TD asked me to send my watch back to them.

[Xky]

I bought a BP TT RG DJ36, last September and after three months half the bracelet turned into a not nice copper colour, now the whole watch has turned into a copper colour. The TD said they would sell me a new bracelet for $75. I replied saying this is no good as the crown and bezel has turned copper as well. They suggested I send the watch back to them and they will replace all bracelet, bezel and crown for $104 including the return postage.

My worries are it ever reaching the TD and getting caught up in customs ????. I just wrote an email back saying it’s probably best for them to post the parts to me and I assemble the watch myself or I was thinking of asking tripdog to do the work for me.

Any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated. I would just prefer for the TD to discount me on a new watch to be honest. The watch also has a misaligned dial making the date wheel sit low. On the whole this has not been a good first buy rep purchase for me. I would err on the side of caution if your thinking of buying a BP TT RG watch, this has happened to another RWI member, on a RWI thread, (the “wrapped” gold sub) which is a brilliant read by the way.

Or do you think I should just cut my loses and forget about the whole thing?

The photos of the white dial watch are of the other guys watch where the same thing happened and posted on the the “wrapped” gold sub guide.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Updog]

Sounds like a pretty reasonable resolution to me. How much does this rep mean to you? Personally , I'm not a fan of any rg or yg reps, so I would cut my losses, you may feel differently however.

 

[chocolito]

I think you should take it as a lesson learnt and not buy anymore gold plated replicas . Even if they look great when you get them , they ALL will patina /change colour and obviously not look like precious metal very quickly . I would cut my loses and put the $104 towards a new all SS replica .

 

[Genera74]

YG/RG is a risky proposition. Even if you change the gold parts or buy a new one, this problem may return. My advice is stick with steel models

 

[p0pperini]

Is it possible to deal with the oxidation/patina? I've read how you can "reset" the oxidation on a bronzo using lemon juice - is anything possible with plated rep "gold"?

I'm guessing the answer is no - not least because bronze watches (even the reps) are actually bronze, whereas "gold" plated reps haven't been anywhere near anything with gold content. But I was just curious whether there's any option for treating the discolouration.

 

[chocolito]

Is it possible to deal with the oxidation/patina? I've read how you can "reset" the oxidation on a bronzo using lemon juice - is anything possible with plated rep "gold"?

I'm guessing the answer is no - not least because bronze watches (even the reps) are actually bronze, whereas "gold" plated reps haven't been anywhere near anything with gold content. But I was just curious whether there's any option for treating the discolouration.

NO the gold plate discolours for two reasons .

Firstly the top layer getting contaminated/damaged by salt, alcohol, various detergents , perspiration, perfume, rubbing etc . So just wearing your watch isn't good for the gold plate . You can help to prevent this by wearing the watch sparingly and carefully , say a dress watch you only wear on special occasions with a suit . Also gently cleaning with a PH nuetral zero dish soap and water occasionally and drying quickly with something absorbent without rubbing( blot it ) like kitchen roll . Especially if the gold plate is thick . I'd stick with wearing sparingly .

Secondly the gold plate can't be put directly on to stainless steel a base layer of Copper or nickel is used ( Or both ) this can contaminate the gold top layer and begin to show through , or show through as the gold layer rubs and scratches .

Looks like BP used Copper as a base layer in this case, which has completely contaminated an upper very thin layer of gold . Hence the nice coppery colour of the watch now .

 

[rabl253]

Yeah, ironically, it actually looks pretty good in that shade, very high contrast between the coppery centerlinks and the outer links. I wouldn't personally sink another 100 dollars in a lost cause, but it's up to you. what I would do is use this watch for a modding project, or take the (now kind of unique and cool) bracelet and put it on another watch.

I think actually I'd probably swap the dial in there and try to play it off as a totally different watch and not a replica of anything in particular. I still think it looks good. But of course, that's up to personal preference.


I agree with everyone else: stainless steel reps are way less risky for this problem

 

[muiramas]

Not worth fixing. Wear your (now obviously fake) watch with pride and get something different instead.

 

[Complete]

Have you opened it to see which movement is inside?

I got a DJ31 from Trusty. The clasp is made with a defect and wont stay closed.

I should email Trusty and ask for a replacement, but I can’t be bothered.

I was ticked until I opened the case and found a nice swiss eta2836 by rado inside.

Not a total loss.