Help with this tropical 145.022

Hi @nonuffinkbloke. I can only give you my opinion and others may disagree but I value the medium-dark, slightly 'glossy' tropical dials the most. These are the Ines which are sometimes slightly browner around the subdials and the brown is like dark chocolate.

Closely following these I like the more mid, milk chocolate dials.

I think generally for a tropical to add value it should have a warmth that lifts the watch. The ones that look dirty or dull add less/no value.

Although photographing is difficult I find if you show a range of photos from in bright sun light, to a well lit light box, you can give a good approximation of the colour.

Speaking of tropical. Here's one recently ended on eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tropical-O...2-69ST-Cal-86-Circa-1969-/163313870224?_ul=ID

The most concise advice I have ever seen on brown dials.

Browns are a sophisticated market. The taste for a tropical dial is a personal one, one that develops and refines with experience, and is uniquely your own?my own. (Who cares what others say when I am looking at it, and spending the money?)

There are very few, really special, brown dials. There are a lot of degraded dials paraded as tropical, and some have their own special attraction. However, the only way to really differentiate and appreciate a brown dial, is in hand, and with comparisons.

The really valuable ones have an otherwise perfect dial, clear printing and original lume. The body colour is totally up to you, but for me I like either a dark 70% chocolate OR an uneven galaxy chocolate, where the colour variations often follow the contours of the dial. But that is MY OWN PREFERENCE. One thing is that if the dial looks "dry" or has like a white sugar on the edges of the subdials or step, or blotches, then the attraction (and so value) is less.

The joy and interest of Brown dials is that there is a lot of variation amoungst colectors - and this is great. What I like might not be what you like, and that is really fine.

Trust your own judgement on this. Its like modern art. If you dont understand them, dont buy them, have fun and watch the crazy people instead. (But spend 10 minutes with me and I bet I can change your mind).

But do not bother ridiculing the market. It doesn't care !

Perfect example of a knackered dial being referred to as tropical.

This should/will have a significant negative effect on the value when compared to one with a reasonable black dial.

To add insult to injury the seller claims the bezel is correct. It isn't. Neither is the case back. It's a complete basket case that's been pieced back together using whatever parts they could get hold of cheap.

Dead Link/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/153234257888