Why does anyone polish watches?

[FlyingMoose]

Back in the day, a gentleman often had a coin collection. He would look at the coins, and polish them so that they were nice and shiny. Even now, people who don't know any better will polish coins.

Modern coin collectors look back with horror at the destruction of the finish, and polished or cleaned coins are pretty much worthless compared to even heavily worn specimens that wern't polished.

Often when I see a gold Rolex for sale (like a DD or Sub), the light hitting the sides of the links shows a slight bevel that's never there from the Rolex factory. I also see fluted bezels with the peaks worn down from polishing. It always makes me cringe, and I would rather buy a scratched up watch that was never refinished.

I am very surprised that we, who consider ourselves experts and connoisseurs, will recommend using something abrasive like a cape-cod cloth or scotchbrite pad to modify the finish on a watch. Even having Rolex refinish the watch removes material and leaves signs that it was polished.

To borrow a line from Patek, you don't really own the watch, you merely take care of it for the next generation. Why don't we insist that watches never be refinished?