ClenNrNG Eruannel Warcn DlnlsBy Dave Coatsworth

It is inevitable that most enamel pocket watch dialswill develop hairline cracks. This exposes a roughersurface that dirt, smoke and other contaminants willadhere to over time. The result is visible hairline cracks

on what might otherwise be a very attractive pocketwatch dial. Forhrnately there are safe techniques forcleaning enamel dials that will, in most cases, make these

hairlines virtually disappear.First, a few words of caution. Do not use either of

these techniques on painted or metal dials. The CometBathroom Cleaner is actually avery good paint removerwhen used undiluted. (Yes, I learned this the hard way!)Also, make sure everything on the dial is hred into theenamel. You may have seen pocket watch dials that have

had photos or other decoration applied by the jewelerwho sold the watch. These cleaning methods will mostlikely remove these decorations so dials like this are best

left as-is. Finally, use these methods with great cautionon early American dials that use shellac instead of solderto hold the seconds bit as you could very easily end uploosening the shellac.

In order to clean enamel pocket watch dials, you do

not need to buy an expensive 'dial cleaner' from an onlinesource. The two mostcommonly used, as wellas best, cleaners areavailable at your localWalmart! The firstcleaner, and the one that Iprefer, is CometBathroom Cleaner. Notethat this is the liquidcleaner. It is not a

cleanser, nor does itcontain any abrasives. Ihave only been able tofind this at Walmart. The

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second cleaning substance is

Polidentwhichis, of course, available atany drug store. Ihave only used the overnight variety and can notcomment on the'fast acting'varieties. (No, if you use the

mint flavored Polident you can not later claim that yourdial is in'mint' condition!)

Regardless ofwhich cleaneryouuse, youwill need a

glassjar orplastic food storage container, apiece ofbrasswire and a stick or rod of some sort.

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Bend the brass wire into the shape shown in fig LYou are going to suspend the dial, 1""*;::l:::#*;:11*'lf:u'fto completely submerge the dial in

:. - " li:":::i::1r"",T"x"i"if;3''1ff'TFigure 2 shows how the hook isthreaded through the dial holes.The hook end is run through the

'", '' hole in the seconds bit and back up

",.," through the center hole. The dialshould be suspended face-down so

Figur"e I dirt that is loosened will fall to the

bottom of the container.Once you have verifiedthe length of your hook,remove it from thecontainer.

Fill the containerabout 314 full of theundiluted CometBathroom Cleaner ifthat is what you havechosen to use. Placeyour dial face-down onthe hook and suspend itfrom the top of thecontainer using a stickorrod. (Asshowninfig3)

Figure 2

Let it sit for 10 to 15

minutes. At the endof this time, removethe dial. If you stillsee surface dirt, rubthe dial gently withyour thumb to loosenthis dirt fuither, thenrinse under room-temperature water.(Using water that is

very hot or very coldcould causeadditional cracks to

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develop.) Most dials will look very nice at this point-

However, severly stained dials may need to go back for asecond, much longer, soak. (Continued on page 3)

(Dial c leaning. c ontinued from p C I )You may also want to try the Polident method if the

Comet Bathroom Cleaner is not producing the desiredresult. The Comet cleaner may be capped and re-used untilitbecomes too dirty.

Ifyou are using Polident, fill the container 3/4 fulIwithwater. (Ifyou live in a hard watet area,you may want to usebottled water.) Next, suspend the dial on the hook andsuspend the hook from the top of the container so that thedial is completely submerged. Again, the dial should beface-down. Drop in the Polident tablet and leave itovernight to do its work. Some people who use thismethod place the container on top of their refrigerator asthe vibration from the refrigerator motor will provide someagitation. The next morning, remove the dial and rinse inroom temperafure water.

Below you will see before and after photos of twodials. The first dial is a rather extreme example. This dialwas soaked in the Comet cleaner for about one hour. Thehairlines were still visible after this, so I also soaked itovernight in Polident. While the dial looks much betteqsome of the hairlines are still visible. Further soaking mayimprove this. The second example is a more 'normal'example. This dial was simple soaked in the Cometcleaner for a couple ofhours which produced very niceresults.g

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