My 2 cents, I've tried a few different ways with my Helson Gauge turning bezel and my Helson Brass Shark Diver. Eggs/sulfur takes a long time, ain't nobody got time for that. Also, just turns darker brown. Vinegar vapor gave me beautiful blues/greens! Perfect! Except....they didn't stay. As soon as the watch got wet, all the color just disappeared and washed away. Watch was still darker and patina'd, but the blues/greens gone. They say in the bronze/brass community that they spray a clear lacquer to cover the patina and seal it and keep it. But if you do that with the watch, then there's no going back and you have to protect your crystal somehow. Lastly, I got ammonia, and did the same process as the vinegar, but with the ammonia vapor. Not as much blues and greens, but got some and really darkened the watch too. It looks crusty and rusty almost, like something I found at the bottom of the ocean. A really cool look, and doesn't wash away in the rain. It's neat having a watch that looks like it was submerged for 20 years in the Titanic and yet the dial is bright and pristine inside. :). I always go with ammonia now, and I keep putting it back in a few hours here and there to change it up and see how it comes out. A little lemon juice removes all of that in a few minutes and you can start over if you want. EDIT: Make sure you rotate the bezel after every time you patina the watch, and keep using the bezel throughout the day. Or the bezel will become stuck in place and CANNOT move.

Get a small glass bowl pour ammonia in it, place in a bigger Tupperware container, mix salt and water in a separate bowl until salt is dissolved, dip the watch into the water/salt mixture, tap to get drops off then place in the Tupperware BESIDE THE BOWL OF AMMONIA put cover on the Tupperware and observe it until you like the apperence. Take it out, a lite polish just to smooth it out and you're done. Thanks for the video!

Can't say I'm a fan, surely a natural vintage patina is what you'd really want. + It would be nice to slowly see your watch change over time :)

I like how it looked after it was removed from the lemon juice..

Hey mate! Love the vid. I'm going to do the same thing to a watch next week. Thanks for the tips, and subbed. Cheers, Jody

I like the way the watch looked when you pulled it from the lemon juice it had a nice amount of patina to it in my opinion, the video was very interesting

I still want more bronze or brass watches because it is so much fun to do this!

Super cool...nothing beats a natural patina though....!!!

You can use Vinegar (in place of the ammonia) and salt solution also. Ammonia is rancid to smell.

That's way more ammonia than you need. You just dip a cotton ball in ammonia, put the soaked cotton ball in a soda bottle cap, and set the cap and cotton ball in the tupperware container with the watch. The cotton ball is key because it wicks the ammonia into the air and creates vapors.

Great video. I bought a watch from Watch Gauge and he has first class customer service.

Nice experiment .. very simply good for having such tips on my bronze watch

I let my bronze watch patina naturally & my left arm turned into Kermit! 😂

a nice watch like that doesn't deserve to go on acid bath. let time do it on the watch lol....

I have seen this as a Tourbillon with Pearl face and it looks stunning and greatest value ever.

Hello. I can not understand why someone wants to do that to a brand new watch. Just use it!!!.

i did the black bay bronze and it looks so rustic and unique

Two fresh hard boiled eggs still warm smashed in a ziplock and my watch looked perfect. It works fast and if you want you can eat it right after. ;)

Personally, I like the look of it clean sort of a rose gold look.

"Okay. So about 15 minutes has passed..." As we see on the watch that 30 minutes has passed. 😂🤣 Great video though. I'm definitely going to try this with my bronze Vostok-Europe Energia II. The only thing I'm curious about is whether I should cover the case back as the full case is bronze. I've seen a lot of bronze watches where the case is bronze but the case back is stainless. I'll probably try it with the back exposed and see how it turns out and wears. Thanx for the informative video. Definitely subscribing.

I can't believe you're breathing with that open ammonia container. OMG burnt out my nostrils once.

Not digging it. Ammonia is lousy for forcing a green patina. It's too delicate. Cupric nitrate is the correct stuff to force greens on bronze. For browns, I suggest liver of sulfur or birchwood casey brown available at most sporting good stores near the gun stuff. Nice try, but the best patina for a watch is earned by wearing it.

I like bronze watches, but I don't understand forcing patina. It sort of defeats the purpose of purchasing a bronze watch. The natural process reflects who you are because the patina resulted from your normal daily activities, not ammonia or rotten eggs. But...To each his own. If that's what you wanna do, go for it. Still it was interesting to see the process. Thank for posting the video.

Doin’ up a bronze Glycine Combat Sub tonight- hydrochloride acid vapors!☠️

I’m gonna do this to a flieger type b watch

exactly how NOT to patina a watch - thanks for the confirmation

Tbh I like the bronze pantina'd watches in the abstract but I feel like I'd hate having the patina marks on my arms. If I ever got one in the future I'd probably just wear it until I got patina naturally. Or jump in the ocean lol

do i dear drop my new tudor blackbay bronze in? it shouldnt hurt it right

My understanding is, green resulting from any contact with a chloride is bronze disease. Signs are it rubs off or has a powdery residue. Patina shouldn't come off. Bronze disease can be fatal for the metal if left untreated. I would like to see follow up videos from such "tutorials" years after the fact. Is there pitting in the bronze? In what state is the case??

Awesome watch. Hello from Nesconset.

Does forcing patina and removing it also remove bronze material on the watch?

Thanks for a really interesting video. It's uber relevant to me because my own bronze watch is on it's way to me and I know I'm absolutely going to do all the stuff you've been doing. Just a quick question, all of these chemicals... will they cause chaos with the seals and O rings that keep the watch waterproof? Thanks. Stuart

There is still much I don't understand. I don't understand why a clean watch with no oils from your hand, has some parts turn blue and other parts turn brown. Why does this happen? Also, I'm not sure of the blue happens after the brown? Or the brown happens after the blue? Is there an order during the process? Does longer patina vapor time lead to more color?

Does lemon juice affect the seals and compromise it’s water resistance, particularly any rubber seals etc? They say not to shower with a watch, this seems more extreme..

I'm getting a bronze watch soon, and I probably won't be doing this type of stuff. there's a high chance of making irreversible changes and on a $6000 watch it's just not worth it to me to take this chance. maybe on a $300 quartz watch I would. most of the people doing these experiments are not chemists and don't know about the effects on the metal of doing these experiments, in addition there are different bronze compounds which react differently and it would be a shame to turn a nice watch into a relic that couldn't be restored. maybe I would do it with the egg but that's about it

Soak it in Sprite to remove all the patina

Brad Pitt giving some nice advice ;)

Would masking off the case back have mitigated its corroding?

What does it do to the watch seals? ?

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

What band is that?

I really dont get this idea of a Nasty looking watch is cool it looks disgusting in my opinion. Havd fun tho if u like it then cool

give it that 'I need a tetanus shot' look

Forcing the patina is a fashion now, but not stylish. In two years, nobody wants to see it anymore. Natural patina is very okay.