bronze cases, experience?

[LondonNeil]

I can't decide if i like bronze cases for watches or not....i think i do like the once its lost its initial brightness, and if it get's a deep dark lustre the watch could look lovely. however i am slightly concerned that they would be a bit soft. When they tend to be divers, tool watches, they should expect a few dinks and scratches but we don't want battered. Has anybody got hands on experience? how do they fair?

[Pupp]

Have a 2 year old Tudor BB Bronze; it might be that their bronze alloy is a tad harder than some (I recall it was some specific formulation) but no mechanical damage at all and it tends to be my go-to for when I might be humping stuff about or off road cycling etc. It has lost its initial (over) brightness and settled down to quite a warm tarnish with no green. An AD spotted it in Windsor a few weeks ago and stated that each one is different and it seems to depend on the body chemistry of the wearer as to how it ages.

I like it; so much I now want a new Panerai Bronzo… can but dream

[Chinnock]

Love them once aged nicely.

Before



After




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[LondonNeil]

Have a 2 year old Tudor BB Bronze; it might be that their bronze alloy is a tad harder than some (I recall it was some specific formulation) but no mechanical damage at all and it tends to be my go-to for when I might be humping stuff about or off road cycling etc. It has lost its initial (over) brightness and settled down to quite a warm tarnish with no green. An AD spotted it in Windsor a few weeks ago and stated that each one is different and it seems to depend on the body chemistry of the wearer as to how it ages.

I like it; so much I now want a new Panerai Bronzo… can but dream

It won't verdigris, its an aluminium bronze. it will patina but not green. (I must admit to having just read this article on hodinkee which is why I know that!) https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/gu...sograph-design


Ido like that lumtec patina, that is nice. its not a brand i know at all...looks like a PAM tribute/homage

[synequano]

I tried pam bronzo but realized that it’s not for me,it’s a bit too heavy (200ish grams) and I’m not a fan of yellow metal color and not a fan of the rusty steampunk look of patina’d bronze

[abraxas]

How To Patina A Bronze Dive Watch At Home!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL05abaWyPo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOp9Fwr3lYo

There are other utube sites on the same subject.

[Glen Goyne]

I have this Anonimo that was unsold for quite some time so already had a fair bit of patina and I never polished it. This means the patina is very even and becomes beautiful in the sun where you see the different shades. Not a mark on it so far but I don’t use it for diving. It is not a small watch so not protected by cuffs when worn.


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[zelig]

I’ve had this my Pinion Pure Pro for about 18 months now.
Here are few Q&D iPhone snaps...





I’ve not accelerated the patina process - but it’s gradually getting nicely & evenly darker.

z

[wotsthecrack]

This was cleaned up a couple of months ago and now darkening nicely. I have also had an Oris Carl Brashear and the bronze appears tough, no dings to speak of.

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[Sinnlover]

I think they look great in pictures (the Anonimo in the thread is a great example) however I know I would never wear a bronze watch if I bought one. I guess it’s the bright colour before the patina started that would put me off as such it would never be worn and therefore take ages to get the unique look. I would not buy a second hand version either as I would want the patina to be mine (daft I know)
I keep looking at the blue version of the black bay bronze, just don’t like it enough in it’s golden form to part with the cash.

[wigdog]

Go for it.
I have 2 bronze watches and love them

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[Skip]

Love mine, in both its shiny and non shiny forms. Haven't had any problems with regards to damage or dings, if anything it holds up better than a SS watch.

Shiny -



Not shiny -

[alfat33]

Out of interest, does anyone have a watch with a bronze bracelet as well?

[abraxas]

Out of interest, does anyone have a watch with a bronze bracelet as well?

You cannot be serious!!! (hehe) Do you have any idea what it would do to a wrist? Within hours it would turn it green... and that is just for starts... all bronze watches have a sort of different back, in steel or titanium.

[Tiny]

Never understood the attraction of bronze. Aluminium will be next. Its lighter in weight and is the silver coloured alternative. Or maybe cast iron. Mmm! That rust patina!

[Skip]

Out of interest, does anyone have a watch with a bronze bracelet as well?

For reasons already explained no chance of an all Bronze bracelet, however the new Oris "bimetal" Divers 65 has bronze inserts in the bracelet.

https://monochrome-watches.com/oris-...ands-on-price/

[Skip]

Never understood the attraction of bronze. Aluminium will be next. Its lighter in weight and is the silver coloured alternative. Or maybe cast iron. Mmm! That rust patina!

Already here!

https://shop.hamiltonwatch.com/khaki...0485835-1.html

[thefatboy]

They do start out quite shiny! Mine is still pretty shiny after a few weeks but is definitely darkening and I haven’t noticed any major scratches or dinks.

I rotate my collection every two weeks so I’ll report back when it’s back on my wrist next.






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[LondonNeil]

Ooofff! That's got..err.....impact! Not for me but I hope you enjoy it!

[LondonNeil]

I do like skip's bronze bay. If they did a bronze bay 58 I'd be very excited.

[thefatboy]

Ooofff! That's got..err.....impact! Not for me but I hope you enjoy it!

It's not as big as the pics make it look and it sits nice and flat on the wrist, but I know they're not everyone's cup of tea!

[Robsmck]

16 months old BBB. Too shiny when new, looks good now IMHO. Also no discernible dinks or marks, which for my work beater (a high risk environment) is pretty remarkable.

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[mycroft]

I’ve had my brass Maranez Layan for two or three years now. It’s patinated very slowly and is now a lovely warm colour with some interesting variations in shade around the case.



Like many who have responded to this thread, it’s the closest I have to a ‘beater’ and has suffered no case damage whatsoever.

If you don’t like the shininess when they’re new, you can shove it into a ziplock bag for a coupe of hours with a soft boiled egg and it’ll come out looking as if you’ve worn it for about 18 months. I did that with a new bronze pre-V buckle when I changed the strap - in 3 hours it was a good match for the watch case.

Simon


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[Toddy]

This is my bronze Spinnaker, I love it. No drinks or scratches in the case so far.

[redmonaco]

I really like the look of bronze watches but both of the ones I had made my wrist green and itchy where the edge of the case touched. Both had as casebacks BBC so it was just the case edges.

[sweets]

This is bradd rather than bronze, and I love the way it gently patinates in the low corners, and the top edges get re-polished by cuffs.
At the moment it is a lot darker than this



Dave

[LondonNeil]

Ahh of course an egg! The sulphur coming off will accelerate the patination.

Some lovely watches here.

[RAJEN]

I have several bronze watches. Somehow, I tend not to wear them as they often get mistaken for gold by casual observers. I like their looks. The best bronze watch ever IMO is a Kenzo Nautilus. I think he just made 10 or so. But it is a dream watch. It is like a bronze
Dreadnought

[LondonNeil]

There seem to be a lot of 'impactful'/LARGE bronze case watches here... Is there a reason or is it just bronze fashion coincidence with 'bigger is better' fashion over the last decade? It must be plummy strong.... Your gold divers don't need to be beefed up for strength, and bronze is good to machine too.... Oh for a bronze bay 58! I'm starting to fall in love with a watch that doesn't exist. Claret or chocolate bezel, slate grey dial please.

[Dave S]

My hand made bronze watch is patinating nicely.


Small hint of what’s next there as well :)

Dave

[alphajet]

Here are my three in different shades of Patna. The Precista is the oldest from 2012 with a dark even colour, the Oris is around 3 years and the Evant around 2. No significant dinks as far as I can tell.

[sweets]

I would love one of the Brashear chronos, such an attractive watch, but just too much moolah for what it is. By a long way.
D

[LondonNeil]

Wow that presista is very differently coloured.

Anybody ever tempted to get the duraglit on it and make their bronze shiny again?

[DaveA]

Me old nan would soon put a bit of shine on 'em … Once she finished her horse brass !

[hhhh]

Love a bronze case. I’ve had the original Carl Brashear and Tudor BB (which I’d really like to own again at some point). Watching the patina develop was something to be enjoyed and, a bit like titanium, light scratches would ‘heal up’ over time. Just got this IWC left but it’s quite new so hasn’t really developed any patina yet...

[wigdog]

Wow that presista is very differently coloured.

Anybody ever tempted to get the duraglit on it and make their bronze shiny again?

I cleaned mine with dilute lemon juice- very easy and looked brand new

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[Seagullfan]

does bronze ever turn green?

[LondonNeil]

Aluminium bronze will patina but not green. There are other bronze alloys that verdigris, most watches are aluminium bronze but some aren't such as the tag Heuer autavia.