Saw the watch below and the following commentary on a watch seller website. Does the explanation seem logical or realistic, particularly since most of the dial writing seems to still be present? I have no connection to the watch or the seller and am really just interested and curious.

"Dial is an interesting one. It is obviously original, with original tritium "nipple" marks and matching tritium hands. The original color, which only came in black or blue for this reference, is no longer there. I do not believe this dial changed to this caramel kind of color, but rather the blue paint has peeled off as we see partially happen on dials from this era on Subs and GMT's and what we have the is base color with original print still fully intact. I see no evidence of this being done by someone with a tool, but rather happen on its own, from age."

 

I personally don’t believe that this change occurred without some significant assistance.

Show me any contemporaneous example with even a portion of the dial and text so evenly and perfectly “aged”.

I could be wrong, but background in the photo makes me think of a seller with a reputation for, ahem... taking liberties in the description.

 

How is the printing still present if the color was completely removed? Does it bleed through to the underlying dial? Amazing.

 

I know the temptation - because you have never personally seen this happen, it can't possibly happen, but it does. The examples I'm most familiar with are Oris watches, with blue dials. I've serviced some that have had the blue dial fading to a gold colour - one example where it's just starting:



This is not my photo, but this one shows a dial that has completely faded from blue to this gold tone, with all the lettering still intact:



I have seen people get the dials replaced, and have them fade again...

While this doesn't prove that the watch shown by the OP has faded naturally, just be aware that it does happen on some blue dials.

Cheers, Al

 

No. We're not starting this sh*t again!
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=637556&d=1492613600

 

Degradation of the blue on 60s/70s Omegas is fairly common.

Here is a Big Blue showing signs of it. I've seen these and others go nearly all gold.

 

I must admit to being quite taken with this combination; pretty interesting, but not something I could pull off.

How are these dial colours made? Apologies but I can't seem to frame the sentence without sounding like a dolt. I guess I'm asking for the process behind making the colour, transferring onto the dial, and also how/why the colour fastness fails...

Makes one appreciate the newer patina-less ceramic dials on the Speedies and SMPc!

 

Good to know, and thanks for the experience of one who has seen many more examples than have I.

Leaving that aside, the caveat to "buy the seller" would be enough for me to pass on ANY offering by this particular purveyor. YMMV.

 

That would be "leaving aside" the only thing I was commenting on. I did not comment on the seller, only the technical side of faded dials. I made it clear that I was not in any way vouching for the watch posted...

 

Blue Heuer Monaco dials degrade frequently enough that they’ve been given a name “paintless wonders”. I have a 70s Stowa that’s heading that way too. What I’ve never seen, and what others have already mentioned, is a dial that’s gone completely and turned uniformly back to the base color. I’m also guessing that something’s been done at some point.

 

So the dial peeled off completely and disintegrated? The whole blue dial would still be trapped under the crystal in blue dust and peels right? The hands, bezel, and tritium dots appear remarkably pristine for a watch where the whole dial melted away. I imagine it started molting and they scraped the rest off the dial.

 

When you leave something in the sun and it fades, do you find particles of coloured material all around it? No you don't. It just fades...

 

I’ve seen blue dials go purple and fade to “denim” and I’ve seen black dials fade to brown. I can’t see how a dial that was blue or black has “faded” to a universal gold color from the sun alone.

 

Clearly some people only believe things that they have seen personally. I understand that - but because you haven't seen it, doesn't mean it can't happen.

Again I'm not commenting specifically on the Rolex dial, but I have seen other dials fade completely, so it's not out of the realm of possibility as some here believe.

 

Very few colour pigments available for sale are stable over a longer period of time - here's an article about the subject that is a fascinating read: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2018-quest-for-billion-dollar-red/

 

I actually like the faded look on that Oris watch, and I probably would not replace the dial if it were mine, in particular since the replacements also faded.

I think the correct term when talking about fading like this is lightfastness...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightfastness

A number of mechanisms are outlined in that article, but trying to pin down which would apply here would be difficult without knowing more about how the dials are produced. Most dials are pad printed, so the dial blank I prepared (usually made of brass, but of course other materials are used like silver, gold, etc.) and the inks are transferred to the dial using the pad printing machine.

Here's another that is well on the way, but not as even...



Cheers, Al

 

https://omegaforums.net/threads/dial-aging-q.77913/#post-991213

 

Any thoughts on the long-term durability of the blue Gemini IV LE dial? I wonder if that one will fade dramatically, and if so how long will it take?