Patina watches – The language of my collection

So you might have heard the term ‘patina’, but what is it exactly?

These days, one of the things that might shock your eyes (or sometimes might seem ridiculous) is seeing a young man jumping in joy holding a watch, whose dial is likely unregconised and unidentified. It’s not because that is an unbranded watch, mainly because the dial has been damaged, and this type of ‘damage’ is something extraordiary – so called ‘patina’.

That young man is me, obviously.

Vintage watches have become increasingly well-known for the past couple of years and there are millions of vintage watch collectors. While I dare to say 90% of people still prefer scratch-free and as-new-as-possible watches, I believe there are those who find the worn look of scratching and fading attractive as I do.

I reckon that people are being misled between true vintage watches and vintage-inspired ones. I’m quite sure that they enjoy the latter more since these types of watches are pretty new and still manufactured, comparing to those true vintage timepieces which had a damn wear-and-tear life.

Patina – simply explained as the natural aging process which usually causes the watch to something rather old and brown-ish – is a sweet spot for a large number of collectors, including me. Patina doesn’t just happen overnight. Years of use, light, temperature, humidity are some of the factors that provoke the patina effect and this makes the vinatge watch world much more fascinating than it ever sounds.

I read somewhere “If I wanted something that looked new, I would just go into a boutique and buy it. But I wanted something different; a watch that has been made unique by the ageing process.”. Frankly I couldn’t agree more, and that’s why today let me show you my proud patina watch collection.

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OMEGA (1958) Seamaster Automatic ref. 2846

Here’s my very first patina watch. I love it so much that I even made a video about it (click here). The dial of this one was badly damaged to a degree that I cannot read any text at all.

A close-up shot and you can see some pieces of the surface pilled off. I have no idea what the original dial looks like, but I don’t care much honestly. This watch was a direct hit right to my heart, and I give it a very chessy name – ‘the autumn sky’.

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OMEGA (1954) Seamaster Automatic ref. 2766

Following the first Seamaster, here’s the second one I acquired. I have to admit I was lucky, for this one’s dial is still in great shape.

The patina has developed equally on the whole surface and in this case I think it was mainly because of humidity. Another attraction is the sub seconds hand, which adds a nice touch to the dial.

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The SEIKO King Seiko (1973-1983) Automatic Hi-Beat Chronometer

This piece is one of the Japanese finest at its time. As shown below you can see the originally-manufactured look of the watch, with silvery sunburst dial.

Mine still keeps the sunburst effect but the dial now is in a completely different tone.

Explained by our watchmaker “Commonly the reason behind is that a watchmaker uses too much lubricating oil when he services a watch. The oil leaks somewhere in the movement (gear trains, wheels, etc.) and is affected by temperature and moisture, causing such colour.”.

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OMEGA (1935) pre-WWII 

This classic old watch dates back to the 1935. Honestly I must say after all those years this is better than expected.

The dial is the result of dust, mold and moisture. One feature that I’m in love with is the thermally blue hands.

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LONGINES (1959) ref. 6884

Last but not least, my latest patina piece is from LONGINES. Comparing to the others, this one’s dial owns a strong colour, bolder and brighter.

Every time looking at it always drives me to the image that I’m wearing a rice cracker. And yes, rice crackers are my favourite.

In case you want to see more patina watches like these, head over to vintage4life.vn, Instagram, or Facebook.