Do you force patina on bronze watches?
I don't because I feel that everyone should take a good care of their tools and while wear marks and some light tarnish are a sign that the tool was well used and well cared for, the aggressive greening is more indicative of neglect.
For example my Zelos Horizons shows signs of tarnish in the grooves of its crown and bezel but the case is relatively clean because I wipe it regularly with a lightly oiled microfiber cloth. From past experience with other tools made of brass I'm confident that this will keep it in pretty much the same conditions for years or even decades and that this is the way a bronze watch should look like.
But that's only my opinion, how do you feel about this?
I'm a big fan of watches that are interesting because they are either unique, have interesting features, well designed or simply offer a great value for their price.
Seems we're both on the bronze train today 😁
I took the Aquatico I wear today on a bigger trip some years ago. I cleaned it before using lemon juice and went with a perfectly clean watch. The trip involved lots of sea water, a bit of pool water, rain, sand and dirt. Over this the watch developed a strong patina with a lot of greening. I didn't like the look much but kept it as it felt like my memories of the trip transfered on to the case. And over time the strong green parts vanished, the watch got a nice even dark patina.
Now I make sure to unscrew the crowns from time to time to keep them from sticking to the case, I don't plan to really clean up the patina again. Having the watches surface as a souvenir is what made me buy a bronze watch in the first place - so I'm perfectly happy with the result.
My only bronze watch has a fair bit of patina on it but the case was bought used so I'm not sure what was done before I got it.
I enjoy the look and have left mine to do its thing for over 2 years now