UmpaHimself Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 I saw a picture which I now can not find of a 1680 with a black dial but a slightly tropical brown insert and would love to get something similar for my build. I was reading another thread in which the comments stated that getting this effect from bleach depends on the primary color used for the black on the insert. Blue = a more grey look where red = a more chocolate look. I was wondering if there are other, more consistent ways of achieving the tropical color on an insert regardless of the primary base color used. I was thinking about bleaching it, then soaking it in coffee or something similar but that would probably turn the silver numerals a lighter gold color too which I don't really want. Any and all ideas are welcome. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightwatch Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Was hoping on another gmt pic:) I´d suppose You have to start off with a red one or one of those red and gold to get a cocoa effect later on (like starting with a blue one to get a bluish fading tint). In the "don´t do this at home - category" I imagine hanging it on a piece of metal and pushing it in and out of a toaster together with the bleaching might achieve something (or not). Pls. report progress:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmpaHimself Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 48 minutes ago, Nightwatch said: Was hoping on another gmt pic:) I´d suppose You have to start off with a red one or one of those red and gold to get a cocoa effect later on (like starting with a blue one to get a bluish fading tint). In the "don´t do this at home - category" I imagine hanging it on a piece of metal and pushing it in and out of a toaster together with the bleaching might achieve something (or not). Pls. report progress:) Unfortunately I have become pretty discouraged with the 1675. I caused some damage to the one I had and I am not sure if it's worth it putting further money/time into it. Especially since the watchmaker I typically used doesn't seem to want to take on any new GMT movement work. So I'm switching focus to the new MBW subs that arrived a few weeks ago now. Already got the 5512 to a place I am really happy with just by swapping the insert to the ghost insert I had on my cartel sub. If you didn't catch it in the wrist check thread, here it is: The only insert I have found that may work is this WSO brown insert. What's nice is that it comes with an acrylic pearl (unfortunately it's not the most accurate). However, I would definitely need to fade it further to make it a believable tropical insert and I don't know how that would turn out. Not sure if I want to spend $70 to find out it won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hologramet Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 My tip is using a black insert, 1) give it a nice and (slow) go with a nail buffer at about 2000-4000 grit to remove the gloss 2) Then a very light bleach 3) then use a torch lighter and lightly torch it from under (imagine a junkie with a spoon-type of way). A tip is creating a holder out of something that doesn't conduct heat very well, e.g. paper towel The dark grey/light black will turn browner and browner.. 4) Last but no least then give ita spray with a glossy varnish, let it dry very thoroughly (preferable over night) Last finish, another go with a nailbuffer at as high grit as possible to even out the varnish layer. That's my cooking recipe, I imagine there are other... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmpaHimself Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 10 minutes ago, hologramet said: That's my cooking recipe, I imagine there are other... Interesting. Do you have any examples of how it turns out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hologramet Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 I can show you the look on a Snowflake insert... How it turns from a bleached purple-ish (horrible) blue to a beautiful tropical more "natural" blue. Don't have any spare black inserts to show you on unfortunately... I might give it a go on my brand spanking new MBW 5512-insert, but considering it has a beautiful (rare) kissing 4's + kissing 5's insert that I don't know if there are any spares to purchse, I don't know if I'm willing to risk it on currently (the final color is a complicated mic of bleaching it right and cookind it right). And that is much easier if you can reverse an unfortunate mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmpaHimself Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 15 minutes ago, hologramet said: I can show you the look on a Snowflake insert... How it turns from a bleached purple-ish (horrible) blue to a beautiful tropical more "natural" blue. Don't have any spare black inserts to show you on unfortunately... I might give it a go on my brand spanking new MBW 5512-insert, but considering it has a beautiful (rare) kissing 4's + kissing 5's insert that I don't know if there are any spares to purchse, I don't know if I'm willing to risk it on currently (the final color is a complicated mic of bleaching it right and cookind it right). And that is much easier if you can reverse an unfortunate mistake. I definitely have a spare insert I can test it on. Does anyone know if throwing it in an oven have any effect? That's something else I was considering. A light bleaching and baking but I don't want to get any toxic fumes in my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hologramet Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 I can recommend the torch-style as you can see and thus control the heat much better, I tried the oven too and destroyed 2 dials (never tried inserts) before I gave up... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmpaHimself Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 11 minutes ago, hologramet said: I can recommend the torch-style as you can see and thus control the heat much better, I tried the oven too and destroyed 2 dials (never tried inserts) before I gave up... Im reading around more now. Even on some of the gen forums it seems that cooking inserts at about 200c/395f for one minute will get you a very mild brown color with out doing any fading. Sounds like I have some experimenting to do tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Why not just pop it in the oven along with your chocolate chip cookies until both are a nice golden brown (there is a thread floating around here that I posted many years ago describing this)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmpaHimself Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 54 minutes ago, freddy333 said: Why not just pop it in the oven along with your chocolate chip cookies until both are a nice golden brown (there is a thread floating around here that I posted many years ago describing this)? Yeah I think that's what I am going to try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junbug5150 Posted February 10, 2016 Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 18 hours ago, freddy333 said: Why not just pop it in the oven along with your chocolate chip cookies until both are a nice golden brown (there is a thread floating around here that I posted many years ago describing this)? What? This sounds interesting (and delicious)! Must go and search! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmpaHimself Posted February 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 Ok. I put my MBW insert in the toaster oven on bake @390 for a total of 10 min (5 min check and 5 again) with 0 change. I had lightly bleached it before hand too. I decided to call it a day because the insert was starting to warp just a tad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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