Okay, here’s my attempt at a blog post, mimicking the style you described.
## Cartier Must de Cartier Watch: My Restoration Journey
Alright folks, lemme tell you about this old Cartier watch I picked up. A Must de Cartier, you know, the kind with the vermeil case. Always wanted one, thought it would be a fun project. And a project it was!
First off, found it cheap-ish on eBay. The pictures weren’t great, but I could tell it was in rough shape. Scratches all over the case, the strap was trashed, and the movement? Who knows! But hey, gotta start somewhere, right?
So, I ordered it. When it arrived, it was even worse than the pics. The gold plating was wearing off in places, and the crystal looked like someone had used it as a sanding block. I took a deep breath and thought, “Here we go.”
Started with the case. I carefully disassembled the whole thing. Took pictures, of course! Don’t want to forget how it goes back together. I used some polishing cloths and a little bit of watch polish, and started gently buffing out the scratches. It took forever, but slowly, the case started to shine again. It wasn’t perfect, but a HUGE improvement. Some of the deeper scratches I just had to live with, didn’t want to remove too much of the plating.
Next up, the crystal. No way was I saving that thing. Ordered a new one online. Popped the old one out (carefully!), cleaned up the case, and pressed the new one in. Looked SO much better. Like a brand new watch already.
Then came the tricky part: the movement. I’m no watchmaker, but I’ve tinkered with watches before. Opened it up, and it was… dusty. Gave it a good cleaning with a soft brush and some compressed air. Looked for any obvious problems, like broken gears or loose screws. Didn’t see anything major.
I wound it up… nothing. Uh oh. Okay, deeper dive. Started googling “Cartier Must de Cartier movement problems.” Found a forum where someone described a similar issue. Turns out, these movements can get gummed up with old oil and dirt.
So, I bit the bullet and ordered some watch cleaning solution and a watch oiling kit. Watched a bunch of YouTube videos on how to clean and oil a watch movement. Felt like I was back in school!
Carefully disassembled the movement (more pictures!). Soaked the parts in the cleaning solution, rinsed them, and let them dry. Then, the REALLY nerve-wracking part: oiling. Put tiny, tiny drops of oil on the right places. If you put too much, you’re screwed.
Reassembled the movement. Held my breath. Wound it up… IT TICKED! I almost jumped for joy.
Put the movement back in the case, attached the hands, and installed a new battery. Boom! Working Cartier.
Finally, the strap. The old one was beyond saving, so I ordered a new leather strap online. Found one that looked pretty close to the original. Put it on the watch, and BAM!
So, yeah, that’s the story of my Cartier restoration. Was it easy? Nope. Did I almost give up a few times? Absolutely. But seeing that old watch ticking again, looking almost new… totally worth it. Now I have a cool vintage Cartier that I brought back to life. Not bad, eh?
