This natural light picture is a lot closer to what it actually looks like.
I don't think it looks that bad. I have a Hublot with a leather band and the colors are natural different throughout (Black, brown, grey and tan which looks different depending on the lighting).
Maybe it’s elephant calf (sorry couldn’t resist)!! I agree though that vintage is a long game - part of the fun are the mistakes we make along the way. Maybe just add to the collection of “projects” - we all have them!!