I picked the following watch because of the uncommon Thunderbird case, the uncommon arrow marker dial with the gold U, the overall condition, and what I felt was the lovely patina. It came in and the patina is not as noticeable; if you look straight at it you can't see it, it is only at an angle in the light and even then it is not as strong as in the pictures. The second is a crappy shot I took that shows the patina head on. Still pretty but I really liked the look of the stronger patina :\
I have a few watches with that kind of patina, which I like very much. As you say most of the time it´s only visible with various degrees of angle. The seller probably wanted to show the watch in its ``worst`` light, as there are more than likely other buyers who wouldn´t be as happy with so much patina on the dial. The watch looks very nice though and I´m sure is fantastic on the wrist.
I think the title made my disappointment sound a tad more forceful than intended (darn disapointing title... ) It is a gorgeous watch and it looks very nice on the wrist. It is just that I really liked the look on the original picture and it was a significant selling point for me. The snowflake patina has a charm of its own. Definitely I'm not selling it any time soon.
Sounds as though you had an honest seller. Would have been easy to "hide" the patina on this one. I'm never disappointed to have a watch show up in better condition than expected, though it rarely happens.