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Pros:
Oxidation
Cons :
Oxidation
With the magnificent PRS 30 now made and awaiting new owners. Just thought id ask about bronze watches. Ive never owned one before and I really like the look and specs of the PRS 30. So what are the good points and bad points of owning a bronze watch. I don't ever recall even seeing one in the wild before. Most of my watches would fit into the "tool" watch category and I fancy a change and this one from Eddie might just fit the bill. So hopefully someone can please enlighten us.
Pros:
Oxidation
Cons :
Oxidation
All too often they have stainless steel crowns, which spoils the look.
My Maranez bronze would be perfect, if not for the giant oversized SS crown.
Great material. Each one ages differently making it unique. It is warm in colour and feel.
Finding a belt with a bronze buckle to go with it?Originally Posted by GS Overland
Re bronze watches very soft. I mean is the metal quite soft??
I ordered a bronze buckle from Bradj over on WuS. http://anchorleather.net/buckles.html
Just shy of £30, I'll post pics when it arrives.
I don't think there are any pros on cons to bronze cases myself, it's just an alternative to steel and Ti, as well as precious metals i suppose. If you don't like oxidising then clearly don't pursue any bronze cased watch.
After the disappointment of my first purchase, i'm very happy with my current bronze piece which is 'patinating' beautifully, to my taste. There are numerous suppliers of bronze buckles, Simona, Rolko, Mustang to name just three.Though i suspect some are probably brass and not pukka marine bronze.
As the camera was out anyway, some fresh quickies of my Marlin, (and Rolko buckle) getting darker by the day!
+1, that's what I was going to post (and kind of have!).
[QUOTE=shadowman;2789096]I don't think there are any pros on cons to bronze cases myself, it's just an alternative to steel and Ti, as well as precious metals i suppose. If you don't like oxidising then clearly don't pursue any bronze cased watch.
How old is this, and have you done anything to accelerate the aged look?
It was new in November 2012. Nothing 'tricky' has been done to it at all. What i did do as recommended, was to clutch the head only in my 'sweaty' palms one evening while watching the TV for a few hours. That started the process of a more uniform discolouration/ageing.
It is worn a lot, though with care and i really like the way it is looking now. The darker the better for my taste, i'd like it to look like a bronze sculpture does eventually.
I've now had my brass Maranez Layan for about three months. Mine is the brown Arabic dial version and I absolutely love it. When it arrived it came on a distressed brown leather strap that I wasn't particularly keen on - it also had a very shiny S/S buckle that I didn't feel went with the watch head at all well. It's now on a dark brown Jabba Phantom hand made strap with a sewn-in heat-treated pre-V buckle. I think the combination looks great.
I agree with fellow owner Adrian that it would be far better if the crown was also brass, but most brass or bronze watch heads do appear to come with S/S crowns, so I wonder if the combination of brass/or bronze for both is potentially a problem and that's why they do it? I've got used to it now to be honest.
I own around two dozen watches, so I probably wear my Maranez about once every 7 - 10 days. As a result of this modest usage, it is patinating quite nicely but also quite slowly. I'm perfectly happy with that.
It gets a lot of comment, and I'm very pleased with it.
Simon
My Helson is wearing in beautifully now. It's still not very dark yet but I've only had it a month or so. It has a Titanium crown and caseback which because they are darker than SS equivalent I think suit the Bronze better. I believe they use Steel or Ti crowns because the Bronze would be too soft for threading. You're going to get much more wear from SS/Ti.
The only real con that I can see with them is that bronze watches might prove to be a bit of a fad, so you might have a hard time selling it in a few years.
I got my Bronzo as it was something different and at the time, it was going to be the only Bronze watch Panersi were going to do, until the announcement at the next SIHH show!!
One of my favourite watches, has aged nicely. My gripe was the steel buckle but sourced one from mustang, and now have it on an avocado Toshi and looks so much better for it.
Malc
Oh, my, money. That bronzo is something else!
In more budget offerings. :D I love my Magrette! I'm leaving it to patina nicely. It's started getting quite a bit darker in patches over the last week or so which is enjoyable to see.:
No doubt a silly question but where a shirt rubs against a bronze watch in use, does it mark the shirt when it's discoloured/patinated?
Not experienced anything like that myself.
Neither have I, can't imagine it doing so.
Love the Bronzo, looks like something salvaged from a shipwreck!
Michael
Bronze is great. Wish I still had this one
It always left a green mark on the wrist! Can someone share is this harmful....
No, it's only verdigris, not harmful at all
That's why most bronze watches have a steel back. Not all though.
I sometimes get a little bit of verdigris on the wrist from the bronze buckle on the Helson. But nothing else, just needs a quick wipe down.
Blimey Malcolm - that's a stunner. And I don't even like chunky PAMs. Gorgeous that.
Yes, it's verdigris, which is toxic.
;)
Others have suggested putting the watch in a bag with a boiled egg and many other ways to speed up the patination.
Has anyone yet come up with a way to STOP the patination process?
I guess that some of the obvious answers are:
1. Don't wear it.
2. Don't touch it.
2. Don't expose it to air.
3. Have the shiny new surface treated with a laquer or coating?
What do you guys think?
Does anyone else like shiny new bronze and wish that they could keep it that way?
The only way to prevent oxidation of bronze is either to store it in a vacuum or laquer it I am afraid ;)
Surely you can just polish it with a bit of brasso very now and again if you want to keep it looking new. Though god knows why you bought a Bronze watch when the beauty of the material is aged patina that it will gain over the years. You're better buying a gold plated one if you want shiny!
It's the verdigris I'm thinking of - just a concern if it passes on to my made to measure personalised shirts
One of the cons, as I have observed, (I may be wrong, though, I'm not really their biggest fan) it's that they're all big-ish (I haven't seen a bronze watch under 42mm in diameter).
Possibly the smallest (thinnest) one Ive seen is tha Archimede 42mm Pilot. http://www.archimede-watches.com/arc...automatic.html
Yep, that's the one I've thought out too.
The problem is that because of the lugs it wears bigger than it actually is.
But it does have a bronze crown. :D
My Helson is 42mm but have to say it wears quite big.
I have to say my hopes are that the PRS30 wears bigger than the 42mm dimension suggests. My other 42mm pieces are starting to feel too small but they are round and have short lugs.
My Magrette wears huge with the behemoth of a NATO which I had made for it!
I agree that most bronze and brass watches are reasonably big. The Maranez is 43mm and I think wears reasonably small as the shape of the case is slightly more rounded than (for example) my MMs at 44mm.
However, adding the Phantom strap (24mm, parallel and up to 6mm thick!) has made it overall a pretty bulky rig, so I would never attempt to wear it to the office under a long-sleeved shirt!
If you would consider a 42mm Helson, I think you might find that a Layan would work perfectly well. If on the other hand your personal comfort zone is up to around 40mm then I'd stay away from brass/bronze divers generally, I think.
Regarding keeping them polished... yes you can do it (I assume Brasso or an equivalent would work?), but I agree with the poster who effectively asked what would be the point. I suspect that most of us bought brass or bronze watches precisely because they do patinate... having said that I have no desire to artificially speed up the process - I rather like the idea of letting nature take its course.
Simon
Faking or forcing patination is basically an effect and does not reflect the real life of an object. Natural, as is so often the case, produces a more satisfying result and grants greater pleasure from ownership.
Gray
Has anyone noticed an odour from their bronze watch, akin to that which you used to get when you held old bronze pennies in your hand?
I appreciate that bronze itself has nominal smell; however, when the case is constantly close to body heat and perspiration, do you notice a 'bronze' smell?
Agreed. I'm much more intent on letting mine develop naturally. It's slower, but a lot more satisfying.
Never noticed any of that actually. In due time though. ;)
I got my Bronzo as it was something different and at the time, it was going to be the only Bronze watch Panersi were going to do, until the announcement at the next SIHH show!!
One of my favourite watches, has aged nicely. My gripe was the steel buckle but sourced one from mustang, and now have it on an avocado Toshi and looks so much better for it.
Malc
My favourite watch! Very jealous
Yes this watch is beautiful.
I think bronze is the metal equivalent of natural tan leather: ageing with the user really nicely.
+ 1
Does a bronze case leave a mark on your arm? Is it worse if you get hot and sweat?
I had an Anonimo Polluce which I miss a bit. I never got "browned off" with it and never had any discolouration of my shirt sleeves. It was just a little too large for my dainty wrists, but otherwise an absolutely fantastic watch. I never saw another in the wild and if I had, it would have looked different to mine anyhow!
I found the SS crown and H release valve absolutely fine and to my eye made it look even more "different". The caseback is SS so you don't get bronzation of the skin. Is "bronzation" a wor?
Last edited by MerlinShepherd; 1st May 2014 at 18:34.
Usually the case back is metal, so no. The Anomimo Marlin has a bronze case back and can leave a mark.
clean it by wiping it over with white vinegar, it'll take the oxide off, you can just keep doing this
wiping it over with a thin layer of oil will slow if not stop the oxidation
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