PO 2500 Oxidation

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KinYik

·Jul 1, 2021

Hi all! After years of pining for one this beauty fell into my lap for a more than fair price. I had a previous post asking for opinions and movement/serial all checked out ( kindly by none other than Archer).

While I’m stoked with the watch, couldn’t help but notice some oxidation on the indices and the logo. Grated this watch came from a very humid part of south east Asia, is this something anyone else has seen?

I looked through listings on Chrono24 and some had similar signs of oxidation, especially on the hands and logo.


Let me know what you think.

 

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Bugbait

·Jul 1, 2021

If it hasn't been properly cared for and moisture has penetrated the seals then yes, it could oxidise. No watch is meant to have moisture inside the main compartment.

 

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Foo2rama

·Jul 1, 2021·Nowhere near as grumpy as he used to be...

Aren’t those white gold?

 

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dsio

·Jul 1, 2021·Ash @ ΩF

Foo2rama

Aren’t those white gold?

Pretty sure they are, the other thing I’d mention is that all of these PO2500s are past due for service if they haven’t had one already due to how long they’ve been out of production. The seals are also about a decade old so change them before getting it wet unless you have proof that the previous guy has recently.

 

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Foo2rama

·Jul 1, 2021·Nowhere near as grumpy as he used to be...

dsio

Pretty sure they are, the other thing I’d mention is that all of these PO2500s are past due for service if they haven’t had one already due to how long they’ve been out of production. The seals are also about a decade old so change them before getting it wet unless you have proof that the previous guy has recently.

So how are they oxidizing?

 

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dsio

·Jul 1, 2021·Ash @ ΩF

Foo2rama

So how are they oxidizing?

Probably a better question for Archer but I’ve had an Aqua Terra with white gold indices look similar after salt water exposure, it actually had salt crystals sort of form on the surface of it and I was never really sure if what I was looking at was corrosion, or the rhodium plating being damaged, or if it was just more salt crystals forming on the surface of the indices as the water dried out.

 

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Bugbait

·Jul 2, 2021

Foo2rama

Aren’t those white gold?

I always thought the 2500 series POs had rhodium plated brass for hour markers, logo and hands? Even the current series only use white gold on the ceramic and higher up models for the PO, although hard to be sure based on descriptions form Omega, i.e. They specifically mention white gold for ceramic models but not the steel ones. Could just be an omission from marketing though.

 

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hronists

·Jul 2, 2021

I had similar pitting on hands and indices of De Ville GMT. Watchmaker said he'd seen similar pitting on Omega watches, but had no clue whether it is manufacturing defect or humidity.

 

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Archer

·Jul 2, 2021·Omega Qualified Watchmaker

Foo2rama

Aren’t those white gold?

No...

 

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Donn Chambers

·Jul 2, 2021

The indices are rhodium-plated steel. If someone did not check the seals regularly (which they should) and moisture got in, I’m not surprised there is oxidation on the indices.

 

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Archer

·Jul 2, 2021·Omega Qualified Watchmaker

Donn Chambers

The indices are rhodium-plated steel. If someone did not check the seals regularly (which they should) and moisture got in, I’m not surprised there is oxidation on the indices.

Not steel - rhodium plated alloy - CuZn28

 

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Bugbait

·Jul 2, 2021

Archer

Not steel - rhodium plated alloy - CuZn28

I Googled it 😀

"CuZn28 is a solid solution strengthened copper alloy containing 28% zinc (brass)"