Can you engrave a watch back?

What we look at first

Is the back steel, plated, or gold? Is it a screw-down back with markings already on it? Is there a serial number, a logo or a hallmark that has to be worked around rather than through? Is the surface flat or domed, because a dome changes how the lettering has to sit.

Plated backs are the one to be careful with — cutting goes through the plating. We will tell you if that is what yours is.

How much room

A case back is small and a lot of it is already spoken for. A name and a date almost always fits. A sentence usually needs more room than there is. We will show you the space and suggest a layout that reads properly rather than cramming it.

Common reasons people do it

• A retirement, with the years of service.
• A graduation, with the date.
• An anniversary or a wedding, with two names.
• Passing a watch down, with a note from one generation to the next.

Check it twice

We write out exactly what goes on and you read it back before we start. On a watch that is being given to someone, that thirty seconds is the most important part of the job.

Questions we get asked

Where we are

Julio's Jewelry, 800 Orland Square Drive, Orland Park, IL 60462 — inside Orland Square Mall. Mon–Thu 10am–8pm · Fri–Sat 10am–9pm · Sun 11am–6pm. We are also at North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 W Cermak Rd, North Riverside, IL 60546.