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STANDY
··schizophrenic pizza orderer and watch collectorIs it the light, but looks like a mix of part colours in the second movement shot. Which would worry me a bit
Help on a tropical dial speedmaster
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Which Watch Next
·As gornati is suggesting, hit the watch with a camera flash and take it into a dark room. You're looking for a feint, even glow from the hands and dial. They all look original to me though.
Does that mean these old tritium dials will still have a slight glow after exposure to heavy light?
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michaelmc
·Most old tritium will have a quick faint glow after UV exposure. Nice looking little watch anyway.
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Spacefruit
··Prolific Speedmaster HoarderWell the colour is caused by heat, UV or moisture or a combination of all three.
The "natural" degradation (from my observation) happens early in a dial's life. Dials are not known to have changed in later life. Some say the change happens in the first six months. Especially in the 145.022's.
There are 861 dials, from two serial ranges that turn a particularly attractive chocolate, with an uneven colour degradation in swirls or concentrated around the high points. These dials are slightly different than the earlier so called chocolate dials.
I have seen a lot of 105.012's with burnt looking dials, and given their known tropical origin, I put down to environmental factors.
Some 2998's (maybe others too) have dials that have gone an attractive dark chocolate, and the colour is even and without variation across the dial. Indeed many do not see the colour on first inspection, the difference becoming clear on comparison.
I see Galaxy chocolate dials in early watches - I like those.
See more here:
http://speedmaster101.com/blog/brown-dials/
The "natural" degradation (from my observation) happens early in a dial's life. Dials are not known to have changed in later life. Some say the change happens in the first six months. Especially in the 145.022's.
There are 861 dials, from two serial ranges that turn a particularly attractive chocolate, with an uneven colour degradation in swirls or concentrated around the high points. These dials are slightly different than the earlier so called chocolate dials.
I have seen a lot of 105.012's with burnt looking dials, and given their known tropical origin, I put down to environmental factors.
Some 2998's (maybe others too) have dials that have gone an attractive dark chocolate, and the colour is even and without variation across the dial. Indeed many do not see the colour on first inspection, the difference becoming clear on comparison.
I see Galaxy chocolate dials in early watches - I like those.
See more here:
http://speedmaster101.com/blog/brown-dials/
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richardew
·I'd grab it if the price is right. The case has appropriate wear for the age of the watch. As you pointed out, it has the wrong bezel. I think the hands are original and match the patina on the dial. The lume falls out of the hour and minute hands before it leaves the sweep second hand, at least it does on some of mine. I like the dial. The lighting is harsh on those photos. I could make it look much better in my studio. Some of what you think is corrosion looks like it might be from the main gasket. On one of mine that hadn't been open for a long, long time, the gasket had melted and the black goo got on a few places. Once you have the movement serviced and the watch pressure tested, it will be water resistant and you won't have to worry about what conditions it is exposed to. You can find a DON bezel, but it will be pricey, but if you are persistent and patient you'll find one for the watch. How does it run? The movement looks O'K. Most of the screws look great but a few of the heads look a bit nicked up. That could just be the lighting though.
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Optimizer13
·Is it the light, but looks like a mix of part colours in the second movement shot. Which would worry me a bit
I'll check it again but I don't have any more pictures at the moment. Good point though!
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Optimizer13
·Well the colour is caused by heat, UV or moisture or a combination of all three.
The "natural" degradation (from my observation) happens early in a dial's life. Dials are not known to have changed in later life. Some say the change happens in the first six months. Especially in the 145.022's.
There are 861 dials, from two serial ranges that turn a particularly attractive chocolate, with an uneven colour degradation in swirls or concentrated around the high points. These dials are slightly different than the earlier so called chocolate dials.
I have seen a lot of 105.012's with burnt looking dials, and given their known tropical origin, I put down to environmental factors.
Some 2998's (maybe others too) have dials that have gone an attractive dark chocolate, and the colour is even and without variation across the dial. Indeed many do not see the colour on first inspection, the difference becoming clear on comparison.
I see Galaxy chocolate dials in early watches - I like those.
See more here:
http://speedmaster101.com/blog/brown-dials/
Thanks Spacefruit! I saw that you just wrote that article today... With respect to the watch in question, I really like the dark chocolate (in how you categorize them) and I hope the watch is actually dark chocolate (of course naturally and not via an oven)...
With respect to the 861, I agree that I've seen a few really nice chocolate dials especially on the 145.022. However, I'm looking for a chocolate dial with the long hour markers with AML so this is how got into this watch. Also, based on my limited observation, most chocolate dials come where the lume is gone so its left with white markers, but it might be selection bias since the nice ones are not for sale to begin with...
