Hei. Sorry for placing this most probably in the wrong section. I was polishing up a pocket watch using brasso because there was nothing else to use. It was going okay until I realised now several hours later that the not copper pocket watch is now looking more coppery than the pipes downstairs. Is it fixable ? If it’s not that’s fine because it wasn’t a precious heirloom or anything but instead an £5 gift. I’m going to be sad but I’m not going to cry over it. Im tempted to juts brasso the entire thing and hope it all turns copper looking to atleast have uniformity.
If anyone has any tricks, that Would be amazing. If not I have a fun morning of brasso-ing the rest of the watch ahead of me.
Sorry for my bad spelling, I’m not one who can articulate themselves well without verbal communication.
Thank you,
From a dumb cadet who cannae use brasso correctly.
I’m wondering if it was electroplated and you’ve taken that top layer off and begun exposing a coloured, cheaper alloy beneath. A photo might help, but if you’re taking off “silver” (I’m assuming) and it’s turning copper-y then that’s one possibility.
Probably not, so perhaps alarmist, but don’t know anything about materials or quality. I say electroplating, but it could also be a different coating type or just very thin. Brasso is an abrasive solvent at the end of the day.
A traditionally made watch you’d expect to be high enough quality, but a low quality reproduction or “in the style of” could be anything.
I wouldn’t expect Brasso to change the colour of actual silver or a solid alloy.
I searched the pocket watch up on Amazon and found the exact watch. All it states is
Case Material: Alloy
Chain Material: Alloy
Stainless steel chain.
Therefore I deduce it is a stainless steel alloy however one that is stained in brasso for now
What more can you expect from a low quality pocket watch. I’m going to try my best to remove the brasso, if it doesn’t work I’m going to try my best to cot it all in Brasso for uniformity.
You can’t ‘remove the Brasso’ I’m afraid. Brasso isn’t a finish or ‘stain’, it’s an abrasive. It polishes by wearing away tiny scratches in the metal.
Brasso will easily strip a thin plated finish with a little elbow grease, as anyone who has ever taken Brasso to the modern RAF belt buckles will know - The brass plating comes right off.
it will also take a lacquer finish off even more easily, which is almost certainly how your Amazon watch will have been finished.
Stainless steel will not turn coppery with Brasso.
What colour was the watch originally?
Don’t be. I’m with Huxley tbh. The value of the item and its materials are… immaterial
It’s a personal item and you care enough about it to want to look after it. If it is a case of having removed a thin coating, you could now try to get as even a finish as possible and look into other metal polishing compounds, perhaps a rouge, to give it a more unique colour and sheen and really make it yours while giving a little extra bit of love.
Whatever you end up doing, I’d be interested in seeing a before and after.
For those who were wondering how it looks. I’m going To make it allot shiner in the future. I have to stop now for some revision however this is not finished, just like my parade shoes… it can always be shiner.
