Independents

Bernhard Zwinz
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This is an excellent question.

In the past, cases were reconditioned by grinding out all scratches and dents first and then the same surface was restored by grinding and polishing. Of course this is always associated with a substantial material removal and thereby also a change in geometry. It leads to that ‘rounded off’ look where all the crisp edges of the new watch have been lost. For instance, on many historical wristwatches from Patek Philippe or other makers, when you view the lugs closely, you can see how often the case has already been reconditioned. (Today, some brands use new possibilities such as first closing dents and dings by laser welding with additional material, but this is costly and complicated).

With my case, I can also draw on another old technique, which is hardly used today due to time saving and cost issues. Because of the particular, consciously designed geometric structure of my case, bezel and case back, most surfaces can be refinished in the future by a well known technique called lapping.

During this process I do not work with different cloth or felt disks (which are the cause of the edges becoming rounded), instead I can set the various angles exactly with the help of a tool and then work with several grinding and polishing papers on a hard-backed and rotating disk. This assures me an exact geometry and the individual edges are not rounded off. Several historical machines and tools are available in my workshop for this work. When done this way, the watchcase  will still look fresh and brand new, even at any point in the future after several service periods.
 
Perhaps in the future I could describe this technique further in short report. Otherwise of you like, I would be pleased to show you these techniques during a your next visit in Switzerland ;-)
 
Should any other questions rise up, I’m happy to answer them.

Cheers, Bernhard