the weight of the watch before and after, it's like day and night! So, if anybody ever claims you can polish a watch more than approximately 5 times (7 times for Rolex), don't believe them! Unless you're purchasing a solid platinum watch...

Take care!
Vanessa

Vanessa,

That's good to know, however I get my Ling bracelets polished about every 4 to 6 months. So far I haven't noticed any reduction in weight or size. I have a new Bentley Motors that I haven't had polished yet but it is getting really banged up and will be ready soon. I had my old Chronomat 2 tone polished 4 times and I didn't notice any significant change in the thickness or size. I have been harassing my friend that owns a Hercules to get it polished out because it came with the "Degraded" brushed finish. Could this be a problem if I actually talked him into getting it polished ?

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LING MAN

In my opinion that would all depend on the depth of the scratches. I've polished a lot of knife blades, and they use much harder steel than watches do, for obvious reasons... and take far longer to polish. The amount of steel you have to remove in order to restore a perfect mirror polish is equal to the depth of the deepest scratch.

1000 times is a bit ridiculous though... the guy was probably just trying to impress you! I thought Rolex steel bracelets were partly hollow?

Not anymore, they used to be. Rolex has made a ton of improvements to all their lines. To keep up with the rest I suppose... And they want to be the ones that create "the ultimate timepiece"!
Take care

Vanessa

Yes and now Rolex have entered two patents for a new typr of solid clasp, looks like they are serious at last about the percieved quality of thier bracelets.....at last!

Best regards David