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Re: I have never liked the Shark Diver.....

This one really struck a chord for me- i've got one of the black carbon dials incoming. This is the first CF dial I've seen that I really like. I think that combo will look great once the case starts developing a patina. BTW there's a certain organ builder in Holland that colors the bronze and copper organ pipes by dipping them in bovine urine... I dare anyone to try this- might not be the best for the seals....
 
Re: I have never liked the Shark Diver.....

Love the brown/bronze combo but somehow the case design never resonated with me. That said, I've got nothing but good things to say about Peter and his watches. I'm sure you'll enjoy it! Cant wait to see what else comes from Helson in the coming years.
 
Discussion starter · #23 ·
Re: I have never liked the Shark Diver.....

Thank you guys for all the continued kind words and congrats on the Bronze Shark Diver!!!:-!

Willith - I did get some accelerated patina out of this piece this weekend and will plan to post some pics up soon...ok, teaser before/after pic below...

Sydney Dan - From the pics I've seen, I do think the black carbon looks really good on this one...please post pics up when you receive it. As I mentioned to Willith, I did get some nice (accelerated) patina developing on this case...and I'm very happy with the deeper, darker, case developing.

Ok...here's a little before and after shot:

Before:


After: (mounted on a different strap too)
 
Very cool. I like the tu-tone SS crown + bronze case / crown guards.
Looks much better on the more rustic strap.
Keep us posted as the watch collects some green and brite spots too !
I would suggest a mild salt spray once a day, like sea water. That will get that bronze chemical action going. Soon it will look like a shipwreck treasure !
 
Discussion starter · #29 ·
Thank you guys for the continued kind words on the Bronze Shark Diver! :-!

Of course I will tell you what I did...it has definitely been a bit of experimentation!!!

So this weekend, I spent a little time getting the patina going on this one. The most interesting thing that I noticed is that the boiled egg in a ziplock technique that worked really well on the Bronze Moray didn't work nearly as well on the Shark Diver case (I could really only get the case to a deeper, more reddish color with that technique even leaving it in the bag for a long time). With the Moray, the egg in the ziplock bag was a very progressive process, in that the longer the case stayed in the bag, the darker things got. My theory is that the blasted bronze finish on the Moray is essentially more "opened-up" to the environment than the brushed case on the Shark Diver...just my thoughts, but who knows?

In order to get the case headed to the darker patina that I prefered, I decided to actually go a step further (and I really have no interest in using chemicals on my watches at all, so all of the many options using chemicals were completely off the table). For me, it was still the egg or salt water for consideration (man I'd love to have access to an ocean, but with the nearest ocean thousands of miles away....). So, I went a step further and put the entire watch case into the mashed hard boiled egg to see if that would work...and it did, with the bezel taking on color quite a bit faster than the case. With that information, I heated up an egg yolk until hot and thick but not fully cooked solid since I still wanted "smearability" (really not sure why just the yolk, as I've heard that sulfer is present in both the white and yolk, but that's what I did). I then smeared the yolk all over the watch case and monitored progress.

That is about it!!! Please keep in mind, I do not guarantee this process, and your results may vary!!!:-!

Here are a few before and after shots for your enjoyment:













I'm liking the move away from the more 'gold' look, to the much darker patina myself!!!|>|>|>

 
Love the watch. The patina is great. Which watch do you prefer? The Benarus or the Helson? Does anybody know if these bronze Helsons are still available? I couldnt find any on the Helson website.
Thanks,
Mike
 
Great idea of the egg treatment. I've always just worn my watches around and waited (forever) for them to turn. Thanks for the tip, I might try it out and I wonder if my Anonimo is a different alloy than your Helson? :think:
Anyway, shoot me a PM and tell me where you live in CO, if we are close I would love to meet up and have a beer. :-!
 
Love the watch. The patina is great. Which watch do you prefer? The Benarus or the Helson? Does anybody know if these bronze Helsons are still available? I couldnt find any on the Helson website.
I guess it's sold out. There was a separate link on the left nav of the web site on Friday. It's now gone...and most likely all the watches have been sold.
 
Discussion starter · #37 ·
Love the watch. The patina is great. Which watch do you prefer? The Benarus or the Helson? Does anybody know if these bronze Helsons are still available? I couldnt find any on the Helson website.
Thanks,
Mike
Great idea of the egg treatment. I've always just worn my watches around and waited (forever) for them to turn. Thanks for the tip, I might try it out and I wonder if my Anonimo is a different alloy than your Helson? :think:
Anyway, shoot me a PM and tell me where you live in CO, if we are close I would love to meet up and have a beer. :-!
Thanks guys! :-!

Mike - As far as which I prefer...boy tough call, as I really like both!!! The Moray case in all versions continues to be one of my favorite cases around. And I happen to like aspects of both the Blasted Bronze on the Moray (which I've never seen before), and the Brushed Bronze on the Shark Diver (which is so well done and looks spectacular too). They are two very different case designs and I really like them both, so to answer your question (or not in this case)...I'll take both please!!!;-)
...as Marcin pointed out above, I believe they are all sold out...

Rob (Willith) - I've wondered myself how long it would take for the patina to develop "completely naturally" without intervention...I was thinking years (and thus my lack of patience :)), but I know that would greatly depend on the environments that I would get to regularly expose it to. If I lived on a beach or at least somewhere tropical and had the opportunity to regularly expose it to salt water, salt spray, and high humidity I would be fine with letting nature take its course.
Being a big Anonimo fan, I can tell you that the Helson Bronze (and Moray Bronze too) use the same UNI 5275 Bronze (CuAl11Fe4Ni4) that Anonimo uses and has used for some time in their bronze cased watches.:-!
 
Discussion starter · #39 ·
Thank you guys for the continued kind words on the Bronze Shark Diver! :-!

Of course I will tell you what I did...it has definitely been a bit of experimentation!!!

So this weekend, I spent a little time getting the patina going on this one. The most interesting thing that I noticed is that the boiled egg in a ziplock technique that worked really well on the Bronze Moray didn't work nearly as well on the Shark Diver case (I could really only get the case to a deeper, more reddish color with that technique even leaving it in the bag for a long time). With the Moray, the egg in the ziplock bag was a very progressive process, in that the longer the case stayed in the bag, the darker things got. My theory is that the blasted bronze finish on the Moray is essentially more "opened-up" to the environment than the brushed case on the Shark Diver...just my thoughts, but who knows?

In order to get the case headed to the darker patina that I prefered, I decided to actually go a step further (and I really have no interest in using chemicals on my watches at all, so all of the many options using chemicals were completely off the table). For me, it was still the egg or salt water for consideration (man I'd love to have access to an ocean, but with the nearest ocean thousands of miles away....). So, I went a step further and put the entire watch case into the mashed hard boiled egg to see if that would work...and it did, with the bezel taking on color quite a bit faster than the case. With that information, I heated up an egg yolk until hot and thick but not fully cooked solid since I still wanted "smearability" (really not sure why just the yolk, as I've heard that sulfer is present in both the white and yolk, but that's what I did). I then smeared the yolk all over the watch case and monitored progress.

That is about it!!! Please keep in mind, I do not guarantee this process, and your results may vary!!!:-!

Thanks twylie for the kind words above!:-!

So just a quick update (referencing the process that I listed above)...I did another round of "smear hot egg yolk" directly on the case, and I think the result was actually a slight lightening of the case :think: .

I will say the case look shown above had already had a few hours of exposure in a sealed ziplock bag with the mashed up, freshly hard boiled egg (note...egg not touching the case...just sealed with the watch case in a zip lock bag). With the slight lightening of the case that I got on the most recent round of smeared egg yolk, I'll probably try another exposure of 'mashed egg in the ziplock', and see what the result is.

I say all that to say, this is a process with at least several variables, and some experimentation, so your results may vary!!! I still prefer to stay with the egg, and normal use and exposure for getting the patina to develop...I know that people use 'liver of sulfur' for getting some very fast and dramatic effects on bronze and copper and other metals...just not for me.
 
Re: I have never liked the Shark Diver.....

RE: HELSON Bronze Shark Diver

Here is mine, just received it early this week from Peter, he is so nice to build it with black trim hands and PVD crown as requested; IMHO, it will match better when patina get developed. By the way, thanks Stew77 for the tip of egg treatment, that is very useful. Cheers!
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