One man’s patina is another man’s service dial That being said I think it looks good and I like the yellow lume
I think he’s talking about the moldy creep on top of the lume. That says to me moisture got in at some point-lume is like a sponge and the moisture turns the lume dark. I have a few watches like this and depending on how much darkening it has determines if I can live with it or not. If it has totally dulled down the dial and makes it low contrast (like you see in so many SM300’s), I wouldn’t be able to live with it. Yours isn’t that bad but would be on the edge for me Some see it as “patina”, I see it as damage. Sometimes you will see it on the 2-5 markers- that implies that the crown leaked at some point. As long as the case is now sealed properly and no more moisture gets in, it shouldn’t grow anymore.
After looking at it at proper lighting and on a big screen it is not as bad as I thought. Even though there seems to be some dirt on the lume and hands I for myself could perfectly live with it...
Not the best lighting in the photos, but I suspect under less bright lights the moldy lume may stand out a little more. If I were a potential buyer I would want to see it in natural light. And I would want to know when it was last serviced (and who did the work), and I would want to see the movement. Mainly I would want to be sure any moisture source has already been addressed, or it will get worse, and can also be causing issues with the movement.
Your avatar @asrnj77, good god, what did one person do to require such a sign to be created?! (no pics please) Any signmakers on OF? What is the weirdest sign you have had a request for?
The “patina vs damage” debate is perhaps the most subjective one of all. If the movement and case are corrosion/damage free then I’d go with “age appropriate patina”. The patination on the hands also looks consistent. Would happily wear it.
Ha! It was actually at a high end housing compound in Lake Tahoe, California. I’d chalk it up to overly cautious Californian bureaucracy. Some of the condos at this place were 1200 square feet and selling for 1.4+ million dollars. I think poor people don’t want that in their pool either
A good law to enact would be that if someone creates a sign like this, they must list everything not allowed in the pool: Crocodiles, high heels, fighter jets, lava, vintage watches..
Picture in natural light (yes still need put the DON bezel on it) This is still my bleached bezel experiment
Agreed- looks much better in that light, not as flat and low contrast as the first set of pics you put up. Still think you need to make sure it’s water tight so the moldy creep doesn’t get any worse.
That lume looks much, much better in the natural light photo This is why it can be so hard to judge conditions by photos -- lighting makes a lot of difference (if nothing else, white balance is often off).