Hello!
There have been a few threads about restoration of HP-01 calculator watches in the past. Names like Geoff and Bryan come to mind, but there may have been others too. I just got my second HP-01. The first one is a near-mint complete-with-everything stainless steel model that cost me more than I will ever confess to my wife and that will probably spend the rest of it's days hidden away somewhere for fear of scratching it.
So I looked for another one, less expensive, preferably golden (for the sake of completing the collection) and in a state of use that will allow me to actually take it along from time to time without fear of damaging my pension money. So here it is.
And my dilemma starts: I really hate golden watches. Anything golden that is. Always did. I never had a golden watch because I knew I wouldn't like it. I tried to make an exception this time because it's an HP-01, but I don't think I want to wear this thing. Which means that:
a) I will have to look again for a well-worn stainless steel HP-01 to wear myself
b) I may have to restore this golden specimen to a collection-worthy state.
(or c) forget about completing the collection and trade the golden watch for a stainless one in similar, wearable shape? )
Anyways, I would kindly ask the experts to take a look at my photos below (caution - large images - do not download on your mobile phone...) to assess, wether or not a restoration attempt will be worth the effort. I think, the overall shape is not too bad - from a distance of half an armlength you won't notice most of the defects - but the chipped glass and the scratch across the keyboard are very prominet once you look closer. As is the damaged stripe of black paint around the housing and the worn gold plating in some spots.
So what do you think/suggest? Are there some easy fixes maybe, that will cover most of the defects without requiring total disassembly? Can this glass crystal be fixed somehow (expoxy resin maybe)? What paint to use for touching up the black stripe? How to polish out the scratches from the glass(plastic?) without removing the "Hewlett Packard" label in the process?
And yes, I found Bryans site on the web and will use this as guidline in case I have to disassemble the watch.
BTW: What has become of the project of getting replacent glass crystals mass-produced?
Many questions, I'm afraid...
Greetings, Max
http://www.bombie.de/tmp/golden_HP01_details/golden_well_worn_HP01.html