Patek Philippe

Hi All, I'm a first-time poster, here because it seems like this is the greatest collection of Patek experts on the internet, and am hoping you can help me resolve my dilemma! Two years ago, I picked up a 3796R and sent it to Patek for a service. They rep...  

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You have a beautiful watch. Polishing always takes away crispness...

Then return it to Patek after taking several photos of the watch. Tell them exactly what your concerns are. They are the true experts and will want you to be a happy customer. Personally I would just keep it as it is and enjoy it.

You have a great piece! It looks nice - in thas case colour I would not polish it and woukd not trust Patek service too much. Im happy to have you here. Welcome to the forum.

They are soft cloths with almost no abrasive effect but they will remove surface oxidation from gold.

Thanks for a thoughtful first post, and please continue to join our conversation and keep sharing your beautiful Pateks!😀 Cheers.

Your last photo is showing quite a lot of scratches which seem to be only superficial. A soft polishing will not take a lot of material away and the watch will look like brand new

but only if they can confirm it has not been or at least appears not to have been polished in the past. A first polish by PP is a non event. Its when you get to the 3rd time material lost becomes an issue.

If you have a personal jeweler you can trust, have a conversation with them about it.

I have a few impregnated soft polishing cloths made for gold jewelry and silverware. As you use them you will see the color brighten up and a black residue left on the cloth. My cloths have two layers or plies. One has the active compound and the other is... 

Indeed it looks yellow gold in many of those shots. but I must admit it is a lovely model, and I almost bought it, if I hadn't bought the 5146 instead. Key general concerns against polishing is: 1) if you plan to resell, buyers like an untouched watch 2) ... 

If it will be a safe queen or a kept treasure for the next generation then you have the option. But remember polishing removes material and that is the downside. Enjoy

don’t polish!

It seems like people are really split down the middle; almost 50/50. At this point I'm not inclined to try it myself with a cloth -- the piece is too nice for my hands to take a crack at it. Not to mention that it's not polished all around -- the sides ar... 

...but could you post a wrist shot or two?? I think the 3796 is design perfection, and I’d love to add a Calatrava some day. The 5196 is too big, the 5096 is amazing but hard to find a good example, and I’m so tempted by the 3796 but am concerned it’ll be... 

These are two that I took off-hand the other day to capture the difference in color, depending on lighting. It’s definitely a smaller piece, but I find that it wears a bit larger than it is. Relatedly, before I picked up this watch, I was considering a 51...  

I’m not sure what size my wrist is, and my daily wearer at the moment is a 36mm oyster perpetual and I regularly wear my 68 Seamaster Deville, so I’m not afraid of smaller watches, but I really need to see one in person some day to make a decision. I love...