Can anyone explain this accelerated dial "ageing"?

[Xeer]

So I bought this gloss black vintage Omega watch from @omega_enthusiast on IG in 2018. These were the pictures taken by the dealer at the point of sale..



After 1 year of ownership in 2019:


Thereafter as we all know, COVID happened so I stored my watches away in my safe within a watch case along with all a slew of other vintage watches each in their separate plastic caskets.


Almost a year and a half (2021) later I took the watches out to inspect them and this is what happened to the watch:


Went back to the seller to ask what happened and he said he has no idea, this has never happened before so we thought to ask on OF.

 

[64Wing]

30 years from now we'll find out only 50 of them were contaminated with the saline tears of the top watchmaker at Omega when he heard the new hesalite Speedmaster wasn't getting an AML.


It'll be priceless

 

[wsfarrell]

Xeer

So I bought this gloss black vintage Omega watch from @omega_enthusiast on IG in 2018. These were the pictures taken by the dealer at the point of sale..



After 1 year of ownership in 2019:


Thereafter as we all know, COVID happened so I stored my watches away in my safe within a watch case along with all a slew of other vintage watches each in their separate plastic caskets.


Almost a year and a half (2021) later I took the watches out to inspect them and this is what happened to the watch:


Went back to the seller to ask what happened and he said he has no idea, this has never happened before so we thought to ask on OF.

Looks to me like someone put a light coat of mineral oil (or something similar) on the dial to make it look nice, then over the course of a year the oil degraded the dial.

 

[64Wing]

wsfarrell

Looks to me like someone put a light coat of mineral oil (or something similar) on the dial to make it look nice, then over the course of a year the oil degraded the dial.

Should've went full synthetic

 

[JwRosenthal]

Yeah- the rainbow shimmer on the seller’s photos are not the way that dial should look. It looks like oil (WD40??)on it- which would absolutely degrade the paint over time

Editing this post to note that the “oily” colors are not oil, but most likely degradation of the lacquer. Further posts discuss this.

Edited: Feb 16, 2021

 

[connieseamaster]

wsfarrell

Looks to me like someone put a light coat of mineral oil (or something similar) on the dial to make it look nice, then over the course of a year the oil degraded the dial.

That's a trick I hadn't heard of before. Always something new

 

[JwRosenthal]

connieseamaster

That's a trick I hadn't heard of before. Always something new

I hadn’t either, but it makes sense- it would deepen the blacks under the crystal for the pics.

 

[sleepyastronaut]

That sheen on the dial is odd, reminds me of oil sitting on the surface of a pond.

Were there any radium lume watches or similar stored in your case?

 

[JwRosenthal]

sleepyastronaut

That sheen on the dial is odd, reminds me of oil sitting on the surface of a pond.

Were there any radium lume watches or similar stored in your case?

I don’t think radium would have any affect- I have enough radium to light up a NORAD defcon and none of my watches have ever changed

 

[Dan S]

That's a real bummer. Do you have the impression that the lighter parts of the dial represent the substrate showing through, or is it something deposited on top of the black surface?

 

[Faz]

Looks like Exxon Valdez on the sellers pictures...

 

[JwRosenthal]

Faz

Looks like Exxon Valdez on the sellers pictures...

 

[sleepyastronaut]

JwRosenthal

I don’t think radium would have any affect- I have enough radium to light up a NORAD defcon and none of my watches have ever changed

Just trying to think out what causes dials to change, I know some patina from lume, though it sounds like yours aren't in that category.

Moisture?

 

[JwRosenthal]

sleepyastronaut

Just trying to think out what causes dials to change, I know some patina from lume, though it sounds like yours aren't in that category.

Moisture?

Moisture possibly - but that’s rather aggressive for light humidity. I think @Dan S ‘s question about surface or substrate is the most important to investigate.
To me, it looks like when you apply chemical paint stripper and you see the paint crinkle.
Bottom line- I would take this to a watchmaker post haste (if you don’t have the means to take it apart yourself). Have them document in photos what is found and go back to the dealer with it.

 

[sleepyastronaut]

Tanning agents from a watch strap or leather roll?

 

[Archer]

JwRosenthal

Yeah- the rainbow shimmer on the seller’s photos are not the way that dial should look. It looks like oil (WD40??)on it- which would absolutely degrade the paint over time

I’ve seen this “oil slick” sheen on a couple of black dials. There isn’t anything on the dial, at least not the examples I’ve had in the shop...they were completely dry.

My guess is that this is some sort of artifact related to the aging of the lacquer.

 

[Archer]

Depending on the type of safe, it could be the cause of the dial degradation. If the safe is fire rated they often have moisture in the materials in the safe wall, so if the OP didn’t use a desiccant inside the safe, it may have lead to moisture ingress. I have no idea if the seller does anything related to ensuring thewatches have any water resistance...

 

[JwRosenthal]

Archer

I’ve seen this “oil slick” sheen on a couple of black dials. There isn’t anything on the dial, at least not the examples I’ve had in the shop...they were completely dry.

My guess is that this is some sort of artifact related to the aging of the lacquer.

....and this is why we have actual experts here rather than us speculators.

 

[bgrisso]

even in the seller pics you can see the black paint degrading is already happening around the small second sub dial edge, and the outer edge of the whole dial. Looks like the process has just continued, or accelerated, for whatever reason, not sure why

if I am understanding correctly you are 2.5 years into ownership, so this didn't happen overnight

 

[Xeer]

Archer

Depending on the type of safe, it could be the cause of the dial degradation. If the safe is fire rated they often have moisture in the materials in the safe wall, so if the OP didn’t use a desiccant inside the safe, it may have lead to moisture ingress. I have no idea if the seller does anything related to ensuring thewatches have any water resistance...

I had silica gel in each case and some in the watch storage itself. So highly unlikely it's moisture damage.