Is there such a thing as too much patina?

[Saltzy]

A guy I work with has this 1985 Sub 16800.

His dad wore it every day in the Florida sun for years, and the bezel and face are basically a brushed grey now.

I've never seen a Sub with as much fading on the face before.

What's the the general consensus on vintage Subs with this much fade?

Too much, just right, or not enough?

[BigBlue1]

That looks great. I love it.

[Onikage]

Very unique modern colour. It's called 'gun metal grey'. Very cool.

[locutus49]

Looks fine.

[1665fan]

Looks good, sucks the hands are newer

[1SG MTB]

That’s a gorgeous watch, I would wear that for sure!

[Saltzy]

Originally Posted by 1665fan

Looks good, sucks the hands are newer

Ha, he is lurking this thread and advised me to tell you that he has a set of new old stock correct hands ready to go when he can get em in there.

[AJV_36]

See nothing wrong with that one! Enjoy it


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[Styles Bitchley]

Looks like a comfy old pair of blue jeans. Love it.

[Kingface66]

Originally Posted by Saltzy

Is there such a thing as too much patina?
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Possibly. But this watch is nowhere close.

[Dan S]

I like that look, too bad the original hands are gone. I bet they would look great also.

[Joergen]

Not enough patina! Lovely piece! Just don't have Rolex replace the dial...

[dbhak22]

Beautiful watch! My thoughts for what it's worth:

- in general, we love patina...so you could assume the more there is, the better
- it's important to call out how we define "patina". It should be any signs of age. But that could also mean some heavy damage...so it depends, :)
- as long as it's all original (ie. not fauxtina or artificially aged), most will prefer over non-original heavy patina. In other words, I'd much rather have an original lighter patina piece than one with heavy patina that was artificially aged...in general.

[Cooper33]

Love me some nicely faded/patina Subs. Here's mine!

[Cooper33]

Originally Posted by dbhak22

Beautiful watch! My thoughts for what it's worth:

- in general, we love patina...so you could assume the more there is, the better
- it's important to call out how we define "patina". It should be any signs of age. But that could also mean some heavy damage...so it depends, :)
- as long as it's all original (ie. not fauxtina or artificially aged), most will prefer over non-original heavy patina. In other words, I'd much rather have an original lighter patina piece than one with heavy patina that was artificially aged...in general.

Hey! I follow you on IG

[1665fan]

Originally Posted by Saltzy

Ha, he is lurking this thread and advised me to tell you that he has a set of new old stock correct hands ready to go when he can get em in there.

New old stock and match in color? That would be awesome...i found a set for my 1675 that I bought from a dealer that lied about the hands. I got lucky

[arguscanis]

that seems like a really nice desirable patina,
this...not so much.

[athom]

Originally Posted by Saltzy

A guy I work with has this 1985 Sub 16800.

His dad wore it every day in the Florida sun for years, and the bezel and face are basically a brushed grey now.

I've never seen a Sub with as much fading on the face before.

What's the the general consensus on vintage Subs with this much fade?

Too much, just right, or not enough?

I am not a big fan of those "pumpkin patine", strongly orange but this one has a very beautiful one

[CPRWATCH]

I loves me some honest patina all day long ,

[crazymcmichael]

Originally Posted by Saltzy

A guy I work with has this 1985 Sub 16800.

His dad wore it every day in the Florida sun for years, and the bezel and face are basically a brushed grey now.

I've never seen a Sub with as much fading on the face before.

What's the the general consensus on vintage Subs with this much fade?

Too much, just right, or not enough?

Its a nice watch bro!!

[offrdmania]

Its one thing when the patina is fading or color change. This is probably the most desirable patina.
Then you have people who call damage a form of patina as in flaking lume, cracked glossy dials, bubbling dials, paint loss dials, etc.
The second is too far and is no longer patina, it is just damaged.
Your co-workers watch would fall into the first and is very desirable in a collectors eye.

[Gmt21]

Originally Posted by Saltzy

A guy I work with has this 1985 Sub 16800.

His dad wore it every day in the Florida sun for years, and the bezel and face are basically a brushed grey now.

I've never seen a Sub with as much fading on the face before.

What's the the general consensus on vintage Subs with this much fade?

Too much, just right, or not enough?

Owner is a good friend. I had a spare pair of 16800 NOS hands I sent him. He might change those luminova ones and make them original. Patina looks great on this piece. Insert also looks great with original wear and faded almost to a grey blue.

[Wahlberg]

Originally Posted by athom

I am not a big fan of those "pumpkin patine", strongly orange but this one has a very beautiful one

I used to see so many of those a couple of years ago (for sale), now barely anything. Not that I'm a big fan of them either.

[jackruff]

It's a personal thing... For me it's more about how the whole package comes together... some work..some don't...

[77T]

Patina in the lume as a nice even color is definitely appreciated as a sign of graceful aging- like ivory it gains in appeal.

But a painted surface, like a bezel or a dial, fading into a degraded uneven color isn’t quite as appealing.


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[Richard Carver]

Kinda perfect. Exactly what you hope to see on an original watch. Hands never match in the real world, different manufacturers, different lume mixtures. Anytime I see matchy matchy hands and dials I know the vintage elves have been at work. :)