Black Bay Bronze enhanced patina

[monsieur_z]

Hi,

There are many tutorials on how to "patina" bronze jewelery, but Let me share my experiment with a Tudor Black Bay Bronze...

My own requirements:
- no over-done rusty/green tarnishing
- no nasty chemicals, only kitchen stuff

So I picked the overcooked hard-boiled eggs method (30 min cook time).

I washed the watch thoroughly with soap, and put it with hard boiled eggs (3 of them) in a air tight plastic bag; left it there for 12 hours. Maybe 16 can't remember.

The watch came out with some black/grey oxydation patterns. I washed the dark spots with water/soap and rub with a cloth.

Finally, after washing, the watch came out with a slightly darker finishing and interesting patterns. Overall, effect is less dramatic than I expected; maybe due to the nature of metallic compound used in the Tudor Black Bay Bronze.

Some pictures of the process:20220215_233158-COLLAGE.jpgPXL_20220214_023253461.jpgPXL_20220214_023224078.MP.jpgPXL_20220215_122015483.jpgPXL_20220215_124922881.MP.jpgPXL_20220215_122153642.jpg

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[Kyle3130]

[JSolution]

[ArtNouveau]

I went through a bronze watch phase, was up to six at one time, still have three. But all of mine are the more common CuSn8 “marine bronze” alloy that is used by most brands. Those watches get some crazy patina without doing anything other than wearing them. The aluminum bronze alloy Tudor chose will only get darker over time.

[worldofoyster]

why?

[The Londonist]

Originally Posted by worldofoyster

why?

^^^this…

Love the Tudor bronzo’s but I’d rather know how to keep them in as close to showroom condition as possible…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lukebennett21]

A bag of hard boiled eggs. I have seen it all.

[Daveclock]

That smells nice!

[Meyrin]

Crazy! But this does make me wonder...is it safe to wear my old Submariner while eating hard-boiled eggs?

[train-time]

Originally Posted by Daveclock

That smells nice!

Looks like the strap was left on during the incubation. Oh boy!

[Driver8]

For a patina-phobic (and therefore bronze-a-phobic) like me, this is all just a horrible nightmare!

But even aside from that, I've never really understood the concept of forcing patina. It's like scratching your watch on purpose to give it some pretend age (although obviously bronze patina is reversible with a bit of lemon juice).

Personally if patina's your thing, I'd just let it happen naturally on it's own.

[samson66]

I'm not sure why people choose to do this. The best patina occurs naturally over the lifetime of the watch. Why rush it? Seems more fun to me just to see it happening on its own a little at a time.

[OrangeSport]

Unbelievable.

[russ86]

I have so many questions lol

[Canikony]

I prefer natural patina on my bronze, but to each their own.

[Daytonaboy1977]

Well, to each their own. Mine has developed a lovely rounded dark brown patina since 2019. This looks a little too aggressive in my opinion. Hope you enjoy it though

[kieselguhr]

Have you tried duck egg?

[jimcameron]

It can be reversed in the blink of an eye. Enjoy it, and have fun.

[Aussiexplorer]

Originally Posted by jimcameron

It can be reversed in the blink of an eye. Enjoy it, and have fun.

I haven't found it that easy to reverse on the BB 58 bronze. I use denture cleaning tablets and they work quite well, but it never returns to as new.

[Chloe&Harley]

Why ?

[CarlOver]

I guess the strap was included in the bag to make the whole shebang more legit?

[joli160]

Guess this is the reason why many people buy a bronze watch.
Good to make it your own

[Gab27]

If you like it, that is what matters, although I cannot say this is something I would personally do.

I've generally used mustard to force patinas, although I've only ever done it on high-carbon Gyutos that will rapidly pit without one.

[Golfguy77]

That’s enough internet for today……good grief

[MikeyV]

Bravo. Good for you taking a chance on this. I think this kinda stuff it cool.

I've never tarnished a watch on purpose, but I might have put a Custom Shop Telecaster in my freezer?

And I might also have, possibly, used acids and salts to tarnish hardware of expensive guitars as well.

[Geckobros]

I once filled a $9 quartz watch with food grade mineral oil to see what it was like. And I thought I was crazy.

[VegasBaby]

This definitely proves Tudor needs its own forum section........... :

[monsieur_z]

Bronze watches won't stay in showroom condition. That's why people buy bronze watches.

After 1 week of wear some spots appear. After 1 month it's already quite a bit darker, but from that point it won't change much. That's my experience with the alloy on the BB bronze. The egg treatment I did added some brownish areas, once rubbed off with the cloth/finger. Nothing dramatic at the end. No watches were injured!

Putting the hype aside, I think this bronze material is interesting, something different. Same as silver, and brushed gold we have seen recently from Tudor.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[monsieur_z]

Originally Posted by train-time

Looks like the strap was left on during the incubation. Oh boy!

:) I was too lazy to remove it and dismantle the buckle. There was a nasty smell but it's all gone after washing in soap and water.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[franktehtank]

I can imagine the stink of the strap.