Patek Philippe

A few years ago I went into a watch shop dealing mostly with 'previously-loved' PP and Rolex, looking for a 5296 in RG. They happened to have one in WG. I looked at it and noticed the left side of the case was quite scratched up, as though the previous ow... 

Ignorance is terrible and unfortunately there are always those all around the world.

Patek has almost stopped plating white gold except for a few lady's jewelry pieces. The older versions of white gold watches are plated, but the latest production is non-plated and thus can be plated. In the 5296 case, there are also newer versions (e.g. ... 

I read somewhere that Patek stopped plating is a false rumour from some ADs. Someone went to ask Patek service centre and they said they still plate white gold. Anyone else got info. on this?

In fact, more and more manufactures stop plating as the alloy they apply is different from the former one. You can easily contact Patek SA for validation.

I too have a disappointing experience albeit with an unplated watch. Mind you, this was the first new watch ever bought by me. The jeweler made a scratch on a brand new watch, when insisting to set the time for me upon pickup. He put the push pin into the... 

can. PP does a good job but even they tell you it will be evident where there are deep marks and they limit a piece to about 3 polishing's. Never let just anyone polish a PP watch as they always leave burns and abrasions and PP will not touch a case polis... 

Luckily it wasn't a Patek, but a small independent who's willing to work with clients to keep everyone very happy :-) I also found out why people say "Don't touch a polished used watch", which is exactly what you wrote. I think the only way to be sure (an... 

Oh well.

The gray streak could be from a bad polishing job. Some facts. In general, most modern Patek Philippe men's watches without diamonds on the case are not Rhodium Plated. I have this information from Patek Philippe directly. The 5296G is not generally rhodi... 

Polishing means taking away material. But does Patek als fill scratches if they are deep? Otherwise a deep scratch could never be repaired.

The short answer is yes, they can. But it depends on a variety of factors. Also, it's not something that Patek Philippe offers readily. For instance, Lange happily advertises the fact that they are willing to add material to case scratches. However, even ... 

It's ultimately a practice that they don't normally offer. And if they do, they don't publicize it as much as Lange does. They're certainly capable of doing it. They have the machines to do it at some locations.

PP has not plated their white gold watches for several years.