In my persistent online browsing of vintage Omegas (mostly Constellations) I'm finding a fairly wide range of yellow tones when it comes to gold cases. My initial thought is that this is mostly due to the lighting conditions under which they're shooting and the amount of saturation they're applying to the photo? In person, are the 18k/14k/gold capped cases all about the same amount of yellow or are some really more muted than others?
Sometimes it's the lighting, sometimes it's the formula of the gold. The differences lie in the metals alloyed with gold. Copper adds a pinkish tint, silver adds a slightly greenish tint. There's a scale for coloring where 2N is very yellow, 3N is just a hint of rose, 4N is pink/rose, and 5N is red/rose. Of course there are in between shades too. Yellow Gold: http://www.watchtalkforums.info/forums/general-discussion-forum/12005.htm White Gold: http://www.watchtalkforums.info/forums/general-discussion-forum/12326.htm Here's the link to the whole series describing case metals, mechanical and quartz movements, plus several other watch related subjects: http://www.watchtalkforums.info/forums/general-discussion-forum/22496.htm
Should also mention they can get dirty or tarnish as well, my Constellation Deluxe looked rose gold initially but after a light cleaning with a microfibre it went back to yellow.
Wow, this is really good to know as i do not own anything gold at the moment. I had no idea the color is so prone to changing. Was there a solution or agent you used with the microfiber or was it just a dry towel!?
Dry towel, and I didn't go hard enough to polish it, just to remove the gunk. Better left to a watchmaker, but do keep in mind this watch had been sitting around for 30 years lol so it doesn't happen often.