Should this be cleaned/removed?
This is my grandfather's 1957, reference 6605 datejust, cal.1065
Yes - this is my first repair. Please don't yell at me for doing this. I am confident in my abilities to get this working. If anyone is interested I'd be happy to post a longer description of what I'm doing - but for the time being I come to you with a question about this varnish looking stuff.
I've done a quick cleaning in denatured alcohol, rinse in IPA and dried on my 3D printer's heated bed (parts placed in a petri dish). I worried about keeping some parts in the wash for too long, hence the question here. Does anyone know what this yellow/gold stuff is? If it's not supposed to be there, how do I get rid of it? I'm guessing it's the old lubricant that has turned into something like varnish. This watch has never been serviced in its 70 year life; Rolex declined to service it because it was too old.