Shatz Royal Mariner case...

[madmax9]

I write from Italy, thank you for your hospitality, I bought a Schatz Royal Mariner fully functional and in very good condition, I tried to clean the case as I believe that it was in solid and full brass but I noticed that the edge of metal around the glass has lost the yellow and appeared a silver color, what do you suggest, can I remake a brass treatment to report it as it was? And I would like to know if theese watches were all in lacquered metal or some of them in solid/full brass?

thanks for your time,
Max

[Burkhard Rasch]

Hi.Max and wellcome to this message board! Schatz ship bell clocks as far as I know allways came in spun brass cases,never heard of any lower metall plated to replace brass.If You want to be sure try wether the case material attracts a magnet:If yes,it´s steel plated,if not I´d bet it is solid brass.Some makers laquered their brass cases with a lightly colored laquer to give the brass a deeper,golden shine.Maybe You polished off that laquer and the underlying bright brass makes the impression of another material.You then have the choice of leaving it as is or stripping off the laquer and relaquering it.HTH
Burkhard

[Uhralt]

According to my own painful experience the case of the Schatz Royal Mariner is massive brass, but the bezel that holds the thick glass is NOT. It is a cast bezel made from a gray-silverish metal with a thin brass overlay that can be easily be polished-off. The bezel is not magnetic and can therefore easily misinterpreted as brass.

When I had polished-off the brass from the bezel of my Royal Mariner I used some metal-containing brass-colored paint to touch it up. It looks not too bad but purists might prefer to leave it as it is.

Uhralt

[Burkhard Rasch]

ouch,didn´t know that!Thanks for the advice,learned something new...(like allmost every day)
Burkhard

[enfunk]

Hello Uhralt,

I am now where you were a year ago... my Schatz Royal Mariner bezel was pitted and very "pale." Thinking it was a poor lacquer application, I began to gently polish and found the same thing you did: base metal is silver, non-ferrous. I am committed now - could you please share the paint product and technique you used to make it look more like brass?

Thanks in advance,

Erik

[Rick_D]

Add my name to the club. My Royal Mariner now has a silver bezel but I've grown to appreciate the two-tone effect.

Rick

[dAz57]

over the years I have only ever seen one maybe two royal mariners with solid brass bezels, this out of hundreds I have serviced and checked in the last 40 years, the bezel is zinc casting brass plated, the case is thin brass and the backs are steel, you would think for the money they charge for these things you would get a solid brass bezel.

none of the plating shops around here will touch them, so the only way I found is to clean the bezel smooth and gold paint it, I just got one in for a service, that I did a service on 20years ago, the paint on the bezel still looks fine.

I clean the bezel, use a primer undercoat, then a metallic paint like rub n buff, this type of paint can be lightly rubbed after it has dried and will take on a soft metallic shine, you can use a combination of oxidised gold and a brighter gold or brass to give an aged look, what I really don't like is the cheap pale gold sprays, makes it look really cheap, be better to paint the case black in that case

[Uhralt]

over the years I have only ever seen one maybe two royal mariners with solid brass bezels, this out of hundreds I have serviced and checked in the last 40 years, the bezel is zinc casting brass plated, the case is thin brass and the backs are steel, you would think for the money they charge for these things you would get a solid brass bezel.

none of the plating shops around here will touch them, so the only way I found is to clean the bezel smooth and gold paint it, I just got one in for a service, that I did a service on 20years ago, the paint on the bezel still looks fine.

I clean the bezel, use a primer undercoat, then a metallic paint like rub n buff, this type of paint can be lightly rubbed after it has dried and will take on a soft metallic shine, you can use a combination of oxidised gold and a brighter gold or brass to give an aged look, what I really don't like is the cheap pale gold sprays, makes it look really cheap, be better to paint the case black in that case

I used the same technique as dAz57. It is important to use a paint that contains real metal particles and to try to match the color of the brass as well as possible. When in doubt, go darker rather than brighter than the brass. The brass will darken over time, unless you put a layer of clear laquer over it. In the US, Michaels carries a variety of metal paints that are suitable. RubnBuff works well.
Uhralt