Microscratches from gentle watch cleaning?

October 19, 2021 11:25 AM

I recently bought a nice watch, and I've been incredibly careful with it. Part of the case is made from polished titanium. A few days ago, I decided to clean the polished surfaces with a microfiber glasses cloth and no solvents. To my surprise, when viewed under a harsh LED light, this cleaning attempt clearly left a number of very fine hairline scratches on the metal.

I should stress that these "scratches" are largely invisible in most lighting and only come out in full when I have my desk lamp on. They also don't necessarily bother me. What I'd like to know, though, is why this happened in the first place and whether it's expected. I'm surprised that a microfiber cloth could leave these kinds of (very) faint marks. Maybe this was caused by whatever microscopic grit was trapped in the sweat/oil from my hands? If that's the case, should I assume that there's no perfect way to clean a watch and that I ought to stop thinking about it? I want to know if I did something incorrectly, but Googling this issue produces little to no results. (Maybe nobody else is nitpicky enough to see or care about these marks, but knowing the watch community, I kind of doubt that.)

posted by archagon to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (4 answers total)

This will certainly have been caused by grit, rather than by the cloth. The grit responsible may have started off on the cloth, or might have settled on the surface of the watch from somewhere, or it may have come from your fingers.

It could be from all sorts of sources. Titanium has a hardness of 6 on the Moh scale. It's a bit harder than steel or glass, but there's still plenty of stuff out there that will scratch it.

I don't have any highly polished watches, but I do clean camera lenses, which are also easy to scratch if you're not careful. It's often worth rinsing or swabbing gently with water or alcohol first, to wash away any grit before applying any pressure.
posted by automatronic at 11:49 AM on October 19, 2021 [2 favorites]

Grit is almost impossible to avoid unless you’re in a cleanroom. It’s in the air, on surfaces, on your hands, and in your pocket scratching your phone screen. There are so many sources of grit, from ordinary dust that gets kicked up off the ground, to brake pad particles from nearby roads, to volcanic ash that’s traveled halfway around the world.

One of the best things you can do is to first blow or gently brush whatever you’re cleaning before rubbing it with anything (or rinse it with water if you can). And when you do rub it, don't apply a lot of pressure. When I’m cleaning camera lenses I also try to use new lens tissue straight from the package or freshly-washed microfiber that's been kept in a sealable bag, and if possible I wash my hands first.
posted by theory at 12:34 PM on October 19, 2021 [2 favorites]

Did you examine the watch under the harsh LED before you cleaned? Are you certain the hairline scratches came from the cleaning? It's possible they were there from new, or from the wearing since new, and not the cleaning.
posted by birdsquared at 7:29 PM on October 19, 2021

Hi! I am part of the watch community, and yes, many of us are this nitpicky and notice this stuff. These sorts of microscopic scratches are super common. On highly polished surfaces, they are more noticeable - if other parts of the case are brushed or sandblasted or some other type of finish, you won't see them with the naked eye even under light, but look at those same surfaces under a loupe and you'll find all kinds of tiny scratches.

You didn't do anything incorrectly. Enjoy your watch!
posted by bedhead at 8:58 PM on October 19, 2021