I managed to leave a wet "j" cloth on a polished table top with a bit of
pressure on it. It dried out, and when I removed it, it lifted the
finish down almost to bare wood. It is more than just polish - there's
some dark-tone varnish under the polish - and polishing it hasn't
restored the finish.

I don't want to strip the finish off the entire table, as there's a
"gold" coloured strip around the table near the edge, under the finish.
I don't know whether it's inlayed into the wood, or if it's part of the
finish, and I don't want to find out.

Can anyone recommend a good way to restore the finish? My current
thought is to treat it like retouching a car's body panel around a rust
spot - strip the affected area, and feather the strippage into the
"good" surface, then colour-match the varnish, sand the overlap between
old and new, and re-polish. Does this sound reasonable, and is there a
better way.

If you want to recommend products, please bear in mind that I am in the
UK.

--
SteveR
(throw away the dustbin, send to stever@... instead)