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Antique Rolex remove gold plating.


Thailand

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Have an old Rolex that had been gold plated and it is coming off so want to remove all down to what I think is the original silver.

Is there anywhere in ChiangMai anyone can recommend and pricing if possible.

 

Thanks

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I doubt you will find anyone here who can do it. I think highly of Charoensilp for their ability to work on and source parts for old Swiss watches (they repaired over 20 Swiss watches for me). But the one watch that I gave them for cosmetic work turned out very poor and I was very disappointed.

 

Maybe in Bangkok - I don't know.

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8 hours ago, elektrified said:

I doubt you will find anyone here who can do it. I think highly of Charoensilp for their ability to work on and source parts for old Swiss watches (they repaired over 20 Swiss watches for me). But the one watch that I gave them for cosmetic work turned out very poor and I was very disappointed.

 

Maybe in Bangkok - I don't know.

What I thought. Was just going to tart it up to sell but may just sell as is and let new owner decide whether to to replate or whatever.

 

Thanks

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Rolex has a repair/service place in BK where you can get a watch serviced, I'm not sure if they would perform the task , but it's worth calling them.

 

They still had a shop in the Emporium on Sukhumvit last time I looked

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3 hours ago, Thailand said:

What I thought. Was just going to tart it up to sell but may just sell as is and let new owner decide whether to to replate or whatever.

 

Thanks

I would definitely check out some leads in Bangkok. Many people have Rolex's in Bangkok. I would imagine there is a support system in place for all Rolex issues. There is a Rolex shop in Central Festival. Maybe they could make some inquiries on your behalf.

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If the "gold plating" is coming off, that's pretty good indication that it's not a genuine Rolex. 

 

When I lived in Vietnam in 1996-7 there were many watch shops selling "antique Rolexes" and they were very, very good copies. I talked to a man who was a representative of Rolex and he said that he was there with others from the company to do inspection tours to locate those selling the fakes and "advising" them to stop, confiscating them if necessary. He admitted that to the layman, the copies were very good. But they were not actual Rolexes. 

An authentic Rolex should have nothing "coming off" of the metal. 

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1 hour ago, Trujillo said:

If the "gold plating" is coming off, that's pretty good indication that it's not a genuine Rolex. 

 

When I lived in Vietnam in 1996-7 there were many watch shops selling "antique Rolexes" and they were very, very good copies. I talked to a man who was a representative of Rolex and he said that he was there with others from the company to do inspection tours to locate those selling the fakes and "advising" them to stop, confiscating them if necessary. He admitted that to the layman, the copies were very good. But they were not actual Rolexes. 

An authentic Rolex should have nothing "coming off" of the metal. 

It's a real Rolex that was originally "silver" and was gold plated in the eighties. The watch itself is from the 50's.

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What you want to do is very difficult. Because silver is much more reactive than gold, you cannot use any , chemical agent. The only way of doing it is to use a mild abrasive to get it off, and then re-polish it using an even milder abrasive. Think of many, many hours scrubbing away with cotton wool buds dipped into these abrasives. It takes that long because the abrasives must be mild - to avoid damaging scratching.

On the one hand, any truly competent trained professional jeweller should be able to do it. On the other, if you pick someone whose abilities do not match their promises, you will get irreparable damage.

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1 hour ago, CMoldie said:

What you want to do is very difficult. Because silver is much more reactive than gold, you cannot use any , chemical agent. The only way of doing it is to use a mild abrasive to get it off, and then re-polish it using an even milder abrasive. Think of many, many hours scrubbing away with cotton wool buds dipped into these abrasives. It takes that long because the abrasives must be mild - to avoid damaging scratching.

On the one hand, any truly competent trained professional jeweller should be able to do it. On the other, if you pick someone whose abilities do not match their promises, you will get irreparable damage.

When I said silver it is stainless steel, I think! Anyway, I will put the coarse emery paper away!

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