Anyone have any examples of a Tropical dial they have today, that started off as 'normal' when bought?

Keen to see any original owners, or early buyers that have plotted/captured the progress over time.
I sense this will be a small to zero response. But curious non-the-less.

 

Here’s a nice starter
2998-1 dial
I acquired it this color. Not sure how long it took to get so nice

 

Wow! Very cool.
Am a big fan of the tropical dial. It's a beaut.

 

Right mate! How far do you want me to go back?
I've posted these pix before when I told the forum the story of my Dad's Omega Speedmaster 105.012-65. But for the sake of this thread I'll put them in some sort of time line.




At the moment, I don't have any later close up pictures of my Dad wearing his watch between 1993 and when he passed away in 2003. I'm going to visit my relatives in London next week, so maybe my Aunt or Uncle may have some photographs taken between 1993 and 2003???
I inherited Dad's Omega Speedmaster in 2003. I wish I had noticed the colour of the dial then, but even if I had I would have thought it was just dirty or old??? (As you are all too aware, I know 'four fiths of fakk all' about watches)

Anyway... I just put it away in a draw and then a cupboard until 2016. It was serviced at Swiss Time Services a year ago, and I've been wearing it occasionally since then. The first I knew about this 'tropical dial malarky' was when I joined the forum and @Spacefruit (bless him) informed me it was a brown dial 105.012-65 (Thankyou William)

Here it is looking a bit brown in a photograph taken last year. Simon Freese assessed the watch at STS. They cleaned & serviced it but did not do anything to effect the colour of the dial.

So......When did it turn brown? Some time between 1990 and 2016.
I will try to track down some photographs between 1990 and 2003 to see if it started to change before Dad passed away. My hunch is that it happened during the 15 years it spent in my cupboard between 2003 and 2016.

It's a bit of a mystery chaps!

I do know that different light seems to effect the shade of brown.


The difference in colour from when the watch was relatively new can be seen in this double frame picture.

 

As far back as you can. Have seen your early pics. Which are great. Keen on more examples.

 

I look at mine and I’m coninced it get browner every day

 

Some recent random selections. Sadly no previous original shots to compare. Which arguably fuelled my interest on this thread. Hey maybe tropical were created...Nay. Yep I hear time/sun/humidity all play a factor, plus the actual components that make up the dial in some cases.
Time machine needed.

 

I have seen these of course.
Which are wonderful.
And my curiosity is more stoked by how bad the British summers are! So that rules out humidity right and arguably strong sunlight in this example. So not weather related. Purely composites in some cases.

 

Depends on how long you set the oven for, I believe.

 

1967 to 2003: worn every day by my Dad out and about in London, UK. (dial looks black)
2003 to 2009: put away in a specs case, in a bedroom draw. In Windsor, UK. (never noticed the colour of the dial during those years)
2010 to 2012: kept in a box in my Mum's bedside draw in London, UK. (no idea of the colour then)
2013 to 2016: kept in a soft specs case, in a cardboard box, in an occasionally damp cupboard (close to my shower room), at a rural location on the South coast of England, UK. (Brown dial)
..............

 

Is there any research on what kind of dials become tropical? Maybe the type of finish, storage or light exposure levels, etc. That contribute to it?

 

5-7 minutes if you cook it in the oven at 425 degrees?

 

How do you tell the exact minute your dial turns tropical? Do you check it against paint color samples multiple times a day?



Or do you carry a dark chocolate bar for comparison?

 

I prefer to wing it...
.
.
.
.
(in the same oven as the hot wings, I mean)

 

Or how about repeatedly exposing it to the sun at FL300 [or higher] over a period of a few years?



Nope.

 

Aren't those windows tinted to protect from UV light at altitude? (also thought you fly at FL350 most of the time)

 

Heck, I dunno regarding the tinted windows...I haven’t flown since October [I’m on disability] so I don’t know anything anymore...that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. From what I remember, we flew anywhere from FL300 to FL370.

 

Lovin' the breakdown with pics! Wonderful and thanks for cataloguing that! Great to see!

 

This one is from 1989. It’s not tropical but the dial has a slight brown hue and the insert had faded a little grey. I aquired it from Australia so I guess it has seen a lot of sun.