How do you feel about sunburnt dials?

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vintage hab

·Jan 12, 2021

What is the general feeling on sunburnt dials? Do you find it attractive? Or is it, like patina, in the eye of the beholder? I think I prefer an original silver dial, but some can be quite nice.

I'm interested in members' thoughts on (a) attractiveness, and (b) valuation.

Cheers!

 

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wagudc

·Jan 12, 2021

I think sunburst just refers to the pattern and texture, and not the color. I am often turned off by the yellow/champagne hued sunburst dials, but sometimes the color is in the crystal and not the dial. I have had a couple champagne sunburst dials that turned out to be silver after polishing the top layer of the crystal away.

 

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kyle L

·Jan 12, 2021·Grasshopper

These are more like straight up burnt, but I like em...😁

 

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wagudc

·Jan 12, 2021

Apparently I can't read. I read sun burnt as sunburst.🤦 I guess my original response still holds in the sense that sometimes it it the crystal that is sun burnt and not the dial.

 

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Caliber561

·Jan 12, 2021

Love em!
The yellowed lacquer on this Constellation has a bit of a mottled finish that reminds me of the sun, so I nicknamed it my "Icarus Dial" Constellation.

 

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janice&fred

·Jan 12, 2021

Oh yea baby love 'em and the south pacific islands is the place for sun scorched dials 👍

 

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Ted1858

·Jan 12, 2021

I was always curious what caused a silver sunburst dial to turn a champagne color. Wasn’t sure if it was due to smoke or sun.

 

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vintage hab

·Jan 13, 2021

janice&fred

Oh yea baby love 'em and the south pacific islands is the place for sun scorched dials 👍

Why do some go champagne and some brown? Perhaps original silver dial and black, respectively. Funny how light gets darker, and dark gets lighter.
I have read of people baking their dark dials to get to brown. I wonder if people artificially sunburn silver dials

 

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vintage hab

·Jan 13, 2021

Ted1858

I was always curious what caused a silver sunburst dial to turn a champagne color. Wasn’t sure if it was due to smoke or sun.

Does smoke really get under the crystal?

 

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Zapatta

·Jan 13, 2021

Love them! Here is 14381 with "sunburned" or "smoked" dial. It looks different from every angle!

 

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kaplan

·Jan 13, 2021

My true love King Seiko on the right - I don't know whether the "damage" can be called a sunburnt - but I value it immensely, for me it's more valuable than a pristine one

I like it so much that I paid $300+ for a display caseback made from an original caseback 😁

 

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rkman11

·Jan 13, 2021

kyle L

These are more like straight up burnt, but I like em...😁

THAT BUBBLEBACK!!!

 

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Ted1858

·Jan 13, 2021

vintage hab

Does smoke really get under the crystal?

I really have no idea, I was hoping someone else could chime in! But if a case isn't well-sealed, I don't see why it couldn't. Whether it does anything to the dial or not is beyond me.

 

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coffee

·Jan 13, 2021

I love them, gives the dial a well worn character.