Mid-case pitting, what to do

[studioal]

Hello,

I bought this '89 79090 about 8 years ago and had it serviced after seeing some fog under the crystal. My watchmaker did the full service, but wasn't able to get it to pass even 1 BAR on his pressure tester. He attributed this to the rust and subsequent pitting that had formed on the mid-case where the crystal contacts it. He removed the pitting with his lathe and was able to get a pass @ 10 BAR. However, it's been left with some unsightly degradation where the pitting was/is that I can see through the crystal just outside the rehaut.

Is it fixable? I wonder if the case could be microwelded and refinished. Any idea what something like that would cost? It doesn't bother me too much, but I was thinking that if I ever wanted to move this watch it would likely bother someone and/or greatly impact the value.

You can see that bright dappling on the perimeter of the crystal in this photo best.

[TimeToGo]

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It can definitely be fixed but once you find out the cost, you may leave as it is.

I was quoted for a similar repair about $2k and a few months to get it done.

[studioal]

$2K is definitely more money than I'd want to spend. It doesn't really bother me as this is a daily wearer and not a rare watch. Thanks for the info, very helpful.

[padi56]

Myself would leave it and would not worry or spend money on it ,watch passed a pressure check to 10B 100m so fine for most water sports except scuba.