View single post by stew77
 Posted: Sun Jan 30th, 2011 01:43 pm
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stew77



Joined: Thu Mar 26th, 2009
Location: Colorado USA
Posts: 10254
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 Thank krethk and Mike for the continued kind words on the Bronze Shark Diver.thankyou.gif

krethk - please post up pics of your blue face Bronze when it arrives!!!  Looking forward to seeing that one too!

So this weekend, I spent a little time getting the patina going on this one.  The most interesting thing that I noticed is that the boiled egg in a ziplock technique that worked really well on the Bronze Moray didn't work nearly as well on the Shark Diver case (I could really only get the case to a deeper, more reddish color with that technique even leaving it in the bag for a long time).  With the Moray, the egg in the ziplock bag was a very progressive process, in that the longer the case stayed in the bag, the darker things got.  My theory is that the blasted bronze finish on the Moray is essentially more "opened-up" to the environment than the brushed case on the Shark Diver...just my thoughts, but who knows?

In order to get the case headed to the darker patina that I prefered, I decided to actually go a step further (and I really have no interest in using chemicals on my watches at all, so all of the many options using chemicals were completely off the table).  For me, it was still the egg or salt water for consideration (man I'd love to have access to an ocean, but with the nearest ocean thousands of miles away....).  So, I went a step further and put the entire watch case into the mashed hard boiled egg to see if that would work...and it did, with the bezel taking on color quite a bit faster than the case.  With that information, I heated up an egg yolk until hot and thick but not fully cooked solid since I still wanted "smearability" (really not sure why just the yolk, as I've heard that sulfer is present in both the white and yolk, but that's what I did).  I then smeared the yolk all over the watch case and monitored progress.

That is about it!!!  Please keep in mind, I do not guarantee this process, and your results may vary!!!ThumbsUp02.gif

Here are a few before and after shots for your enjoyment:













I'm liking the move away from the more 'gold' look, to the much darker patina myself!!!thumbsup.gif


Last edited on Sun Jan 30th, 2011 01:53 pm by stew77