FEATURE: The Microtimer is Back from the Polisher

Beautiful isn't it? Except mine wasn't quite this beautiful...

I bought my Microtimer last week for £680, which was a considerable saving on the one Watch Finder are selling at the moment... and by considerable, I mean over £500 cheaper. But the Watch Finder one was probably in better condition, to be fair.

Mine was not terrible, but it was scratched. Definitely scratched, a well used watch, which unfortunately because of the design, was a little too apparent for me. I thought I could accept it as it was, it wasn't so bad unless the light was really on it... but then I spotted that a local jeweller (Michael Jones in Northampton) is an authorised refinisher for Rolex and thought it couldn't hurt to ask.

The quote was for £100, which I thought was very reasonable, and so just a few days after getting my Microtimer it was gone again. Of course I was worried, the biggest question mark was over the logo on the face, they assured me it would still be there albeit it might look a little less sharp through an eyeglass but I was still concerned.

Similarly the clasp has an even shallower logo and the back was scratched even worse than the front. So it was a (slightly) stressful couple of days... yes, a couple of days, despite being quoted a return date of the middle of next week, I took it in on Monday and collected it today - brilliant service I thought.

They really have done a fantastic job, there was a chip on the left front (near the glass) which is now much less visible, in fact it's now more of a slight dint that you can only really see when you look closely at the reflection in the highly polished finish. The back is so much better too, with most of the scratches gone, but the engraving still perfectly legible.

I think they've done a great job of striking the balance between taking too much metal away and removing most of the scratches. There are still some fine scratches, but I think that's better than taking it too far. I'm sure those very fine scratches would soon return anyway, just with normal use. And most importantly of course, the TAG logos are all there, perfectly readable and really you wouldn't even know it's been polished at all.

So all in all, I'm incredibly happy (not to mention relieved) with the work they've done. Frankly for £780 all in, I've got myself a Microtimer that is a match for any out there I should think. The only problem is they've put the strap on upside down so I'm going to have to go and see them again on Monday to get it put right, and while I'm there I might have another gander at that Grand Carrera!