** This is going to be a bit of a long read so grab a coffee and get comfy **
So about 5-6 years back , I was bidding on this '62 1016 on ebay and was outbid at the last few moments by another collector . I have been kicking myself since as I absolutely love the tropical dial on this watch. It was everything that I loved about an explorer and a tropical dial
gilt chapter ring with exclamation point
that tropical / water damaged effect
the colours, pattern....everything. I follow him on IG and I can honestly say, that he doesn't appreciate that watch nearly as much as I would have.
Too bad.
what I like most about this dial is to me it is not like any other tropical dial you see . most are a clear deterioration of the pigments in the paint exposing the gilt dial plate. this one looks like it had water intrusion that somehow mixed with the oils and caused a oily water stain that damaged the dial finish and created this masterpiece. The movement somewhat confirms this idea
Anyway.. so instead of crying over it, I decided to get over it and figured the next best thing was to try and create my own. easier said than done .
This was my first attempt using an early raffles 1016/6610 dial and some air brush paints. and then I sealed it with a clear coat. (mistake)
For a first attempt it wasn't bad. I mean the colours were similar, not quite the pattern I was after, it looked good in the light but the clear coat gave it too much texture . It didn't scratch the itch at the time so I sold it on and moved on. That was in 2017ish
Then earlier this year Raffles came out with his version of a tropical gilt dial and I bought it to give it a go. Some of you know how that turned out but for those who missed it.
It began to scratch the itch. The finish was nice, the print was crisp and how it shifted in the light was sweet and how the crystal would create bright and shadow enhancing the slight metallic effect was great. especially for the price.!! great value for the money. Once I built it , I wore it for a few weeks straight and enjoyed it but then it sat...didnt scratch the itch any longer.
Digging deeper into the idea of creating a tropical dial Freedy33 next door suggested to me that applying shoe polish to the dial and baking it would break up the evenness of the dial colour and give it more of a vintage effect. This was his 6205 that he did that process to on his viet tropical dial . so I thought I would give it a shot on my damaged sub dial
What I found was that baking the raffles dials cooks off the clear coat finish on the dial and dulls it right out removing any of the effect of the dial and leaving you with a rust red dial adding shoe polish gave it a worn and aged look but not what I was after....
plausible but not magical
Then I was approached by another member who wanted a tropical 1016 and wanted to see what I was able to do with the new raffles dial . We discussed a few options , gave me free reign and let me have at it. He gave me 3 attempts
the first attempt was with the shoe polish on a clean undamaged dial (unlike the sub that was already baked once) and tried a more sparingly application of shoe polish.
Was not pleased with the result - these dials do not like heat , or maybe I am not baking them long enough?
Then we moved onto the transparent paints ....applied by brush the brush I was using decided to shed a few hairs but the paint applied in coats to give lighter and darker areas would build up and create texture. I went sparingly on the first attempt
the 2 following attempts I started to get the technique and working on deal dilutions of the paints and even mixing paints together to achieve looks but it wasnt what he was after so we abandoned the project . I wanted to keep pushing because I felt there was something here.
Here were a few other attempts on the other 2 dials
some photos were enhanced to dramatize the effects . they were quite sweet in hand but hard to capture on camera the edits helped achieve what was closer ...then I pushed it a bit too far .
I was getting away from the plot in that these were starting to look more like exotic wood grain dials , rather than tropical so I backed off , clean off the dials and started again.
on a side note, these raffles dials are tough as nails. the lume is the most durable I have experienced. you can soak them in warm water and they dont budge . The gilt print does come off rather easily with the slightest bit of Isopropyl so be aware of that but the lume it nearly bullet proof.
So I attempted to replicate the 62 tropical that started this whole goose chance on a stripped. dial
using the previous experience as a guide this was what was achieved.
closer to the origial concept. you can really see how the paint builds up and creates texture , Thats caused by pooling the paint and working it as it dries to create an effect. still not there but it was all a learning process.
So here we are now , learning from all the L's that got me here combined with the techniques and knowledge learned with trial by error, this was my last attempt to date.
still heavy with the texture and some runs and under zoom it looks terrible , I can admit it and some of you are probably laughing at this mess. I dont blame ya. it is a mess.
But once you put it behind glass and throw it on the wrist. you get this..
Its eye catching and I find myself staring at it throughout the day , enjoying it in the sunshine
Observations. SBS comparison to the 62 tropical , it brings into question if his dial happened organically or if it was chemically assisted beyond UV rays moisture and movement oils. The pics of that watch I shared are from the original ebay listing are clearly done by a professional and enhansed. but the pics he takes of it do give a more real life look at the watch and how it appears.....honestly Im not that far off in my attempt, in my humble biased opinion. lol
Overall I am pleased with the results of my experimentation on these raffles dials , I am not done with these quite yet. I have had a few realizations about these dials (as outlined above) and think that I am going to attempt it at least a few more times but using an air brush to apply the paint, my concern was covering up the print and lume but since the lume is so durable I think that I can clean up the lume of overspray afterwards . I do have some experience with an air brush but it will take a bit of trial and error but once dialed in, I can avoid the texture buildup and brush strokes and get a cleaner appearance.
I do also want to get into the heat transfers and oxidizing agents I think with some trial and error you would be able to achieve a true tropical dial
I am going to have my hands full the next few months with work so I wont be able to experiment , but I do intend jumping into that technique as I think that will be the winner.
But as far as experimenting on some affordable dials in the dead of winter and getting these results, I am pleased for now.
If you made it this far, thanks for your time and attention to the ramblings of a mad man.
As always , comments and questions are welcome.
Cheers
So about 5-6 years back , I was bidding on this '62 1016 on ebay and was outbid at the last few moments by another collector . I have been kicking myself since as I absolutely love the tropical dial on this watch. It was everything that I loved about an explorer and a tropical dial
gilt chapter ring with exclamation point
that tropical / water damaged effect
the colours, pattern....everything. I follow him on IG and I can honestly say, that he doesn't appreciate that watch nearly as much as I would have.
Too bad.
what I like most about this dial is to me it is not like any other tropical dial you see . most are a clear deterioration of the pigments in the paint exposing the gilt dial plate. this one looks like it had water intrusion that somehow mixed with the oils and caused a oily water stain that damaged the dial finish and created this masterpiece. The movement somewhat confirms this idea
Anyway.. so instead of crying over it, I decided to get over it and figured the next best thing was to try and create my own. easier said than done .
This was my first attempt using an early raffles 1016/6610 dial and some air brush paints. and then I sealed it with a clear coat. (mistake)
For a first attempt it wasn't bad. I mean the colours were similar, not quite the pattern I was after, it looked good in the light but the clear coat gave it too much texture . It didn't scratch the itch at the time so I sold it on and moved on. That was in 2017ish
Then earlier this year Raffles came out with his version of a tropical gilt dial and I bought it to give it a go. Some of you know how that turned out but for those who missed it.
It began to scratch the itch. The finish was nice, the print was crisp and how it shifted in the light was sweet and how the crystal would create bright and shadow enhancing the slight metallic effect was great. especially for the price.!! great value for the money. Once I built it , I wore it for a few weeks straight and enjoyed it but then it sat...didnt scratch the itch any longer.
Digging deeper into the idea of creating a tropical dial Freedy33 next door suggested to me that applying shoe polish to the dial and baking it would break up the evenness of the dial colour and give it more of a vintage effect. This was his 6205 that he did that process to on his viet tropical dial . so I thought I would give it a shot on my damaged sub dial
What I found was that baking the raffles dials cooks off the clear coat finish on the dial and dulls it right out removing any of the effect of the dial and leaving you with a rust red dial adding shoe polish gave it a worn and aged look but not what I was after....
plausible but not magical
Then I was approached by another member who wanted a tropical 1016 and wanted to see what I was able to do with the new raffles dial . We discussed a few options , gave me free reign and let me have at it. He gave me 3 attempts
the first attempt was with the shoe polish on a clean undamaged dial (unlike the sub that was already baked once) and tried a more sparingly application of shoe polish.
Was not pleased with the result - these dials do not like heat , or maybe I am not baking them long enough?
Then we moved onto the transparent paints ....applied by brush the brush I was using decided to shed a few hairs but the paint applied in coats to give lighter and darker areas would build up and create texture. I went sparingly on the first attempt
the 2 following attempts I started to get the technique and working on deal dilutions of the paints and even mixing paints together to achieve looks but it wasnt what he was after so we abandoned the project . I wanted to keep pushing because I felt there was something here.
Here were a few other attempts on the other 2 dials
some photos were enhanced to dramatize the effects . they were quite sweet in hand but hard to capture on camera the edits helped achieve what was closer ...then I pushed it a bit too far .
I was getting away from the plot in that these were starting to look more like exotic wood grain dials , rather than tropical so I backed off , clean off the dials and started again.
on a side note, these raffles dials are tough as nails. the lume is the most durable I have experienced. you can soak them in warm water and they dont budge . The gilt print does come off rather easily with the slightest bit of Isopropyl so be aware of that but the lume it nearly bullet proof.
So I attempted to replicate the 62 tropical that started this whole goose chance on a stripped. dial
using the previous experience as a guide this was what was achieved.
closer to the origial concept. you can really see how the paint builds up and creates texture , Thats caused by pooling the paint and working it as it dries to create an effect. still not there but it was all a learning process.
So here we are now , learning from all the L's that got me here combined with the techniques and knowledge learned with trial by error, this was my last attempt to date.
still heavy with the texture and some runs and under zoom it looks terrible , I can admit it and some of you are probably laughing at this mess. I dont blame ya. it is a mess.
But once you put it behind glass and throw it on the wrist. you get this..
Its eye catching and I find myself staring at it throughout the day , enjoying it in the sunshine
Observations. SBS comparison to the 62 tropical , it brings into question if his dial happened organically or if it was chemically assisted beyond UV rays moisture and movement oils. The pics of that watch I shared are from the original ebay listing are clearly done by a professional and enhansed. but the pics he takes of it do give a more real life look at the watch and how it appears.....honestly Im not that far off in my attempt, in my humble biased opinion. lol
Overall I am pleased with the results of my experimentation on these raffles dials , I am not done with these quite yet. I have had a few realizations about these dials (as outlined above) and think that I am going to attempt it at least a few more times but using an air brush to apply the paint, my concern was covering up the print and lume but since the lume is so durable I think that I can clean up the lume of overspray afterwards . I do have some experience with an air brush but it will take a bit of trial and error but once dialed in, I can avoid the texture buildup and brush strokes and get a cleaner appearance.
I do also want to get into the heat transfers and oxidizing agents I think with some trial and error you would be able to achieve a true tropical dial
I am going to have my hands full the next few months with work so I wont be able to experiment , but I do intend jumping into that technique as I think that will be the winner.
But as far as experimenting on some affordable dials in the dead of winter and getting these results, I am pleased for now.
If you made it this far, thanks for your time and attention to the ramblings of a mad man.
As always , comments and questions are welcome.
Cheers
