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Adhesives are part and parcel of watch care. There are many types of adhesives used with watches – dial sticking strips, glass adhesives, thread locks, nut locks, sticking spots and more. There are also de-bonders that help to separate parts glued together.

In the glass adhesive variety, there is a special one for mineral glass called UV curing adhesive. It is curing cement used with a UV lamp; there is a small syringe to apply the adhesive. These adhesives set rapidly and allow parts to stick almost instantly. Vitabond UV watch glass adhesive is used in bonding and repairing glass. It is ideal for stained glass, crystal glass and figures. Dial sticking strips are small, standard sized strips that have adhesive on both sides and they are used with watch dials.

Screw lock or thread lock adhesives are used to prevent loosening due to vibrations and to seal parts protecting them from leakage and corrosion. They typically come with a long snout nose for easy application and set after a period of about 6 hours. The stronger type of adhesive in this category is the nutlock adhesive.

Polywatch glass polish can be applied on plastic watch crystals to remove scratches. The scratched surface can be polished applying high pressure with a cotton wool and this polish. When pressure is applied, the plastic glass is slightly dissolved by abrasive particles found in the polish. The scratch edges are smoothed out while the dissolved plastic fills in the crack areas, thus effectively removing scratches.

Finger cots or protectors are used when caring for watches to keep the hands clean and safe during valeting, polishing, mixing ingredients etc. They are designed to be tough but have sensitivity. De-bonders are used to remove glue from different surfaces and to separate out joints. They are also used to clean up sticky label residues.