Nanuq Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 I've been in freakishly hot Okla-stinkin-homa for a week now and the temps are killing me! How do you people live like this?! Thoughts of ice cubes flood my mind as I swelter beneath the unyielding rays in this Godforsaken place. But today I noticed something. I've been messing with ageing my DRSD MBW insert (what else is there to do here besides break things?) and part of my technique has been to bake the living hell out of the watch in sunny places to get as much UV as possible. Today my lying eyes told me that not only is my insert going steel blue faded, but the dial has begun to take on a chocolate tint while the markers and text are staying ivory and white. Is it the heat driving me slowly insane? Not having a camera here I can't post photos and I can't find a shrink that's not also a Bingo caller so I cannot know for sure. But I'll have my camera again in a few weeks when I get home and I'll post photos then. If I live through this Midwestern purgatory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 How long did you let it bake for? I might try this while it's stinking hot here in LA. That is if the fires don't completely block out the sun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted September 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Hours and hours and HOURS in ungodly hot car windows and the sort. Followed by many dips in the chlorine-rich pool. Bear in mind this is an ooooollllld MBW, ca. 13 years ago. Did Maria use different paint then? Who knows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Sounds good, I'll look forward to seeing the results Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Is that god-forsaken place (OK) in the 'midwest' (I think it is just the west)? But, whatever it is, I hope you & your sun-drenched watch make it back alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted September 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 I've discovered that liberal doses of cerveza applied systemically help ease the anguish. I think I'll survive now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Transformation into slate-grey insert and chocolate dial? Something has definitely been affected in the heat. Sadly, I don't think it's the watch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted September 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Here we go, I just took this and managed to get it from my iPhone to my server at home. Are my eyes deceiving me? I've never heard of an MBW going tropical? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 It does look a bit islandy, but hard to believe a few days in the OK sun would cause that unless the paint was seriously defective (which, considering the source, is totally impossible ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted September 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 True, but remember too that I've had this in the sun for 13 years already. I wonder if I finally got it baked enough to turn? The color of the insert is just a little too blue for my eye, I'd like to grey it up. Any ideas? That was LOTS of time in bleach. Like a total of an hour and 55 minutes so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 True, but remember too that I've had this in the sun for 13 years already. I wonder if I finally got it baked enough to turn? The color of the insert is just a little too blue for my eye, I'd like to grey it up. Any ideas? That was LOTS of time in bleach. Like a total of an hour and 55 minutes so far. It looks fantastic I'm not exactly sure of the factory source for the parts I used in my project, but that got the same browning effect via grilling, so I'm wondering if UV exposure might have done the same thing (out of curiousity, does the bleaching affect the luminous quality at all?) I wouldn't like to say about the insert... I've found that once it 'goes blue', that's a step before it strips down to the bare metal of the insert, so I really wouldn't know what to suggest there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted September 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Ah, let me clarify... The bleaching was only for the insert. The dial has stayed beneath its tropic-39 oven in the sun and has zero lume ability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmg Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Wow Nanuq I do see some chocolate developing. Maybe you should send it to a tanning booth. Hey, only 11 more years and I'll be there too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Possible that the dial may be fading... Difficult to say for certain what the catalyst is- the heat, the sun or time. Possibly just a combination of all? By the way... Don't let the insert settle in bleach for too long. I'll post photos tomorrow as to why I advise caution in this regard... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted September 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Thanks Ubi, do you have a trick for removing some blue-ness without fading it any further? I'm liking how it looks now, but would rather have more of a slate tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polexpete Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Hey Nanuq, i'm afraid you're stuck with the blue. The black paint differs of course but they are all made with primary colours, ie red and blue and its these which are strongest and will be the last to fade. I've bleached inserts which have turned brown hence more red in the black. Seems your insert has a strong dose of blue. The Chocolate dial such as yr gen DRSD and the MBW probably have a heavy dose of red in the original black paint hence the chocolate look.. Cheers P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 I'll have to have a dig around but I believe I have filed away somewhere a better more dilute hence more controlled 'recipe' than bleach for achieving a slate-grey insert. Of course it also depends on the quality of your insert to begin with. My 1665 has a MY insert on it - not something I'd want to sacrifice in testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Hey Nanuq, i'm afraid you're stuck with the blue. The black paint differs of course but they are all made with primary colours, ie red and blue and its these which are strongest and will be the last to fade. I've bleached inserts which have turned brown hence more red in the black. Seems your insert has a strong dose of blue. The Chocolate dial such as yr gen DRSD and the MBW probably have a heavy dose of red in the original black paint hence the chocolate look.. Cheers P. That does makes sense about primary colour base, but surely there must be better quality inserts out there - aside from the gen of course - that differ? guess it's just a matter of trial and *gulp* error Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 I'm not exactly sure of the factory source for the parts I used in my project, but that got the same browning effect via grilling, so I'm wondering if UV exposure might have done the same thing Your cookery experiment is very different though, relying on heat generated by the low end (down to IR) of the EM spectrum, as far removed from the the UV 'baking' Nanuq's has been subjected to. I wouldn't expect the results to be comparable. FWIW I think the gen slate-grey ageing is down to a combination of salt water and UV sunlight (which is mixed A and B ) and time. In other words, it's a very difficult task to replicate the effect of those exact conditions artificially. But hey, that's exactly why it makes it such fun trying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted September 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 This all makes good sense, and I can see how the blue just won't go away now. Maybe I'll do some soaking in STRONG salt water solutions and strong UV and see what happens? If I get lucky, maybe I've started the fade process enough now that the remaining tint is weak enough to be quickly affected? Who knows... there's little to be lost in trial and (gulp) error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docblackrock Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 You don't see the greying in all original vintage inserts even from the same year in the same climate, which leads me to believe the variation is down to whether the watch has experienced salt water immersion or not. Just a theory mind you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Ah, let me clarify... The bleaching was only for the insert. The dial has stayed beneath its tropic-39 oven in the sun and has zero lume ability. Sorry, I was probably not making a clear distinction between the bleaching of the insert, and the sun-bleaching of the lume on the dial. If sun-bleaching destroys the lume (as well as cooking it does) I might indeed re-consider my plan... One thing I do like to be able to do, is see the time in the dark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Your cookery experiment is very different though, relying on heat generated by the low end (down to IR) of the EM spectrum, as far removed from the the UV 'baking' Nanuq's has been subjected to. I wouldn't expect the results to be comparable. FWIW I think the gen slate-grey ageing is down to a combination of salt water and UV sunlight (which is mixed A and B ) and time. In other words, it's a very difficult task to replicate the effect of those exact conditions artificially. But hey, that's exactly why it makes it such fun trying Of course, you're absolutely right about the EM difference, that was something which never occurred to me, I was just looking at it as 'heat', rather than the actual wavelengths involved... Salt water, you say... That would make sense, after all, the saline solution could be acting as an abrasive to remove the paint, which could mean that the grey color is simply the result of abrasion, rather than purely chemically based... As you say, it's all those things which make it fun to try and replicate the look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 If that's the case then, you might want to try a salt water "bleaching" of an insert, but keep in mind, in order to get a more realistic version, the salt water solution would need to be constantly moving somehow to simulate the watch being in water with current flows and arm movements. Maybe an ultrasonic bath machine with a small amount of sea salt in the solution for like 10 minutes or so? Could be an interesting science experiment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwatch Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Teejay, you may have also touched on something. Ocean water also has quite a bit of sand particles in it which may be causing an abrasive effect on the bezel insert. Perhaps amending my previous statement, how about a small amount of sea-salt and sand mixed into a small ultrasonic bath? And then let it soak in the sun for a while to age the luminous pearl? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.