What Do You Do If Your Watch Gets Scratched?

Scratching your watch can be extremely frustrating and it is something that is going to happen at some point, so is there anything you can do about it?

The short answer is yes, you can, although I would argue that it may just be best to leave them and let them become a part of your watch and your story. However, I will go through some of the options you can take if you do find that you have scratched your watch.    

Scratches Will Happen, So Accept It

While we all want to keep our watches in s good condition, I think we all need to be fully away that scratches are inevitable and we just have to accept that they will happen.

We can of course we can try and be careful, and reduce the chances, but really it is just a matter of time before it happens and we should just get on with our life and accept it will happen.

You need to realise that it can and will happen and at some point and we can’t protect our watches forever, you can’t win.  

(You can read more about – How Do Scratches Actually Occur On Your Watch?)

You Can Do Nothing About Your Scratches And Just Live With Them

I think the easiest thing to do when you get a scratch on your watch is …nothing.

You can be annoyed for a while, but really just move on and forget about it. You don’t need to try and fix it or deal with it in anyway. Just recognise that it is there and move on.

The watch will still work and no doubt you will end up getting more scratches, so why waste your time trying to fix it, just leave it as it is.

It just shows you have been wearing it and you lived your life with it on your wrist. Each little scratch is a moment in time you had with the watch and makes it uniquely yours and they all tell a little story about your life. They are just the equivalent of scars on our skin, it’s just a part of life and we don’t need to do anything about it. 

This is especially true when you remember that it’s just a watch, it’s just an object and while they may be valuable, it’s still just an object and wear and tear isn’t anything we need to worry about.

Watches are made to be worn so just don’t worry about it.

(You can read more about – Should You Worry About Scratches On A Watch?)

You Can Buff Out The Scratches On The Crystal

If you have a watch with an acrylic crystal, it is going to pick up some scuffs and scratches and these can be annoying as they can actually block your view of the watch, so it can be important to deal with these, so you can read the time.

My Vostok is pretty bad for this, it seems to pick up scratches very easily. I just leave them for a while and when there is a few too many I will buff them all out and basically reset everything back to looking brand new.

Doing this is very easy, you just need a cloth and some polywatch or toothpaste and you rub it into the glass. These pastes act as an abrasive, kind of like very, very fine sandpaper and you are basically sanding down the acrylic glass to level everything out, which will remove the scratches.

You can actually get very good results with this and really get your glass back to looking like new. I guess you can’t do this forever, eventually you will need to replace the crystal, but you can get away with this for some time and as I said, it’s very easy to do. You just need 20 minutes every couple of months to sit there and buff everything out.

If you have a sapphire crystal, this type of glass shouldn’t scratch… but it can crack. If this happens you need to replace it as basically the glass is broken and if it hasn’t fallen out, it probably will soon.

You Can Buff Out Scratches On The Watch Case (Or Bracelet)

If you have scratches on your watch case or bracelet, it can actually be pretty easy to buff these out …in theory.

The reality is that it can actually be quite hard and you can easily mess this up and make it look worse.

The theory is that you basically sand down whatever area is scratched and this levels everything out and makes the scratch “disappear” the issue is that how you go about this is usually what results in success or not.

A lot of this will come down to what type of surface you are actually trying to buff out, as well as the material your watch is made from.

You can use all sort of machines with a polishing wheel attached, such a dermal, but really for most of us doing things by hand is going to be safer. A jewellers polishing cloth is going to be the best thing to use for a polished surface and scotch brite for brush surfaces.

You should use something like masking tape to cover up the areas you do not need polished or brushed, and then take your time and inspect often, so that you don’t overdo things.

You can get some okay results doing this, but it can be hard to get things perfect by hand. Really you need to use the machines, but you can easily go too far with these and make it look worse, so it’s better to stick with doing things by hand. 

Scratches On The Dial

While this shouldn’t really happen, you can sometimes get scratches on the dial, and I mean under the glass. This is usually a problem you find on old watches and it is usually caused by other issues within the watch.

Usually something has broken inside the movement and it has somehow wiggled its way in between the dial and glass and basically is just bouncing around and causing all sorts of damage.

Really you need to address the issue with the movement and make sure nothing is on the dial that can cause further damage. The other way this can happen is if the glass breaks and shards of glass and general stuff from outside gets in and on the dial causing scratches.

However, usually when a dial gets scratched you can’t fix it. Dials are very delicate and often when they get damaged it is irreversible, especially by us amateurs. You can find some specialists, who can try some things, but these are expensive and you would only do this on a rare or expensive watch dial as a real last resort.

In most cases a scratched dial is just left alone as to not make the issue worse. 

Get A Professional To Deal With The Scratches

I would honestly think that for the majority of people out there it is probably going to be best to go to a professional to get your scratches dealt with, especially if they are quite bad and the watch is important to you or valuable.

I think if you have light scuffs you can probably sort those out by hand, but if you have something a little more substantial you should seek professional help.

As for how much this will cost, I guess it will depend where you live, the amount of work you need done and also the quality of the work that you want to receive. This is also why it can be best to just live with the scratches, getting someone to deal with them may just be money you would rather spend elsewhere.   

Polishing Can Effect The Value

When it comes to vintage watches, collectors like the watch to be in the original condition. They want all the parts to be original and they also want the polish to be original too …even if it is a bit scratched up

This basically means they don’t want the scratches removed and refinished a watch will reduce its value.

I will be honest, I don’t understand this fully, but I believe these sorts of collectors just feel like someone trying to remove the scratches from a watch basically removes what the factory did. It would be like finding some old antique and deciding to repaint it because some of the pain looked a little dull, which would of course ruin it and make it pretty much worthless.

When you think of it like this, it does make sense. Although, how many of us have high end watches that will become antiques one day … so maybe this doesn’t apply to us, but it is worth considering and as I’ve already said, it can best to just leave the scratches and this may be another good reason why you should do this.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a few option you can take when you scratch your watch. Personally I would tell you tell you to just live with them, then polish your crystal if it is scuffed every few months.

For some of you, doing a little bit of polishing by hand my help reduce your stress around scratches and then for a very small few of you, going to a professional may be helpful.

The problem for me is that scratches will just keep coming, so as soon as you reduce them …more will just appear, so it can be just easier to accept they are there and not worry about them.  

(You can read more about – Frequently Asked Questions About – Scratches On Watches)