A Chocolate Speedmaster

Amazing brown dials...

Ummm...I'd settle for a shitty one...I like the shitty ones. 👍

I love the fact that nobody seems able to give a definite answer on this particular issue. You've all seen plenty of close pictures of this watch in the last year or so,😟 and this thread is about William's beautiful Chocolate Speedmaster, 🥰 so I shall restrain myself for this contribution and (in response to earlier questions from @bags1971 and @gemini4 ) focus on the question of transition from black to brown over a life time of 50+ years.👎

My Dad's 105.012-65 was black in almost every picture I have of him wearing it during his life.
From the late1960's until he died in 2003, he wore the watch out and about in London, UK
I put it in a specs case, in a dark, cupboard in 2003 and hardly brought it outside until 2016.

Sadly, I don't have any old photographs of my Dad showing his watch in close up, but even from a distance the colour change of 50 years is unmistakable. How did it change from black to brown? I have no idea but here is the time line:
Between 1967 & 2003 the watch was worn out in sunlight. Between 2003 & 2016 the watch was stored in dark cupboards.

105.003 with a more even tropical.




105.012 with only the lower half turning tropical.

That’s a very nice patina for the Ed white ! The perfect maching hands & dial !

Thanks mate!

I like when the brown colour is uneven... Not a speedy... But one from the first...

It’s all about the light.
I have bought Speedmasters that looked black but once in the hand they are brown.
Different photos produce different results too.

Agree, it's all about the light. I find the phenomenon quite nostalgic in that the colour and changeability reminds me of a fashion in coat fabrics that was ultra cool for a while in the Sixties. Mostly the colour was bronze cum light-mid brown with a sparkly sheen, in way like a metallic car paint and known as 'shot' material. As I wait patiently to acquire a choccy Speedy, I'm also looking out for a vintage shot mac in the hope of being able to provide an appropriate wrist shot.

Why would storage in the dark cause discoloration? Due to lack of oxygen? 📖
UV I can understand...