James. 4 Posted June 13, 2013 Let me start off with the following; all you read below is based upon a tutorial provided on HF from the revered Pompe (same guy who brought you such tutorials as how to turn titanium into bronze) http://www.homagefor...php?f=42&t=5322 Now, time to start with my own pictorial experience on the subject. I received the bronze hornlug from River today, looked great but looked too "fresh" for my liking. What to do? Stick it in a bag with some eggs, obviously. Get some patina on that biach! The unadulterated mid-case and pieced together watch Nice, yes, but like I said, it looked waaaay too "new" for me, especially considering the beautiful Timebandit strap (7mm thick?!) with an aged bronze buckle. Now, the finished watch was going to have a polished tall bezel and CB so I wanted to provide some contrast. I almost ended up over-doing it but through the use of some elbow grease and a paper towel, I polished off some excess "tarnish" So, step one. Boil some eggs to the hard-boiled stage. Step two, insert mid-case into a ziplock bag, like so Step 3, break the egg (hot hot HOT egg, straight from the pot, the hotter the better, the more sulphur the egg will release which is the catalyst for the reaction we're looking for ) Leave for, well, an indeterminate amount of time, I did 2 eggs (because i'm impatient) for 20 mins but like I said, I had to remove some excess tarnish. And voila! But wait, there's more.... now the metal has been exposed to the sulphur, it'll continue to age faster than normal. Hoo-ray! Anyways, I also gave the dial a few coats of matt varnish to give it a nice textured look (river dial) and did some work on the hands to also dull them up but maintain most of their original integrity. Put it back together and BOOM BABY! Mounted on the TB strap And obligatory wristie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
speer999 0 Posted June 13, 2013 That's excellent! Egg-cellent even! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnPilot 1 Posted June 13, 2013 NIce. The first of the new River bronze cases I see in nature. Enjoy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kleen™ 45 Posted June 13, 2013 Interesting read, Semaj - thanks. But not having owned a bronze-watch myself I would think the sulphur-treatment would lead the now aged bronze to cause a lot of smearing / black residue on your wrist (even after wiping/cleaning). What's your experience..? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kleen™ 45 Posted June 13, 2013 PS: I just realized the caseback is steel, but still... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James. 4 Posted June 13, 2013 Interesting read, Semaj - thanks. But not having owned a bronze-watch myself I would think the sulphur-treatment would lead the now aged bronze to cause a lot of smearing / black residue on your wrist (even after wiping/cleaning). What's your experience..? The CB is SS and it doesn't really rub much so... i'll keep you posted Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baxter 6 Posted June 13, 2013 Nice watch semaj - and the TB strap Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheSav 2 Posted June 13, 2013 Very very cool. Had to laugh at the eggs but makes sense with the sulphur. Any chance of a shot of the bronze buckle too ? And there's that antiques uniden again too. I'm actually surprised you don't have an old dial phone on a cord Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted June 13, 2013 So this watch is now a Big Eggy? I'll get my coat...... Nice work btw Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeffw69 0 Posted June 13, 2013 So this watch is now a Big Eggy? I'll get my coat...... Nice work btw Nice job J! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trailboss99 994 Posted June 13, 2013 So this watch is now a Big Eggy? I'll get my coat...... Nice work btw Nice watch mate. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James. 4 Posted June 13, 2013 Very very cool. Had to laugh at the eggs but makes sense with the sulphur. Any chance of a shot of the bronze buckle too ? And there's that antiques uniden again too. I'm actually surprised you don't have an old dial phone on a cord There's nothing wrong with the classics! TBH, they work fine and I use the MB most of the time so until they meltdown, no need to bother replacing them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James. 4 Posted June 13, 2013 So this watch is now a Big Eggy? I'll get my coat...... Nice work btw I should have used bacon grease on the strap. It'd become my breakfast watch. mmmmmmm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
seclark007 11 Posted June 13, 2013 Everything goes better with bacon! MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm, bacon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted June 13, 2013 So this watch is now a Big Eggy? I'll get my coat...... Nice work btw I should have used bacon grease on the strap. It'd become my breakfast watch. mmmmmmm LOL! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheSav 2 Posted June 13, 2013 i like that buckle too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
graman 2 Posted June 13, 2013 i like that buckle too. Most Eggselent Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James. 4 Posted June 13, 2013 i like that buckle too. It's not too wide a la most GPF buckles, but you'll get to try it on come August Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sakurai 1 Posted June 13, 2013 I like mine sunny side up, but whatever floats your boat - very cool egg chemistry and really nice watch! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James. 4 Posted June 13, 2013 BTW, the longer you leave it in the bag, the more patina you'll achieve. These pics are borrowed from Pompe's thread, he left this bezel in for 2 hours; Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James. 4 Posted June 22, 2013 Update: via some help from bennykwa's thread for his river HL I've managed to get the SS bezel bronzed and tarnishedNext up is the crown and a new dial, a nice tarnished brown I think to be continued Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LightGeek 25 Posted June 22, 2013 Two potential baby chicks died for the sake of science. Looks good! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Higs 73 Posted June 22, 2013 Update: via some help from bennykwa's thread for his river HL I've managed to get the SS bezel bronzed and tarnished.... Is that on this site or another? I've tried searching for it but can't find it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James. 4 Posted June 23, 2013 Its on hf. If I can find the link ill repost Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
