# Refinishing a Fortis Official Cosmonauts Chronograph, Lemania 5100



## tbhs83

Hello everybody

This is my first post here on WUS. I've been lurking for about two years now and finally have something to share that I hope will interest (some of) you. I don't know if this is the right forum or if there is a dedicated 'restoration forum'. So moderators, feel free to move this where ever is most correct.

Now on with the real content ... I've had this watch for about a year now and I keep turning both towards and away from it because of its small size of 38 mm and the tachy bezel. I would have preferred a count-down bezel but it is super hard to find. I've tried selling it on a few occasions but the bids I got was never satisfying. So I've now decided one and for all to keep it, and to 'celebrate' this and to attach my self closer to it, I'll refinish the case and get rid of all the small dings and scratches. I'll try to re-do the bezel numbering as well.

I've not decided if I'll restore the blasted original finish, or simply do a brushed finish ...? Either way the first step would be to disassemble the watch and polish out the scratches and dings and do a thorough cleaning of the case. Then I'll make my decision on whether I'll blast or brush it.

I'll keep updating this thread as the project progress with pictures and text.

*Step one - disassembly*









I don't have the tools to get the crystal out of the case, so this might be a problem if I decide to get the whole ting blasted, but I'll figure out a solution when I get there.

A few close ups:



























The bezel came off so easily I'm surprised it haven't come off by it self in the past year when I've knocked the watch on some thing. The case back is in pretty good shape, so I guess I'll just leave it as is. Even if I decide on a brushed finish it will still look cool I think - but time will tell.

To be continued ...


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## wolfstar001

I look forward to following this thread. Pls keep us posted. 


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## MarkB

Great first post, interesting to see your progress!!

Have one myself.....


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## tbhs83

Thanks for the likes guys. The work is slowly but surely progressing. This morning I almost finished the bezel. Working my way through 7 grits of sandpapers: 280, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 2000 it's quite shiny now. The case is going through the same treatment. I'm at 600 grit right now and hope to be done tomorrow - I'll post pictures some time tomorrow of the progress. The next step will be the final polish with autosol and brasso before I brush it all up nicely. The brushed finish kind of stuck with me as I worked on the bezel. It looked both tough and sophisticated at the same time. So I'll have to do the bracelet as well ... some time in the future 

@MarkB You got the "right" one with the countdown bezel  What happened to the the 12'oclock lume?


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## ohnedich6

tbhs83,

Subscribed to this thread a few days ago, love it! Looking forward to the finished pictures. Would it be too much of a burden to ask if you could post some "in-progress" pictures?

-Nate


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## tbhs83

*Step two - Sanding. Part one*

As promissed - af few pics of the progress so far:

*Bezel*








280 grit








400 grit

I also did a 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 grit sanding of the bezel, but not much difference to be seen in the pictures (crappy iPhone camera)








2000 grit

*Case*








280 grit - the big ding (see the picture in the first post) is gone















400 grit















600 grit















800 grit






















1000 grit

I still need to sand the case with 1200 and 2000 grit sandpaper. I'm not sanding the whole top of the case, as you can easily see on the pics. But the bezel will cover this when I reinstall it. So it won't matter. I hope to have the case done later today so I can begin with the final polishing. I still need to figure out how to get the best brush finish after that. Right now I'm thinking the rough green side of a kitchen sponge is my best option. But if anyone has a suggestion please let me know 

And thanks for your interest in this small project of mine :-!


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## MarkB

tbhs83 said:


> @MarkB You got the "right" one with the countdown bezel  What happened to the the 12'oclock lume?


The lume fell out! It was sent to the German service centre for an overhaul and came back with the lume still missing!! So when touching up the bezel numbers I painted it black! It looks rather as was supposed to be.

Great work you are showing, you really know your stuff.


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## tbhs83

*Step two - Sanding. Part two*

Continuing from my last post, here are the last pics of the sanding






















1200 grit






















2000 grit


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## tbhs83

*Step three - Polishing*

This is where I was really seeing the end of this process and it was also the most satisfying task  I was planning on using Autosol first and then doing another polish with Brasso. But that proved to be unnecessary - It already had a mirror polish after the couple of swipes! I can really recommend Autosol if you need to polish out a few hairlines:-!

Bezel:






















Case:








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Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
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So now the next step will be to brush the whole thing - it almost seems like ruining it. But I assure you, it turned up very nice!


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## tbhs83

*Step four - Brushing*

This is the final step before I clean the case and bezel an reassemble it all again. I thought I might just use the rough green side of a kitchen sponge - but all I got was hairlineso| So I decided to go with the 1000 grit sandpaper and then using the kitchen sponge afterwards for the final touch. I tried it one the bezel first and it was a great success :-! So I went on with the rest of the watch.

Bezel:








Case:





























I left the back and in between the lugs un-brushed as I think this adds to the tough - yet sophisticated nature I'm trying to achieve here. The pics are all taken after I cleaned the whole thing and now all I need to do is to let it dry and reassemble it all.


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## tbhs83

*Step five - Reassembly*

As you properly already have guessed I've already finished the whole process, actually yesterday. But I would like to keep the chronology (-pun intended) of the project for future reference. So after the case was thoroughly cleaned and left to dry over night, I started reassembling the watch. I also cleaned and greased all the gaskets before putting it all together again. I didn't refinish the crown, pushers and the case back this time around - maybe in the future. But the inconsistency doesn't bug me at all.

I assembled the case first and then mounted the bezel. I had to add a bit of loctite to keep it in place, otherwise it might fall off during extensive vibration, shock or the like eg.: I could easily take it off with my bare hands ...

Pushers unscrewed:








Pushers screwed in:








Back:








Other angles:

























































But I didn't refinish the bracelet ... I decided not to mount it. Actually I think I'll just leave it and wait until I feel the urge to use it again. Frankly I think a nice strap would be more suiting for this watch now. So I just went out today and bought two Hirsch straps for it. I just wanted a black leather one with white stitching, but when I saw the a carbon next to it, I had to get both ...

Black heavy calf, white stitching - 100m WR:








Wrist shot (6,7 inch):








Black carbon, white stitching - 100m WR:








Wrist shot:








Thank you for following and for your comments. I still need to get the bezel numbering redone. And in the future I might polish the crown and pushers.


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## tbhs83

MarkB said:


> The lume fell out! It was sent to the German service centre for an overhaul and came back with the lume still missing!! So when touching up the bezel numbers I painted it black! It looks rather as was supposed to be.
> 
> Great work you are showing, you really know your stuff.


Thank you very much MarkB - This is actually the first time I've done anything like this. I did some research before I started and it really payed off in the end. 
What kind of paint did you use to touch up the numbers 12'oclock? I was thinking some sort of auto paint perhaps?


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## MarkB

I use Tamiya model paint! Matt Black XF-1 or Satin Black X-18 depending in what the other numbers look like!

Works great and easy.


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## ohnedich6

Great work tbhs83, the end result looks really sharp! Would you consider yourself to be a person with a lot of patience, or did you learn this while doing this project?


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## tbhs83

MarkB said:


> I use Tamiya model paint! Matt Black XF-1 or Satin Black X-18 depending in what the other numbers look like!
> 
> Works great and easy.


Great! Thanks

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## tbhs83

ohnedich6 said:


> Great work tbhs83, the end result looks really sharp! Would you consider yourself to be a person with a lot of patience, or did you learn this while doing this project?


Thanks! It looks much nicer IRL. Though I find my self constantly finding small flaws - but that's ok. After all it's my first attempt at refinishing a whole watch case.

I did learn a lot about steel fininshing  But the patience to do it, I had before I started.

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## bardemir

That's quite a project you have there! Judging by contrast between the case back and the polished case, the work is substantial. The results look great by the way, and the new finish goes great with your new straps!


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## suparobg

wow great job. is there any special type of sandpaper that you used (like specifically for metal) or just regular sandpaper in varying grits?


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## tbhs83

bardemir said:


> Judging by contrast between the case back and the polished case, the work is substantial.


Thanks! Maybe 're-finish' is a bit missleading as this is more of a 'makeover' one might say  I left the case back as it was mainly because it's on the back and was in good shape. But also because of the raised engravings, making it hard to sand and polish. The serial number is quite shallow as well ... So I figured it was best to just leave it 

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## tbhs83

suparobg said:


> is there any special type of sandpaper that you used (like specifically for metal) or just regular sandpaper in varying grits?


There may be, but I just used wet/dry paper in those grits.

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## tbhs83

Thanks for all your kind comments guys :-!

Yesterday I thought I might start touching up the bezel engraving. So I bought some black model paint and got ready. First I wiped the bezel with acetone to have a clean surface so the paint would stick better. But it cleaned some of the original paint off as well. I gave it a couple of more wipes, now with a cotton bud and removed all the old paint. Now I am in a dilemma... Should I re-do the numbering on the bezel or just leave it as is? I keep thinking that it looks better now, and I never really used the tachy-scale. Also I can still read it just fine.

So I think I'll just leave it. What do you think?

Here is a pic:








BTW - the strap is a Hirsh Liberty I had lying around. It captures the neo-vintage look of the watch quite good I think.

Here is a lager pic:








And a wristshot:


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