34mm 9k gold trench watch, one of the softest cases I’ve ever worked on — press too hard and it starts looking like a crushed can
Polishing it was a nightmare because you have to be careful with every bit of pressure
I sold it for $1300 a few years ago and honestly wish I had kept it
Would you wear something this fragile or keep it safe in a drawer?
So I had this old 38mm silver pocket watch. Enamel dial, niello on the case, probably sitting in a drawer since my grandad's grandad.
I wanted to actually wear it, but I didn't want to mess with the original case. So I designed a silver extender in 3D, cast it from 925 silver, and polished it.
Now the watch just sits in it. Slides right out if I ever change my mind. Original case — untouched.
The enamel gave me some trouble during polishing. Chipped a bit, had to fill it, fire it, polish again. You can't really see it now, but it was a pain.
Anyway. Looks decent on the wrist. What do you think?
Chrome on old watch cases is a thick layer. Sand it and you wipe out the hallmarks and engravings underneath.
So I skipped the sandpaper. Used a 12V car charger and a salt solution. The case goes in the bath, chrome should come off without touching the base metal.
Will show results later. Anyone tried this?
Hello everyone. My website antiquewrist.com
I built it at middle of May, made on Django by me. Main thing - 3 months passed and almost no pictures indexing, only 20-30 of 1000. I did total 301 redirect from all pages to exact same pages on new domain. Also, this domain is 14 y.o, so it must be not big problem for google to put it in index back. Plus, all these pictures already was indexed on another website, and I did redirect.
What am I doing wrong? All tech side is IDEAL. Nothing stops pictures from indexing but why?
Hello everyone. My website antiquewrist.com
I built it at middle of May, made on Django by me. Main thing - 3 months passed and almost no pictures indexing, only 20-30 of 1000. I did total 301 redirect from all pages to exact same pages on new domain. Also, this domain is 14 y.o, so it must be not big problem for google to put it in index back. Plus, all these pictures already was indexed on another website, and I did redirect.
What am I doing wrong? All tech side is IDEAL. Nothing stops pictures from indexing but why?
It was really hard to polish inner cover so one hallmark almost get lost... watch is tiny abt 28 mm
Case
Case material - solid silver – tested
Measures 43 mm in diameter without lugs.
Case has English hallmarks - Newcastle
Case marked J V - Jacques Vorpe
Movement
Winding, sets and runs perfect, please look video.
Swiss made, key wind, jeweled.
Dial
Dial has gold décor and guilloche engraving, gold Roman hour marks, blue color hands.
Mineral crystal.
Bracelet/strap
Black quality genuine leather watch strap with sterling silver buckle with screwed key.
Special key for setting hands and winding.
Lug width 22 mm.
Case
Solid silver case, 935 purity, fully hallmarked by Swiss assay office
Case after carefully polishing, screwed down cover and bezel Borgel style case
Signed by Hans Wilsdorf Bienne
Case size: 34mm without crown and lugs
lug width: 12 mm
case nbr: 14459
Movement
High grade Rolex movement, 15 jewels, stem setting, manual winding;
the movement has stamp "W&D" (Wilsdorf and Devis) under the dial;
Dial
Metal dial black color in great condition with small marks of using,
Arabic numerals, steel hands with luminous paint, the dial signed "Rolex"
mineral glass
Band:
Genuine leather vintage trench strap (NOS) - for 12 mm lugs.
Case
White chrome-plated Art Deco case in excellent near-mint condition with a beautiful guilloché-patterned case back.
Size (excluding crown and lugs): 49 mm
Lug width: 24 mm
Inner case back signed RWC Ltd and Hans Wilsdorf, with Rolex coronet stamps.
Serial No.: 77035-10
Movement
Swiss-made 15-jewel manual-winding movement, the most common movement used in Rolex Marconi watches. Fully serviced, timed, and adjusted. Power reserve approximately 24 hours. Supplied with a one-year warranty covering movement issues.
Dial
Original beige metal dial with gold hour markers, a blue 24-hour inner track, and a subsidiary seconds dial at 6 o'clock. Original blued steel hands in excellent condition. The dial is in overall good condition with only minor signs of age and use.
Crystal:
New acrylic crystal, 42.5 mm.
Strap
New genuine leather Bund strap in bright brown, 24 mm wide
I restore antique watches, and today I finished another Rolex. Yes, I do restorating dial, but I dont paint new. Lugs are welded. ITS NOT MARRIAGE. There is screenshot example of how I usually getting the watch into my workbench. Here's an example screenshot of what state I usually get the watch in when it arrives on my desktop.
Which should I try next?
Which piece should I try next? Golden Patek Maybe? antiquewrist.com
Spent a week to find new balance staff and restore dial to nearly mint. It is not marriage! Lugs welded.
Movements, dials, hallmarks — 300+ photographs across 5 categories. Rolex/Aegler, Cortebert, Ulysse Nardin, FHF, Fontainemelon, Valjoux, Angelus, Corgemont and others. Trench watches, high-grade movements, dial variants, case maker stamps. 1900–1945.
It's hard to do alone — one person can only handle so many watches. If you have clear movement or hallmark photos you'd like to add to the archive, drop a comment.