# Watch Case Alloys



## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

Being a natural tinkerer and budding restorer, I'm curious about the alloys were used in vintage Roamer cases, and how best to tackle their DIY restoration? I know I could send them abroad for fairly economical restoration, but having lost one dial 'in the post' already, I'm reluctant to try that again.

So building on this early experimental effort of months ago...










This was a severely corroded, well-knackered case, so I had to grind a lot of metal off. So much so, the stainless steel back finished up well proud of the case! So I Dremel-led that down to fit as well. But I've not re-plated it in any way, just polished it a bit. But notice - it hasn't tarnished, not even months since. This is no simple brass alloy. If it was bog-standard brass, surely it would have tarnished fairly quickly?

Moving on, I have 3 identical Type 1 cases to restore, and as with the first, I assumed they were chrome-plated. So, I thought first to strip off the 'chrome' on one first, to see what it was like underneath. Then I'd set about with re-polishing before replating it (maybe with gold). That was the plan, so I bought some chrome stripper - which didn't seem to work!

It did seem to be working in the electrolysis bath because the case quickly turned a distinct copper colour. Ah, good, it's off already, Hooray! Not quite, for by the time I rinsed it off and dried it, it reverted to a chrome but-now-with-a-gold-ish colour, and the corroded old plating seemed to be still intact!

Doh..I was expecting the chrome to come off to reveal nickel-plated brass underneath (and hopefully in good nick). In sheer frustration I wired up a sink tap to try the stuff on that - and it worked instantly. The conclusion is that whatever the finish is, it's not chrome (and my sink tap now needs some new chrome plating!). Here's a picture of two of the cases, one of which I tried stripping (the one with an uncorroded underside)..










Note the nice gold coloured tarnish to the 'stripped' one. So, anyway, I figure the plating is actually nickel, despite it's chrome-like appearance. Accordingly I've ordered some 'nickel plating solution' (nickel acetate with cobalt hardeners?), so I shall try once again to remove the nickel by electrolysis. Hopefully, I shall find a nice uncorroded 'brass' (or whatever) case underneath.

After which stage, what next? Well judging by the gold-like finish with the first efforts, why bother replating, it looks pretty good the way it is. Just polish 'em up good and leave it there?

This question remains however - what exactly is the base alloy?


----------

