Jump to content
When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
  • Current Donation Goals

Insert aging, the tale of two inserts.


panerai153

Recommended Posts

I have never "aged" and insert before, but it's raining cats and dogs here, pretty much stuck in the house. I had two inserts, one came with the 7924 caseset, can't remember  where the other came from. I do know that the unidentified one seems to be of better quality, has a nice lumi pearl. I did some reading, and since ubi has never revealed his "secret sauce", i decided to go the route most folks use, bleaching. First thingI di was give them both a good rubbing with a cape cod cloth and then a trip thru the ultrasonic cleaner. Next  I poured about 1/2 and inch of undiluted Clorox into a glass beaker. I used my Iphone timer to get accurate times. I started out with 5 minutes, after 5 minutes, I took them both out and there the differences became apparent. One was ready, had i left it in 10-15 minutes or God Forbid 45 minutes like some folks claimed, It would have been a blank insert. As it turned out 5 minutes gave it what I believe is a pretty nice "Aged" effect. On the other hand, the second one was unphased by the bleach, so it went back for 10 minutes, then 10 minutes more and finally I sort of gave up after one hour!!! I decided to rub on it some, so back to the cape cod, and after about 20 minutes of pretty brisk rubbing, it at last sort of looked like it wasn't brand new. One thing this proved to me, the paint quality of inserts varies wildly. If you plan to age one, make sure you don't just  throw it in the Bleach bath and leave. you need to watch the insert. The 5 minute one was very visibly turning, right before my eyes. Anyone can do this, it just takes a little time and patience anda little Clorox.

Here are some photos of the inserts at the various stages.

 

post-327-0-08752900-1357766879_thumb.jpg

 

post-327-0-67760600-1357766895_thumb.jpg

 

post-327-0-23339600-1357766909_thumb.jpg

 

post-327-0-73099400-1357766920_thumb.jpg

 

post-327-0-72023800-1357766931_thumb.jpg

 

post-327-0-12643800-1357766944_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great writeup!

I tried this in Okla-stinking-homa when I was stuck there for 3 weeks and nearly dead from the unbearably mind numbing boredom. Good LORD I wanted to kill something. So I turned to my trusty all-original vintage MBW ca. 1997.

I tentatively, carefully dropped the insert into straight bleach, poised hawk-like to dump it out into cold water at the first glimmer of fade.

I held my breath.

Nothing happened. So I left it *gasp* for another 30 seconds!

Nothing happened. So another minute. Nothing happened.

I left it in the bleach ALL NIGHT and in the morning it was beginning to look a little blotchy.

MBWs got good paint.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great writeup!

I tried this in Okla-stinking-homa when I was stuck there for 3 weeks and nearly dead from the unbearably mind numbing boredom. Good LORD I wanted to kill something. So I turned to my trusty all-original vintage MBW ca. 1997.

I tentatively, carefully dropped the insert into straight bleach, poised hawk-like to dump it out into cold water at the first glimmer of fade.

I held my breath.

Nothing happened. So I left it *gasp* for another 30 seconds!

Nothing happened. So another minute. Nothing happened.

I left it in the bleach ALL NIGHT and in the morning it was beginning to look a little blotchy.

MBWs got good paint.

LOL....I tried this awhile back with a gen 16800 insert.....the factory uses good paint too. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice writeup Pan!

Your experience is the same as mine, there is no set time...some will fade pretty fast and some not at all.

Some even change font color. Every now and then you will see the silver turn flat bright white. Some inserts get that dark blue thing too.

I've never seen a pattern or even a way to predict who's gonna do what either. The only tip I have us to rough them up first. Drano works really fast. I mostly use gen inserts anymore but I've made a few nice rep inserts look great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys, sometimes a little rainy day project turns out pretty good.I'm not sure which I like better, the really aged one would work fine on and older model like a 6538 or 7924 with and old faded dial and well aged hands. the other one would probably be better on a 1680 or 5513 with a nice dial and hands, more of a "Serviced 5 years ago and worn a lot" type of look.

 

Incidently, I tried aging a gold hand set using coffee like some folks use, didn't have much success. Didn't take any photos, but I would like to get a recipe for aging hands.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple of thoughts:

 

An insert that's worn so much around its inner perimeter tells me "fake wear".  That part should be right next to the domed crystal, and almost never get any mechanical wear, but the same amount of UV and saltwater.  The wear should be even across the width of the insert, perhaps slightly more at its outer perimeter, if it isn't clicked down into the bezel correctly.

 

For aging hands, make some strong creamy espresso.  Then using a q-tip pick up a small dab of the foam, NOT the liquid, and paint the entire hand.

 

The bubbles in the crema will burst, and it will retreat to the edges and crevices, leaving a darker stain there than in the exposed middle.  It also makes a nice residue on the metal itself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nanug,

Thanks for the thoughts and hand aging recipe. I sort of agree with you about the insert, I think the second less "aged" looks more natural. I sent both of them along with all the parts to my watchmaker for assembly (7924). I told him to use the one that fit the best, so we'll see how it comes out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm pretty sure the first one is not a gen insert, although the second one might be, but I'm inclined to think it's the MBW that came on my 1680. Only thing that makes me think it might be a genuine is the pearl glows like crazy with just a little bit of bright light exposure. I've bought gen parts in the past, and I have not been as careful as I should with labeling them. I'm now putting stuff in plastic baggies and labeling them. Probably should usea piece of tape and write what things are and attach the tape.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up