Should We Be FAKING Patina? 

I think that the Nivada Grenchen Super Antarctic tropic is absolutely fascinating and I far prefer it over the non-tropical models, personally

Loved filming this watch, so much character. I am also blown away by the variation in patina on the lume, the transition between dark earth brows and light tan tones is so nice!

I think it's a matter of taste. It's the same with electric guitars. Some people like reliced guitars and others think it's stupid. It's not as easy as people think. I like a well done aging.

Join the best online place to talk watches at WatchCrunch. Download the app on iOS and Android.

You nailed this video. Couldn't agree more. BTW I have an Laco flieger erbstück and love it. I also took the dial out of an SKX a few years ago and baked that sucker in an oven. Wild! You might want to bake your Lorier dial also... not sure if the tea did much at all. Gotta be careful not to crack the lum though when you're baking dials.

I do like a good fauxtina in certain instances. The people at Nivada do it well. I also am tempted to give my P01 the Bastardo treatment. Looks so cool when aged!

In my opinion patina is earned it tells a story that something has been used and has lived a life

I want my watches to look new when I get them so I avoid fauxtina. Some fauxtina is so overdone it completely ruins the look of a watch imo.

I have an erbstuck and proudly wear the fake fauxtina. Great vid Max.

When you order a violin or cello to be made by a luthier it can be antiqued too. It’s part of violin making technique nowadays

Excellent vid - thanks for the content. Also, nothing wrong with tan numerals imho. Tan and black color ways (and tan and white for that matter) complement each other so well that to rule it out completely as a color option because of a small (but very vocal) group of enthusiasts makes no sense to me.

What brand is your shirt? Looks great

Modern watches aren’t likely to patina in a way analogous to watches dating back to the days of painted tritium and before. There’s a wide variety of options available to manufactures. I am a fan of a several Omega watches and own the current Railmaster with a black dial. It’s a great watch, when I first bought the watch, it did take some getting used to the deep khaki lume under certain light conditions. That said, I don’t relate to it as faux anything, it’s simply a color choice that works. The manner in which the dial presents itself is ever changing. I also own a Zenith Chronomaster Revival which uses a more subtle color, but the lume plots are so subtle, the watch itself has a tobacco sunburst, again, it’s simply a color choice. As far as brightness, the Omega has a rather pronounced color, the lume is quite good on it, zero issue in that regard.

In the guitar world, we have something comparable called relicking. Some love it, some hate it, and everyone has their own reasons, some good, some bad, for whichever side they fall on. Ultimately, in the case of guitars and watches, it's entirely subjective.

Interesting video and topic for discussion as always, Max. I have to admit that I am not a big fan of fauxtina on a watch. I do not mind patina on vintage watches, and even like my vintage watches to show their history on their cases. My Seiko G757 Silver Wave looks beat up enough to have been one worn by James Bond. 🤣 However, I am not really a fan of purchasing something new that has been artificially aged; I have never understood the idea behind buying distressed jeans either. I am sure that I would not pay double the price for artificial aging no matter how good it looks (and that Laco does look good!). While Laco definitely executes the distressed watch much better, this is basically the same idea behind Out Of Order Watches, done by a company with the actual heritage for it, but essentially the same. Any difference between what Laco has done here and the OOO business model is a difference of degree, not a difference of kind. While I do admire the artistry present in the limited edition Laco, it is not for me. I can accept and value damage and patina on vintage watches I purchase, but not on a new watch, and especially not when it doubles the price. It just seems a bit odd, backwards, and even ironic that damage that would generally lower the value of a watch in the vintage market increases the price on a new watch. 😆 p.s. I will be posting this on Watch Crunch as well.

It’s a colour choice, or a style choice, like any other. Some like Tiffany Blue things, and I don’t know why. But fauxtina, I can get behind.

Just wear your watch everyday and you'll get your genuine aged look in no time. The guitar industry also puts a premium on distressed looking guitars, with some of Fender's custom shop offerings looking like the instrument was used in some agricultural process for 30 years then buried in a peat bog before being sold for 10 grand. To each their own.

Not sure I would buy it, but I find this aged Laco really interesting. At least a watch you can wear with zero worries about scratches 😉

Cool watch....any regrets so far?? Agree w fauxtina ....I think u have to go "all in" like Laco did with distressing the entire watch not just the hands... Laco's fauxtina is impressive.. It's like those fake Rembrandts which still take tremendous skill . Thank you !!! great vid

I like how Tudor does it. Just a little bit creamy. Not overdone. On my BB58, I love that warmth paired with the gold framing and plump text. But I find a lot of these Heritage Omegas overdone, as you said. SM 300 ans Railmaster...too pumpkinny.

My hair fell out at 20 years old, I couldn't age anything else intentionally knowing how much it would hurt!

The problem with both Panerai and Omega fauxtina was applying it on some parts (main hands and markers) but not others (small second hand and markers, subdial hands) which makes those watches look uneven, off.

Hi Max! Speyer is my hometown. I was born and raised there. Greetings from Germany! ✌️⌚️😁

Lol, love the German accent. About the Laco, makes one wonder if they did the aging intentionally or finally found a use for all the old watches accumulated after decades of servicing and uncollected timepieces. If you've got an imagination, one can only wonder.

The laco is very 90s Seattle

Regardless if you like it or not (i dont), i think you need to admit it was well done.

Correction, the 806 does not have fauxtina, this was the correct pigment of the lume even when these were produced in 1954.

Loved the video...but let me ask a question. Doesn't that Laco feel like wearing a costume? Not that there's anything wrong with wearing a costume....

Fautina is definitely ok. Some people say it’s “stolen valor,” but I think that’s a little heavy handed. While I agree it can easily be taken too far, remember we no longer use tritium or radium lume that will age over time, so you can only get that color in production (or as a mod). According to purists, lume should always be white, or any color that’s not some shade of tan, and if you want that aged color, buy a vintage watch. Now who’s stealing valor? Personally, I often want a new watch that isn’t just a clinical black and white dial. A watch I can put my own dings and dents on. Relegating a whole range of warm lume colors to vintage watches seems absurd, when it can accomplish things like: complimenting a blue dial or differentiating certain indices vs others in white. Taking ANY design choice off the table as a matter of principle is, frankly, silly.

Would loved to have seen side-by-side shots of the before and after Lorier!

‘Faux’ + (pa)tina =fauxtina? Is that correct?

Hell no ! Hate anything that looks old, I do the opposite and restore to form and glory, fake patina 😡. Don’t mind a bit of bronze aging where it gains lovely tones of orange and gold What’s the point of having a watch with lumed hands that don’t glow anymore or no lume at all because it has fallen off I wouldn’t put a scruffy old looking watch on my wrist

No right or wrong answer. Owners can do what they want

Fauxtina is just a color different than white. Lume on watches isn't required to be white.

Oh you monster 😂

But..... what happened to the Lorier?

remember when people use to buy brand new jeans just to ruin them and people were like, why would you ruin a perfectly pair of brand new jeans? It's all about aesthetics end of the day. People do this in art, furniture, fashion, etc etc. Cold logical people might not see a point in this but if you think deeper, its more common than you think. Some people like that old vintage look without your whatever it is nearly falling apart due to being really old, also who has time to wait 20-30 years for something to wear in naturally, especially if its for aesthetics and not function.

Reverse Lazarus pit

Some watches are crafted intentionally vintage for a reason, they more beautiful aged than brand new Lol

No

Speyer Erbstück. Not Erbstruk.

Fauxtina on the watch case is more appealing to me.

Love fauxtina, especially when done well. Hope to see more of it in more watches.

Choosing faux patina is no different than choosing a different color dial or different case material. I have never understood the controversy.

Wait - is there watch crunch gear available? I need it! 😁

That poor lorier

I think I’d rather just wear my watches for years & age along with them naturally!

This is widely done in the electric guitar world, where it is called "relicing" and is supposed to mimic the wear produced from thousands of hours of use on an instrument, guitars with obvious use are thought to have "worn" in and have a certain "mojo" that will be reflected in your playing... this is of course complete bollocks, but it can look nice when done right.

A big no on fauxtina for me.

Patina should be earned just like my gnarled face! Cars, watches, boots, denim etc. Only posers fauxtina stuff. Freaking young ppl don't want to earn anything these days...does look kinda cool tho. Do what you want. They're your watches.

I feel this watch is completely overdone and trying to hard. I think Nivada Grenchen and WMT do a much better job of aging. They found that middle ground/sweet spot. They also have a higher water resistance and better fitting case. I think this watch is trying to hard. FYI, if you want to age your dial, you can bake it slightly and also use model building paint such as a rust or patina

I don’t like fauxtina. I feel it’s like taking a new Omega Speedmaster hesalite and scratch the crystal all up, makes no sense.

I love the look, but don’t like the idea of fauxtina. I prefer to be real whenever possible

I prefer to call fauxtina "color". Lume can have a color. And indeed, sometimes that fits. What Laco does to their "aged" fliegers.... it's about as silly as selling ripped jeans. The pretense makes the final product ridiculous. I'll buy a new watch, and put the wabi sabi on it naturally over time, thank you very much. Or I'll buy a vintage. But letting a watch factory ruin a perfectly nice watch is an amomination in the eye of the lord. That said, the Panerai is simply a style choice, and in my view it doesn't singnificantly alter my view of the watch. Funny how we can look at the exact same thing from completely opposite ends.

For me Fauxtina is something that doesn't make any sense, or rather, it makes as much sense as anything that is false. It's like walking around with a replica/clone watch. One day someone approaches you about your watch, and either you lie and show it as being an "original", and that is sad, or you tell the truth, that it's a replica, and it's just a disappointment. Yes, I agree, an old watch can have lots of charm, but that's because it's old, because it's has survived 50, 60, 80 years old, and it can "tell stories". With a brand new watch that has been artificially aged, what stories do you have to tell, except perhaps that it costs twice as much as an identical, unadulterated model? If you want to have the pleasure of owning a watch with a vintage look, then buy an antique watch. There are plenty wonderful options on the market to choose from, and the search for a model, possibly discontinued a long time ago, can in itself be the beginning of a beautiful story to tell your friends and family.

Great video.....but I don't care for overdone fauxtina like the Laco. Not my taste. Knowing it's fake....like a toupee, if you know...well, leave it at that.

In my opinion, faux-tina is gross in all cases and I wish the trend would go away.

I'm not a fan of faux aging. Patina should be earned with time and wear. Not with paint and chemicals.

I feel about fauxtina the same way I do about homosexuality; I've absolutely no problem with it, it's just not for me. Its like "patina" custom cars, it's a poor design choice. Wont buy the Omega Seamaster because of it. The new blue one might just have changed my mind.

Max, I know people are not going to agree, but for LACO to offer a fauxtina flieger replicating those that would have been worn by the Luftwaffe during WW2 seems to be in extremely bad taste and you would think a German company would be more sensitive to that perception. Luftwaffe pilots invented terror bombing during the Spanish Civil War and perfected it in WW2 in Warsaw, Rotterdam, Belgrade, Coventry, Stalingrad and of course London. The Luftwaffe was created by the Nazis in violation of the Versailles Treaty and ideologically was in complete alignment with the Nazi's military and racial goals. See Philip Blood's Luftwaffe, Birds of Prey for the complete story how they were complicit in the Holocaust. Of course they will be those who point out the RAF's bombing of Dresden and USAAF's bombing of Berlin but both of those raids and others were in service of defeating the Nazis and no Nazis no WW2. I see wearing a fauxtina Laco no different that being a reenactor in 2023 wearing a German uniform with some fake blood thinking it represents that of an allied soldier but could be just as well that of a murdered innocent in a mass grave in Poland.

I do not understand why some have such negative reaction to fauxtina. Even the word has derogatory connotations with the emphasis on "faux." To me, it's a color, and like all colors, there are shades and nuances, and application, that can be good or bad. But as a style, I just don't understand the "hatred" of it. I think there is a certain elitism borne of people who are vintage watch enthusiasts who think fauxtina is a cheap way of getting a vintage look....that it's somehow some kind of cheating. Anyway, I have 2 watches, both pilots watches, that have the vintage look which are awesome and work within the context of what they are. I would buy more if I had the budget.

this hobby is so cursed

Fauxtina is the worst watch fad ever. It’s the equivalent of wanting a 1967 fastback mustang with fucked up paint. Vintage watches did not have diarrhea colored markers, they just faded over time

Faux patina is BS. If you are enthused about the look, do the homework, and get a functioning vintage model. Otherwise, just beat up your modern watch until it gets aged by your own.