Turquoise Inlaid Watch Repair
This client reached out about a special Sleeping Beauty turquoise-inlaid watch that he hasn’t been able to wear in years. For one, many of the pieces of inlaid stones were very damaged on one side, but also, the shape of one of the inlaid panels was too curved so it would dig into his wrist.
In this picture, you can see how the left side of the watch is bent much more than the right side, making it uncomfortable to wear.
To reshape the watch on that one side, I would have to remove all of the turquoise to be able to do that. This actually worked out well, because that side also had a few cracked pieces of turquoise and my client agreed to remove all of the stones, and replace anything that was broken.
I was able to carefully remove all of the unbroken pieces of turquoise and use a wooden mandrel to gently reshape the one panel so the curvature would match the other side.
(Pictured is the inlay watch with pieces of Sleeping Beauty turquoise removed and in need of a good clean to get rid of all of the old adhesive.)
I then thoroughly cleaned each inlay channel so the new epoxy would have a clean surface to adhere to. If there’s still any residue, it won’t be able to hold onto it well.
Next was to recut all of the new pieces of turquoise, re-epoxy everything back into the watch, then cut and polish the stones flush with the surface of the sterling silver.
Finished Sleeping Beauty turquoise inlay watch repair.
My client was so pleased with the work I did on this watch, that he sent me another 3 pieces of jewelry to repair and is even taking virtual silversmithing and lapidary classes with me.
Do you have an inlay watch that needs to be repaired?
Click the link below to find out more about my inlay jewelry repair process or you can fill out the form below to get a quote today.