Horological Meandering

From my understanding, a solid 18K rose gold watch (or any other color of gold) will scratch easier than stainless steel watches right? I don't have experience with gold watches before, so I am wondering how soft the metal actually is. I mean, will it pick up hairline scuff if we are not careful and just wiping it with slightly less soft cloth (not microfibre cloth)?
And if they do scratch, are they more obvious than SS surface?
Reason I'm asking is my partner usually freaks out when her precious SS watch get scratched. I wonder if a rose gold will be even much worse and obvious to see.

easier than SS

Most of the (gold) watch pictures I've seen posted by members here showed almost immaculate watch conditions. I think they tend to take more care of the watches because they're gold...

i m more careful when wearing precious metal, plus they tend to be more the dress watch category, thus less opportuinity for scratches n dents, vis a viz the SS sports watches i guess.

Hi, djmm,

as a general rule of thumb, gold (and platinum) have lower surface hardness than steel, hence will scratch more easily.

This can get a little complicated because gold can be work hardened, and there are "softer" grades of steel, but in general, it is safe to assume that gold will "scratch" more easily than the stainless used to make most watch cases.

I would be very careful with "wiping" gold cases, and even SS cases - even the softest microfiber in the world can have trapped "hard" debris - a grain of sand or pebble, for example, or a sliver of metal, whatever. This then acts as a graver or sandpaper when you rub the case with the cloth.

Are scratches more obvious on gold than on stainless?

Not usually; how "obvious" a scratch is usually is more dependent on the type of surface finish the scratch occurs on - high polished surfaces show scratches more than brushed, for example, especially if the scratch is in the same direction as the brushing.

 

Cheers,

 

TM

 

Is there a general recommendation for particularly fastidious collectors to remove dust, etc. that accumlate on the surface metal instead of carefully polishing with a microfiber cloth?  What has been your experience of the safest way to clean the surface of the case with the least change of mnor damage? 

Hi,

Avoid "rubbing" the case as much as possible;

avoid using cocktail napkins (SHUDDER!) or just any old rag that comes to hand

"shake out" whatever you plan to use that you plan to apply with pressure to the case

use the pad of your fingers to gently "pick up" whatever hard debris there might be on the surface of the watch case before you apply any clothe to it.

Remember, the hard debris could be carried by your cloth, OR on the surface of the watch already.

Cheers,

TM 

Great ideas.  I personally never use a coarse material on mine and always shake out a microfiber clothe before gently cleaning the case.  I've also used pressurized air (small canister used to clean a keyboard) to gently spray the case from a distance on occasion.  I think this may help in the chance that debris is on the case and may get rubbed with the cloth if a watch has been sitting out and not put away in a case for awhile.  I don't know if this makes a difference, but it would seem to make sense that a blast of air would help in particle removal before using a cloth.

When out of the house, I use the tip of my tongue, then blot carefully with a shirt sleeve That assumes that any dirt was not caused by a seagull or pigeons flying around as well as by anything potentially toxic or infectuous.

This method is particularly effective for removing streaks on the saphire, while protecting the anti-reflective coating.

At home I may draw out a few threads from a Q-Tip moistened with saliva for those hard to reach places, applying no pressure whatsoever.

I never polish any of my watches and frankly shudder at the thought.

With a PuristSPro All-Black Rescue Watch on a rubber strap or a screw-crowned Rolex on a bracelet, just rinse or use a mild soap and a soft brush according to instructions. The former can also be disinfected, if deemed necessary.

Of course you will never catch me lapping away at a car!

amerix
This message has been edited by amerix on 2010-04-27 01:43:12

IMHO 'though gold takes it's signs of wear more gracefully than steel.
Maybe it's only me, but I see a a gold watch that is well loved and worn alot, while on a SS watch I just see scratches.
Don

No message body

Neither Gold or SS,Just depends on the man who wearing them....

platinum..Whatever people say about its hardness Pt scratches more easly than gold and SS.It scratches in a different way,whereas RG and WG acquire even hairlines that make the watches more charming,Pt scratches badly.

Thats my experience.

Mo

...it takes a lot less effort to polish out fine scratches on polished surfaces on gold with a Cape Cod cloth than on steel.  This is a little like acrylic crystal vs. sapphire.  The former scratches easily but can be polished up quite readily as well.  The latter is hard and tough, but will need replacing if scratched.

My experience on platinum: it has about the same hardness as steel, and is most definitely harder than gold.

The softest metal commonly used on watches is grade 2 titanium.  It can pick up scratches most readily if it is not treated or coated for scratch resistance.  On the other hand, grade 5 Ti is harder than common 316L steel.

Blue

  

 

Whenever you have a white colored metal such as polished stainless steel, any scratch seems more prevelant to the eyes.  To me, I think yellow and rose gold hide scratches better. 

And for me from my personal experience, I think a scratched polished white gold case ages as badly as a scratched polished stainless steel case.  But I feel a scratched polished yellow gold or rose gold case doesn't look as bad.

- AT

 

 

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2010-04-26 21:23:02

Thanks for all the tips guys. Talking about polishing/cleaning method, I think that's why some of my watches have this unexplained tiny scuff here and there. Might have been a dust trapped on microfibre cloth. Now I'm beginning to think that my camera lens is actually more scratch prone than high polish watch surfaces, haha...

SS is much harder to scratch than any gold or platinum watch...lt is just a much harder metal!  I own both but tend to wear precious metals under a shirt's cuff.