Has anyone experimented with how long patina takes to develop?

[gouverneur]

New member here, I've been intrigued by threads regarding how/in what conditions patina develops. It seems the majority opinion is patina will develop when a tritium dial is stored in a dark place. Has anyone ever tried/experimented with this by keeping a vintage piece in a safe or drawer for a few months? What's the result?

Follow up question would be: is patina something that had to develop in the early years of the watch's life, ie when the tritium was most active? If the tritium is now 25+ years old, will it not produce a patina now if it hasn't yet done so?

[QueueCumber]

I stared at a dial for a few years straight. Nothing happened...

[Wesley Crusher]

Whatever you do, don't put the watch next to a lightbulb.

[watches4me]

Lightbulb ??

[JohnBaker3]

OP:

Vintage watches with tritium paint for the lumes and hands change over time.

If they are worn regularly in the sunlight, the change is minimal. They can go from eggshell white to a soft yellow.

Those that were kept in the dark (a safe or drawer) for extended periods can darken to deep yellow and even an orange color. For many of these watches, we are talking 15-20 years without sunlight.

Lots of variables and lots of shades of change.

Hope that helps.

[RC2]

Don't have enough time to stare lol

[MitchSteel]

Wes.....well played,sir,well played

[brandrea]

Thank you John, excellent information

[jedly1]

most of the dark patina watches you see will have been dark stored for years to darken as much s they have ....

anecdotally , it has been seen that some watches that have lightened up again after use , when put back into store for 6-12mths have noticeably darkened again.

personally I've got watches that have been in the bank for 5 years plus since moving over to oz and last time i looked just before xmas i didn't notice any particular darkening in patina.

[AzHadEnuf]

After 45 years of wearing my 6263 pretty much daily, my lume is white as rice. I going to,stop holding my breath and accept it just is not going to change.

[Michael M.]

As Jed said above, most of the watches seen with very dark patina have been in storage for many years. Here is a 1655 I purchased from the original owner last week, it had been sitting in his dresser drawer for 25 years unworn. I have been wearing it daily for the past week, so we will see if the patina 'lightens' up noticeably after regular wear in the sun/outdoors.

[cajuntiger]

Originally Posted by Michael M.

Here is a 1655 I purchased from the original owner last week, it had been sitting in his dresser drawer for 25 years unworn. I have been wearing it daily for the past week, so we will see if the patina 'lightens' up noticeably after regular wear in the sun/outdoors.

I better take that off your hand Michael...it would be a shame to see it fade :)

really nice piece!! I never was a big fan of the II, but this makes me one now.

[southtexas]

^^ my bet is it will certainly lighten up.

I bought a sub that had been in a safe for almost 40 years. 6 mos later, and after daily wear, it was considerably lighter. I'll try to find the before and after pics I posted here.

[southtexas]

After about 6 mos of daily wear (last post wouldn't let me add both pics??):