I just got this back from Schaffhausen and they did such an amazing job, i had to show you guys. Would have preferred if i could have kept the old dial and hands. They kept the case intact with just a light cleaning. No polishing at my request. It's now ticking and working just fine!
Before (not so great shots):
After:
Looks great, they certainly do amazing work. Thanks for posting it gives those of us who are hard on our watches some hope.
Regards,
Kevin
Wow, the before and after pics is amazing! Very nice of you to share!
Fredrik
Very nice especially the case refinish. Its a shame they do not give the dial and hands back or even retain them in the watch to keep it original. Cheers.
Excellent job as always at the Schaffhausen spa!
Got a great face lift and should be good to go for another 60 years.
Cheers,
Evan
This is certainly an option. I picked up a Mark XI two weeks ago - and although the dial and hands are looking old I asked them not to be changed. They only worked on the movement and strap. I will show some photos in due course.
I had a ladies Mark XII revised - also picked it up two weeks ago and in this case the dial and hands and crown were changed - and they gave me back the original at my request. I even got the pieces of the movement that they changed too.
It looks good Jeremy. As you can read above I decided not to change the dial and hands of my Mark XI when sent to the spa. I am not a fan of the T SWISS T dial on the Mark XI.
Interesting, I recently had my MKXI done and explicitly asked for mine back (I was worried that the "new" may not look quite as good as the old so wanted the option to change back), as technically speaking, they are mine, I own them, I paid for the new ones and should get the old ones back, but I was told flat out NO, they would not come back and they will be destroyed, to ensure that there are no marriages / fakes out there - a good enough reason, but still a little bit of a sour taste - once I got it back though I quickly got over it!
Cheers,
Ben
PS, Congrats Jeremy, a great watch with a sensational result!
y did u request for no polishing ? is it out of concern that polishing would remove more " matter " from the case , actually , i have a rather old watch on my hand and i m thinking of sending it for a spa treatment that includes polishing
y did u request for no polishing ? is it out of concern that polishing would remove more " matter " from the case , actually , i have a rather old watch on my hand and i m thinking of sending it for a spa treatment that includes polishing
BSX: I prefer to keep the casing as close to the original as possible and not thin out the lugs. Not very keen on an over polished look for my vintage pieces.
Andrew: I actually agree with you. I did request for them not to change out the dial and the hands but they said that hands change was completely neccesary and therefore the dial had to be changed to. Had emails going back and forth for a week about this. Well it probably won't be my last Mk XI. Anyone have an untouched one lying around? (:
Ben: I had the exact same reply from them. It was tough letting go... I feel your pain..
The RAF contract number and Arrow, would that have been done on the original by IWC or in UK?
Sorry to say that I much prefer the watch before the IWC treatment. They've taken the soul of the watch and significantly devalued it. I wouldn't risk sending my vintage IWC's back to IWC for servicing
Holding fire on an original watch is a good tip for any new-age restoration-collectors, holding fire and doing nothing allows an observer to remain in a neutral position or to restore, restoring does not allow you the neutral position, two arrows or one, that simple.
Untouched vintage watches are getting rarer by the week... i'd be crying for a month had someone swapped those dials around and tried to charge me monies for the priveledge.