Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

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Pacesetter
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Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by Pacesetter »

Having sold my Tudor Bronze a few weeks ago and then slightly regretting it, I bought a C60 Bronze in the sale. I'm still deciding whether I'm keeping it or not (have a C65 Diver also on the way, and then will decide whether to keep one or the other, or probably both), and in the meantime I am contemplating forcing the patina a bit.
As I realise each make of watch will react differently, dependent on the actual composition of the bronze, I am curious how many of you may have forced the patina on your own CW bronze watch, and if so what method did you use and what results did you get?
At the moment I am favouring the "immerse in milk" method, as I understand that gives an iridescent effect (on some watches), but would welcome any other experiences (and photos)
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Paul Drawmer
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by Paul Drawmer »

Why force the patina at all? It never looks as good as a naturally aged watch where the piece shows variations according to natural rubbing.
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by Pacesetter »

I did let my Tudor acquire it's patina naturally, but the Trident is a bit too blingy for me with it's all-bronze bezel, so I would like to tone it down a bit from the get-go.
May do it, may not, may keep it, may not, all to be decided yet.
By the way, your watch looks to have about the perfect patina to me.
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by Macdaz »

I’ve had mine about three months and the patina is going nicely.

Like you I’m not a fan of bling but I found that dulled Quite a lot within the first couple of weeks.
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by Victor88 »

Deployant.com has a bunch of suggestions including sealing in a bag with hot hard boiled mashed eggs 😖.

I’m with the natural aging proponents; it tells a story just like all the bracelet scratches and bezel dings 🙂.
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by 0uatiOW »

I like natural patina myself, with the occasional resets, but I’m keen to see how yours turns out if you decide to do it.

I’ve heard of boiled eggs, salt & vinegar (maybe that’s the reset?), liver of sulphur, ammonia..... there are a lot of ideas floating around the internet with videos to help.
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by JAFO »

I wouldn't force the patina. I have a bronze diver, and I feel more like giving it a lemon juice bath to lift the patina.
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by Pacesetter »

Well, I tried soaking my watch in milk, several times actually and it made no difference whatsoever.
I have no doubt some people have used this method to create a patina on other watches but it doesn't seem to have any effect on my C60.
Maybe it's something to do with the type of bronze CW uses, or maybe the watch has to have some patina to start with, but I just don't know.
I thought at first it might be because I was using filtered (Cravendale) milk and the filtering had taken out necessary enzymes, so second time round I added some cream. Finally I tried Channel Islands full cream. Each time I gave it about 8-10 hours but the watch still looks exactly as it did when I took it out of the box.
Probably just going to let it age naturally now.
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by exHowfener »

Not a fan of forced patina either - it's all a bit "fake" for my taste. Each to their own. I have had good results with ageing bronze buckles bought off ebay by leaving them out in the garden exposed to the weather. In northern England after about a month, they just go dark and acquire a nice patina, old rather than "look what I found washed up on the beach".

This would of course mean not wearing if for a few weeks - hard with a recent acquisition. While I'm confident that your watch will be just fine regarding water ingress, I take no responsibility for its security ...
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by MarkingTime »

Pacesetter wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 8:32 pm Well, I tried soaking my watch in milk, several times actually and it made no difference whatsoever.
I have no doubt some people have used this method to create a patina on other watches but it doesn't seem to have any effect on my C60.
Maybe it's something to do with the type of bronze CW uses, or maybe the watch has to have some patina to start with, but I just don't know.
I thought at first it might be because I was using filtered (Cravendale) milk and the filtering had taken out necessary enzymes, so second time round I added some cream. Finally I tried Channel Islands full cream. Each time I gave it about 8-10 hours but the watch still looks exactly as it did when I took it out of the box.
Probably just going to let it age naturally now.
How did you get the milk out from under the bezel?
If it dries under there, it might interfere with the smooth operation of the click spring.

The egg thing works, but put it into a plastic tub, not a bag and make sure to sit the watch on a small pedestal, an old camera film case would work. If you allow the watch case to contact another surface, condensation will congregate here and create a tide mark on the case in that area. If the watch is warm, that will help prevent condensation forming on the case.
Thoroughly rinse after and dry it with a tea towel, taking some of the patina off of the high spots for a more natural look.

A pool of vinegar can be substituted for the eggs, instead of the dark patina that the eggs give, you will get small areas of verdigris. Those were my experiences anyway.

One last tip, if it isn’t obvious, this process is done with the strap removed. :D
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by steviecross »

I took others advise and sat mine on a block in some warm vinegar in a small plastic Tupperware type box, within a couple of hours it had started to darken and patenate, just keep checking regularly as it starts going green pretty quickly
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by brash47 »

Put it on, go for a few runs or long walks. Let your natural sweat permeate around it. If it's nice and hot outside when you walk or run, it will start rather quickly and you get the benefit of the workouts....

Put it on rubber when you do and move the clasp onto the rubber as well. Do not forget to shower with it and don't worry about drying it too hard.

For me something about the naturals acids my skin put off around it through a few days dulled it pretty quick.

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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by oberonfoto »

I’ve never forced it on my GMT. It took about a month to develop and it just gets better as time goes on.
Then (Nov 2018):
11FAB77C-A95B-4BC6-A77B-2AA3F4EFA6EC.jpeg

Now:
C997B97D-11F2-4277-9077-2D804B1CDF5F.jpeg
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Re: Forcing Patina on C60 Bronze

Post by timor54 »

This is mine after approx. 3 months occasional wear as part of a rotation.

Image

It seems to have stabilised with a nice uniform patina. I’m not sure that I would want to force it given my experience so far.
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