redwatch

Love that Explorer Lani!!! That may have to be the next build for 2010 for me! In the meantime, still loving my Tudor. My boss tried to steal it from me today He did offer me a raise if I let him keep it. I had to say no....

I agree TJ. I'm definitely on the fence with this one too. I hear everyone's comments and I mostly agree with them. However, the draw to the experiment is getting stronger by the day! I'm just dying to know if it would work or not. I just don't want to throw the money away. However, that being said, if it didn't work out, I could always re-sell the water bath on the bay and maybe not even take a loss with it. I found a dual chamber water bath for $149 on the bay and a 100W High Intensity Long Wave Length UV Lamp for $179. Not necessarily a bad investment if it actually worked!

Here's a couple of pics of my old Rocket Dial Cartier. Sold it and now regret it unfortunately. It was a beautiful watch!

Anyone else care to offer their 0.02? I could really use some more input on this. Thanks folks!

It looks really good. Is it just one that's available though? It's hard to say based on the description.

I believe its a PC issue with Windows Explorer. Many people complained about that issue with the latest upgrade. The easiest work around was to use Firefox instead. I believe there were a couple of other options, but you would have to do a quick search for them as I just can't recall what they were. Hope that helps.

Tudor Tuesday for me again:

Some info can be found here

Great find!!! It may be a quartz, but it looks sharp and does what it's supposed to do! Tick...tick...tick..tick..... Oh look, that's the time!

@ Freddy - That's an interesting unit. It's the same wavelength as the one I was looking at, but the bulbs are 100W as opposed to the 36W total output of the unit you were trying out. I wonder if the higher wattage would have any sort of impact to its effectiveness? @ O/S - I had also considered an ultrasonic bath as well. The higher sonic waves may expedite the aging process, or it will just clean off the bezel completely. I guess it's hard to say really without a few test runs. The unit I am looking into is made by Gemini Labs and it has two separate basins. Each one has its own independent heater controls, but the whole thing shakes at the same rate. Each chamber is 13.3" x 9.5" and 2.3" deep, and they are designed to hold separate containers as well. The nice thing is that the temperature of each separate chamber is digitally controlled and is very accurate (from what I've read). It also has variable speed control for the shaker platter so we can experiment with different speeds to see if they produce different results. Some donor bezels would be superb for this. I don't mind spending some money on this, but it's going to take a lot of bezels to get this experiment in motion.

Thanks for the input Freddy. Out of curiosity, do you happen to know the intensity of the UV Lamp you used? What the wattage was and the wavelength? I only ask because I found a High Intensity Long Wave UV lamp with 100 watt bulbs and want to see if that is similar to the one you already tried. I think that the "trick" to this is possibly going to be the moving water bath. Many people have tried salt water, but was it ever agitated over long periods of time? I think that its years of moving through the salt water that helps it age, along with the UV exposure from the sun. Of course, as everyone has pointed out, the materials used to make the bezels 20 years ago are definitely different from what is used today. Does anyone know the process used to make the old inserts? I would imagine the new inserts are anodized some how, but I could be totally wrong on that. Thoughts?

Looks awesome Ronin! Well done! Enjoy it (although I'm certain you will!)

One other thing I wanted to point out. I am trying to come up with a repeatable way to age an insert to get the same results each time. I think that the time, money and effort invested now, will pay off in the long run being able to age inserts consistently each time. (And no, I am not looking to start a side business here - just trying to satisfy my own curiosity.)

Great pics Hike!!! I really like the ones with the stream of sunlight lighting the centers of the pics, with the shadows bordering the watches! Very very cool! Oh yeah, and the broom as a background is pretty cool too!

Interesting points guys! I didn't even think of the differences in manufacturing processes from 20 years ago. See, this is why I posted this here. Gotta get the brains of RWG in on this! Maybe I overstated my idea about the sand. You have to think that an avid diver is possibly an ocean swimmer as well. Spends time on the beach, or maybe surfs as well? Not really sure, as I am not a diver, so I can't think like one. I don't know why, but something in my gut is telling me that the sand in a moving water bath is the key to this for some reason. (I get very strange, instinctual ideas sometimes - often times turn out correct for some reason) I'm not saying a lot of sand, just a teaspoon or so per liter of water. I mean, why not? Many folks have taking 1200 grit sand paper to their bezels, so they are using some form of mild abrasive right? Additionally, one component of the seawater, as I stated earlier, is chlorine (the other part of the salt). As we have seen in many experiments posted here, a very small amount of chlorine has had a somewhat positive affect on the bezel aging process. I guess my main question is, do you guys think that it would be worth trying this with the water bath? Or am I just throwing away $150 USD? Lets get some more thoughts here guys!! Keep 'em coming!

There's been a lot of posts about how to age a new bezel insert to replicate the look of a well used, 60's to 70's diver watch. Bleach and baking methods have been tried over and over to varying degrees of results. There's been theories and guesses as to what the best method would be to age an insert. I have my own theory that I'd like to share with you all and see what you think. The Hypothesis First off, lets look at the reasons why a bezel insert ages and fades. If the dive watch is used for its intended purpose, it's seen lots of exposure to the ocean. Seawater has, well obviously, salt in it. In fact it's salinity is about 3.5%, which means for every litre of water, there is about 35 grams of dissolved salts, or sodium chloride. By mass, seawater is composed of approximately 85.84% Oxygen, 10.82% Hydrogen, 1.94% Chlorine, 1.08% Sodium, and very miniscule amounts of Magnesium, Sulphur, Calcium, Potassium, Bromine & Carbon. It is this combination of elements that contribute to the discoloring and fading of the paint used on the bezel. Another contributing factor to the discoloration and fading of the bezel insert is Ultra Violet Degradation. Many polymers, pigments and dyes are affected by exposure to UV light. Absorbtion of Ultra Violet radiation can cause degradation and loss of strength in sensitive points in the molecular structure. The degredation manifests itself as loss of pigmentation (or fading) in the bezel insert giving it a nice, aged look. If we look at these two factors, add heat from the sun, and expose the watch to many, many years of diving, we get a perfect combination for an aged bezel insert. The constant motion of the watch through the seawater must have a somewhat abrasive affect on the bezel insert. Additionally, if we look at the fact that there must be a considerable amount of sand in the water, it must be like taking a very mild piece of sand paper to the bezel each time we move our arm through the water while wearing the watch. The Experiment So, the question always remains, how can we achieve the look of an aged bezel insert, without exposing it to 20+ years of seawater and ultra violet light? My theory is, in order to speed up the process, to use some lab equipment, and some trial and error. First off, I propose to use a heated, reciprocal shaking water bath. This device is basically a water bath with heat and the resevoir shakes lightly or vigorously. I have found several of these devices on the bay for quite a variety of prices, but one can be had for about $100 - $200 USD. The one I am looking at looks something like this: So, we take the heated shaking water bath, and add seawater to it. Then, because there's usually quite a bit of sand around when diving, add some amount of beach sand. The water bath can be heated up to nearly boiling, and is digitally controlled, so we can try several different temperatures, different shaking speeds, and amount of time exposed. We grab a UV light used for plant growth, and drop a few bezel's in the container and see what happens. Obviously this will be a long process with a lot of trial and error, but I wanted to propose the idea to the community to see if I am even close to being on the right track. Please let me know your thoughts and any input from the masses would be greatly appreciated!!!

Definitely on the list for this year! Hope they make this one soon:

Cool Jkay! Thanks for the tip!

So O/S, when do we get to see some results with your new acquisition?? Let's see some pics!!

Amazing as always!! Thanks for sharing!

Wow....zero feedback, and about the worst rep I have yet to see. That's almost as bad as the Santee Alley reps here in Los Angeles!

Beauty Donerix! But why the mirror imaged numbers on the inside of the dial? I wonder what the purpose of that was? Nice looking vintage just the same!

Super introduction! Welcome to your new home! It's definitely an addiction, but one of the best addictions one could ask for. Such a great place to just hang, learn lots, and crack a few jokes. Oh, and see lots of pics of watches and girls! There's some great sig's and avatars here! Oh yeah, and the watches are pretty nice too!

Wow MJ!!! Beautiful job! The bezel insert looks great!!!

Was wearing my B&R today and will wear my Tudor for Monday: