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Why might an 18k gold case have an orange tint? Easily fixed?

nlogax
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I'm looking (online) at an 18k solid gold ladies Cartier Tank Francaise made about 20 years ago. Seems in very good condition, but the case definitely looks a shade or two darker / redder than other examples.

It could simply be the white balance, but the rest of the shots look reasonable to me. I've a question pending with the seller to confirm, and speculate that it being a ladies watch it might be due to hand lotion / moisturisers etc.

Has anyone seen such general tinting before, and can it be fixed without polishing?

Cheers!
 
STANDY
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But sounds like tarnish which usually is a darker orange to turning brown…
 
Larry S
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nlogax nlogax
I'm looking (online) at an 18k solid gold ladies Cartier Tank Francaise made about 20 years ago. Seems in very good condition, but the case definitely looks a shade or two darker / redder than other examples.

It could simply be the white balance, but the rest of the shots look reasonable to me. I've a question pending with the seller to confirm, and speculate that it being a ladies watch it might be due to hand lotion / moisturisers etc.

Has anyone seen such general tinting before, and can it be fixed without polishing?

Cheers!
Or Rose Gold….
 
nlogax
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AFAIK these were only made in yellow gold, so I think it might be mild tarnishing. This shot seems reasonably well white-balanced, but the back plate (which is worst) looks quite dark and even the back of the lugs looks a bit orangey to me.

If this is tarnishing - is it practical to get it cleaned up, or should I live with it?
 
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padders
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It's just a bit of bloom (tarnish) a jewellery polishing cloth will remove it in seconds. 18K still has a lot of copper in it along with other metals that do react with the air over time. It is more pronounced on 9K but 18K does tarnish too eventually, unless it is very high grade and alloyed with lots of palladium like you see in some upmarket white gold alloys, or plated with rhodium like you see in lower grade WG.
 
nlogax
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Fantastic, thank you! I hoped it would be a non-issue 😀
 
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