Wenger Military 79082

[Aloha]

I picked up this working Wenger watch but with a badly scratched crystal ( mineral ).  I figured I would have a go at trying to restore it.  I like how its coming along so far but mineral is a PITA to work on.  I need one part for the band where it connects to the lugs and it'll be ready to wear.


 

[enki_ck]

Forget the metal band.

That watch would look sweet on a black NATO band.

Let us know how the restoration progresses.

[Aloha]

I may get a nato band but other than Rubber and Metal I've not used Nato ( canvass, nylon??).  Mineral is a PITA to clear up and as you can see it has cleared up very well considering. 

I used Optical grade Cerium Oxide (99%) pure and a felt wheel on my dremil clone.  I needed to be able to slow down the RPMs to not heat the crystal.  Slow and easy checking for heat as I went was my approach.  I did remove the bezel and that was another PITA.  The spring the lies under and rides withiin a groove was bent.  I appeared that the bezel as possibly removed or damaged at some point.  I also noticed that there was some denting on the ring the bezel rides on as well. 

I bent the bezel slightly when removing and it was easily reshaped and went back on decently.  It's not as smooth rotating as new but it wasn't moving when I got it. 

I'll give the case a polish and call it good other than the band.  All in all not a bad watch and a great opportunity to test my approach to mineral crystal polishing.

I'll post up more pics when I'm closer to being done.  Thanks for having a look.  .     

[Aloha]

   I put the watch away and never thought about it again.  When I moved ( twice ) since this thread the watch was sitting collecting dust.  Just the other day I picked it up ( dead battery ) and thought to have one more go at it.  This is about as far as I can take it.  The mineral glass really cleared up quite nice considering how foggy it was and the scratches.  The bezel is still damaged but I wont need to turn it so  . 

I had this cheap strap which I love the color so I decided to put it on and give this watch a much needed breath of life.  I'll wear it as is and see how I like it.  Under a loop or magnification you can see how badly scratched the mineral is.  I'm sure with more work I could take it a little further but I can see the hands so alls good. 

I forget how much I paid?  I'm sure it was super cheap as I was picking up watches for $15 max at the time.   

[Aloha]

Here it is with another Swiss Army watch I found for cheap.  I actually like this one more as it is easier to read. 

Yes I know the date is wrong  . 

[enki_ck]

Yup, I always preferred a black faced watch too, comes with the preference for the dark side



Btw, does that green strap glow in the dark?

[Aloha]

That would be AWESOME if it did but no sadly. 

Dark side still have cookies? 

[enki_ck]

The best ones in the galaxy