Jewelry

[wismiss]

I have 20 watches.  (Most are low priced, fashion watches, but I do have a few dress watches.)  Only a few are silver or silver/gold, and on some the silver is tarnished.  I looked at another topic about cleaning jewelry, but I can't use liquid.  A couple of the bands are "basketweave" with a lot of indentations.  I tried using two different silver polishing cloths for jewelry,  but it took very little off.  Does anyone have an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner that produces good results?

Also, only 3 of the watches are keeping time.  The others need batteries.  Does anyone here change their own batteries or would it be better to take them somewhere to have the batteries changed?

[Kachina624]

You can't put watches in an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner.  It will ruin them.  Best thing to remove tarnish is a polishing cloth.  The Sunshine Cloth is a good brand.  Your watches, if inexpensive, may have been treated with a paint product to give an oxidized look, in which case it won't come off.  Unless you know what you're doing, I wouldn't attempt to change batteries.

[Dinaki]

I have two watches, one Tag Heuer and the other Gucci.

The TAG need to go to jeweler to have its battery replaced, as weel the jeweler shop has to be authorized by Tag Heuer, something that we dont have in Columbus GA.

I wait to go back home to Athens to have my Tag battery replaced.

The Gucci, I did changed its battery to a local store here in Columbus, I didnt want to do it myself afraid to scratch it etc etc

But darling, please dont put your watches in an Ultrasonic cleaner, you will damage your watches, you spent some good money for them (even if they are inexpensive)

[GrailSeeker]

I worked in a fine jewelry store in the early '90s.  Our ultrasonic cleaners still required water and dishwashing liquid.  Followed by a scrub with an old toothbrush and a polishing cloth.

We also used a dip for silver, which was sulfuric acid. Smelled like rotten eggs. You would have to be careful, but could use just a little dip on an old toothbrush for a metal band part only, not the watch itself.  

Usually, it is pretty easy to change a battery, using a flat edge, like a table knife to pop off the back.  You also can easily scratch the back if not careful.  Even we in the jewelry store could do that, but most people didn't mind since it was on the back of the watch and not noticeable.. They just wanted a new battery.

Look for a small tab on the back.  Some watches have that, instead of going beneath the outter edge of the back.  Then look for the battery number and order the battery from amazon.  A jeweler's loupe comes in handy here. 

You can usually remove the battery with your fingernails or a toothpick.  It should just pop out.

Then using equalpressure from your two thumbs on both sides, pop the back of the watch back into place.  

[BunSnoop]

I have some inexpensive fashion watches and do not want to pay a lot of money each time they need a new battery.  I do it myself on those with no problems.  For my expensive watches I do take them to the jeweler.

To do the battery myself, I use a seam ripper from the sewing store.  I use it to poke at the metal cover on the watch, they I remove the battery and replace it with a new one.  So simple.

[ECBG]

I would put some cleaner on a paper towel and clean just the silver.  Around the face you would need a q-tip.

[Shanus]

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@wismiss wrote:

I have 20 watches.  (Most are low priced, fashion watches, but I do have a few dress watches.)  Only a few are silver or silver/gold, and on some the silver is tarnished.  I looked at another topic about cleaning jewelry, but I can't use liquid.  A couple of the bands are "basketweave" with a lot of indentations.  I tried using two different silver polishing cloths for jewelry,  but it took very little off.  Does anyone have an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner that produces good results?

Also, only 3 of the watches are keeping time.  The others need batteries.  Does anyone here change their own batteries or would it be better to take them somewhere to have the batteries changed?

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@wismiss   I wouldn't put a watch in an ultrasonic cleaner...it'll shake up the workings. Batteries? For any non-self winding watches, I pull the stem out after wearing since it may be months before choosing that one again. Yes, it's a pain to reset time/date, but also saves a trip to the jeweler and money each time to have batteries replaced. 

[wismiss]

@Kachina624 , I ordered a couple of Sunshine cloths.  Thank you for letting me know about them.

@Dinaki , thank you for the advice about not using an ultrasonic cleaner.  Other posters agreed with you, too.

@BunSnoop , I also take my expensive watches to the jeweler to replace the battery, but I would like to wear my less expensive "fashion" watches, so I'm going to try to replace a battery on one of the older watches and see how it goes.  I never would have thought about using a seam ripper, but I do have a couple so I'll try it on one of the older watches.

@ECBG , I'm going to try the Sunshine cloths that Kachina 624 recommended, but will keep your suggestion in mind, also.

@Shanus , my jeweler also told me the trick about pulling out the stem on watches I don't wear on a regular basis, but unfortunately my "fashion" watches already had dead batteries when I learned that trick.

@GrailSeeker Thank you for all your information that you shared.  I didn't know what a jeweler's loupe was, so I looked it up.  I'm assuming you recommended one because the battery number is small.  Thank you for sharing your cleaning information and for the step by step method of replacing a battery.  I am going to pick one of the older wathes that I don't wear very often and try that.

So a big thank you to you all.