I saw their explanation but was still surprised. They have pulled gold coins out of sea water or dug up hundreds of years later and they were shiny. I suspect 24k stays shiny but as percentage of gold drops, the alloy elements can start to tarnish.
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The "Official" Watch Thread and all Things Horological
- Thread starter backmarkerducati
- Start date
Priller
Well-known member
Definitely related to the alloy of the gold. A quick Google suggests it's rare but not unheard of, and much more common in humid climates. It's not super fragile, though it can apparently be removed similar to polishing silver (and may be silver itself causing the tarnish). The crown, pushers and caseback are unaffected, which suggests a different (probably harder) alloy.
On that watch, I absolutely love it. I think it gives it a character that is impossible to replicate, and looks beautiful. I can see why they chose to leave it unpolished...
100%. I love the look but while I don't think the patina would disappear if you wore it, watches touch things and a scratch in the patina would cost you at least tens of thousands of dollars and be essentially unrepairable. You either live with the scratch or polish off the beautiful patina.
Priller
Well-known member
You pays your money, you takes your chances. At ~$300,000 CAD, my guess it'll spend somewhere between 99.99-100% of the time in a display case. If it did get worn, it would be veeeeeeerrrryy caaaarrfuuuullllyyy...
Guys that can pick these things up can afford to have them maintained. Like the guy that binned a 60s Ferrari 250gt on some UK track last week worth an estimated 60million , his biggest concern? How long to get it back in shape .
I can appreciate it. I have trouble comprehending it .
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I can appreciate it. I have trouble comprehending it .
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A friend of a friend binned his F40 on the track many years ago. He was ****** that he had to use his backup ferrari to finish the track day. Not as bad as the 250GT but still unimaginable amounts of money for an hour of fun.
On the "oxidized" gold Rolex Chronograph.... It basically comes down to the alloy of gold. Solid gold can discolour like that but so can a plated piece that is worn and showing oxidized lower plating/base metal. On a solid piece I think it can be polished out without butchering it.
I assume it was one of Schumacher's collection. If so the patina on the solid gold is part of the prize and possibly the value, leave it as is, adds to the conversation so to speak. If it was Joe Blows used watch it can likely be polished and in this case I would as that patina makes it "look" like it is plated with some base metal showing. Solid gold case polished properly I do not see it impacting the value in a negative way.
Entirely moot to me as it is all well out of my price range, lucky for me I guess as I don't have to decide to polish or not.
I assume it was one of Schumacher's collection. If so the patina on the solid gold is part of the prize and possibly the value, leave it as is, adds to the conversation so to speak. If it was Joe Blows used watch it can likely be polished and in this case I would as that patina makes it "look" like it is plated with some base metal showing. Solid gold case polished properly I do not see it impacting the value in a negative way.
Entirely moot to me as it is all well out of my price range, lucky for me I guess as I don't have to decide to polish or not.
And this is me today , not completely on side , it’s quartz which I don’t buy , but it is a marine watch which I do , outlet mall for $209.00 all in ,too cheap not to by 
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I just got back from Panama a week ago. While there I visited a necropolis where last month they discovered a major figure buried with a bunch of human sacrifices from around AD 1500. Buried with him were a bunch of gold armour plates, earrings, figurines etc. They had the make up of the gold and most was not 24K as this Civilisation were adept at working with alloys it seems. None of the gold was really badly discoloured, it was shiny gold coloured. Super impressive stuff.
Priller
Well-known member
I dig it. My last Citizen fell into the too-cheap-not-to-buy category, and I'm very happy with it.
I like it. Not too bling but a nice touch.
Citizen seems to have a number of watches that fall into that category.
Priller
Well-known member
I've already banged on about how much I like the Tsuyosa for the money as an incredible value mix somewhere between an Oyster Perpetual and PRX, but they just released some small-seconds variants with metallic guilloche dials that also replace the budget pressed steel clasp with a butterfly clasp (or a strap):
Those dials will have to be seen in person to be judged properly, but the grey one on leather looks pretty good from here. (MSRP is $100 more than the regular Tsuyosa, so street price should be ~$400-450)
Those dials will have to be seen in person to be judged properly, but the grey one on leather looks pretty good from here. (MSRP is $100 more than the regular Tsuyosa, so street price should be ~$400-450)
Priller
Well-known member
Ha! All depends on the bracelet, I think. My Longines has a butterfly clasp and half links, so it just took getting the balance right where the 6 o'clock side is slightly shorter for it to be as easy and comfortable as any other watch I've worn...
Dirty Frank
Well-known member
Here ya go.
Retiring my poor old datejust after more than a quarter century of everyday use. It is bog standard except for the champagne tapestry dial.
The Citizen is a change a little bulky but very light weight with the titanium case and band. After i got a Slysz bowie i started to appreciate titanium its heat transfer make it a "warm" metal that steered me towards this watch along with some other features like the cyclops being on the back side of the sapphire crystal. The watch is a good value IMO.
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Priller
Well-known member
Hey, the double batons and hands are clearly 'inspired' by the OP, but then Rolex went and released this at the recent watch show:
Who's copying who now, eh?
(Joking somewhat aside, I understand the Rolex cognoscenti absolutely hate the above watch, which instantly elevates it to my second favourite Rolex of all time)
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