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A tropical MBW dial?!


Nanuq

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And then let it soak in the sun for a while to age the luminous pearl?

Not something that'll work on the pearl. The dark-colour ageing you see on the gen acrylic pearls is, like gen dial indices, is a natural artefact seen as a result of the decay of the tritium paint used in the lume mix (which means less of it to activate the phosphor in there, hence no glow). UV exposure has little to do with the ageing you're talking about. If you have one of the so-called NOS or generic 'empty' acrylic pearls, then you can simply stain whatever lume is in there yourself with either tea-dye or coffee mix etc.

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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?

It's certainly worth a try :) Or maybe even soaking a cloth in a salt/sand solution and using it as a rubbing compound. I definitely think the ultrasonic cleaner might be a good idea :) I have a friend who's a tattoo artist, I might have to ask if I could borrow one of his cleaners :whistling:

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I just made the strongest possible sea salt solution from boiling water and dissolving as much salt as I could. I soaked and swirled the insert for one hour with no change. I even tried some abrasion with my fingers.... No effect.

I'll let it soak all night tonight and see what happens.

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It's certainly worth a try :) Or maybe even soaking a cloth in a salt/sand solution and using it as a rubbing compound. I definitely think the ultrasonic cleaner might be a good idea :) I have a friend who's a tattoo artist, I might have to ask if I could borrow one of his cleaners :whistling:

If you do, let us know how it works out. I think the US cleaner might just have the right amount of agitation qualities to make this work quite nicely!

Doc's posted pics of a nicely aged dial is a good target to shoot for!

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I just made the strongest possible sea salt solution from boiling water and dissolving as much salt as I could. I soaked and swirled the insert for one hour with no change. I even tried some abrasion with my fingers.... No effect.

I'll let it soak all night tonight and see what happens.

Can't wait to hear if it has any effect :good:

If you do, let us know how it works out. I think the US cleaner might just have the right amount of agitation qualities to make this work quite nicely!

Doc's posted pics of a nicely aged dial is a good target to shoot for!

I will indeed, and absolutely, it is a fine example to aim for :)

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I just made the strongest possible sea salt solution from boiling water and dissolving as much salt as I could. I soaked and swirled the insert for one hour with no change. I even tried some abrasion with my fingers.... No effect.

I'll let it soak all night tonight and see what happens.

Much as I hope I'm wrong here Nanuq, I don't think it'll be that easy unfortunately, even if you reached saturation point with the salt solution (which isn't quite the same composition as seawater anyway).

As I said before, that with the gen greyed inserts I suspect it was down to combined long-term exposure to both UV and seawater. You can't just hope to massively increase the concentration of each element and expect a reciprocal and indirectly proportional reduction in time to desired effect. Even if you've got a 13 year head start on the UV ;)

Must find that recipe and list of reagents - sure it was at the other (low) end of the pH scale than bleach and definitely less corrosive, but can't recall the details.

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Wow, coming in late to this post.

Maybe I am crazy, but I AM a fan of the bluing, and sheared off pearl. Here is my MBW 1665 in my project bin/queue. DRSD dial, lugs, super dome, and silver flat 3 datewheel are on the to-do list.

36508684.jpg

34117743.jpg

gvsd1024.jpg

Hmmm, add a Blue NATO strap perhaps...

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Wow, coming in late to this post.

Maybe I am crazy, but I AM a fan of the bluing, and sheared off pearl. Here is my MBW 1665 in my project bin/queue. DRSD dial, lugs, super dome, and silver flat 3 datewheel are on the to-do list.

Hmmm, add a Blue NATO strap perhaps...

That is a fine piece :good: The first Snowflake Tudor I saw had the same faded blue inset, and it's an awesome look :) I've got a sheered off pearl in my project sub (I didn't realize that was what they were called) and I love it, no risk of it catching on something and getting knocked out ;)

I'd actually suggest a grey NATO, rather than blue :)

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I suspect it was down to combined long-term exposure to both UV and seawater.

Hey if you're like me with the attention span of a gnat, even overnight is long term. :Jumpy:

FADE BABY FADE!!!!

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I think it has to do as PolexPete said with the base color content on the various inserts as to how it fades. The first MBW insert I bleached turned blue/green. One of the cheapy ones from Wholesale outlet I treated turned the perfect slate grey color after several treatments.

I also gave it a little polish with a Capecod cloth to give it a little shine. From what I've seen many of the aged/faded inserts still have the clear coat on them but are discolored. Unlike when you bleach them the clear coat is stripped away. The Capecod brings a little of that shine back.

Here is the Wsoutlet insert:

DSC_0413.jpg

and the same insert on the left on a different watch, the one on the far right is a gen with more of a charcoal/graphite tone

DSC_0715-1.jpg

I need to dig through my photo library to see if I still have a shot of the blue/green MBW insert.

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  • 4 months later...

Picking up where I left off (I did say I have the attention span of a gnat) tell me about that lovely DRSD in front of the pressure tester? Modded MBW case, vintage crown, NDT dial? I'm starting to think about taking my antique MBW to that level now.

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Hmm, Has anyone considered sticking an entire watch in the OVEN (Minus movement and seals and bezel) and let the dial bake inside of the watch for lets say... 2 hours at 200

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That's about what I did in Okla-stinkin-homa, I left it in the sun in a car on 100+ degree days for 8 or 10 hours at a stretch, with the entire watch intact. I'd pick it up later and it was so hot I couldn't hold it in my bare hands. Presto changeo, baked dial!

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I baked an sd dial in the oven. started at 200 and slowly raised the temp. It didn't start working until 325. By the time it changed to where I wanted it, the paint on the dial started to pop and bubble a bit. I left it in a little too long. It did work though. I also put the insert into a bleach bath, rinsed it, then ground up a chlorine tablet and added it to some hot water. I swished the insert upside down in that for a couple of hours. It did have an effect. The granules of chlorine acted as a sand abrasive, as well as fading the insert. If I hadn't of broken the stem while reassembling, I would have had the watch back together. It looks pretty good for a first attempt at this stuff. Anyone have a spare stem for a 21jA?

Edited by 1watching2
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Yeah I think when it comes to cooking a watch with heat... this takes all the marbles. Did you know it's possible to melt a sapphire crystal? Neither did I. That sucker's collapsed in the middle. :tu: And truth be told, I didn't "just" use a gas burner. :whistling:

thermal_test1.jpg

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Back from the dead post! Nanuq :lol:

Thanks for the kind words on my DRSD. You are correct it's a modded MBW case, NDT dial -the indices & hands were given a patina paintjob by The Zigmeister to give it that high humidity exposure look. Also a Twinlock crown, Gen T39, 2846 ETA with Watchmeisters DW overlay, the insert (Wholesaleoutlet) in the photo at the time was an bleached & aged with a cracked vintage toned lume dot from "watchesandparts" on ebay.

Picking up where I left off (I did say I have the attention span of a gnat) tell me about that lovely DRSD in front of the pressure tester? Modded MBW case, vintage crown, NDT dial? I'm starting to think about taking my antique MBW to that level now.

God, I still love this photo and story!!!

thermal_test1.jpg

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Yeah I think when it comes to cooking a watch with heat... this takes all the marbles. Did you know it's possible to melt a sapphire crystal? Neither did I. That sucker's collapsed in the middle. :tu: And truth be told, I didn't "just" use a gas burner. :whistling:

thermal_test1.jpg

There's hands in that mess????

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Thanks, TMG! Say, you want to trade that "slightly used" vintage piece of RWG history for your NDT DRSD straight across? :thumbsupsmileyanim:

*crickets chirping*

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