A conversation about FAUXTINA...

I don't think I've ever owned a watch long enough for patina to develop 😂

I like the aethetic of fauxtina but not the core ethos of it. In fact - it’s put me off buying a number of watches I would otherwise have loved. I feel like you have to earn a patina, and if you try and use a shortcut, it cheapens the design.

I can take or leave fauxtina but damn do I love a B dial Flieger

Looks like it came straight outta the cockpit

Undecided.

Fauxtina isn't exactly a deal breaker for me but I don't see the appeal. IMO most of the time it just looks like a modern watch with a funny looking, and not particularly attractive, paint job.

I don't feel like fauxtina exist anymore. There are many lume colors today. I think it's the new way to add character to a watch. You can give it a vintage look with yellow or brown lume. A modern look with green or blue lume. You can keep white for a more traditional look. For the record I like the retro colored lume if it fits the style of the watch.

The Laco is next level. In general I don't like fauxtina which is ironic because my main, every day watch has it.

I just think of it as an intentional tan color choice instead of fauxtina but I know I'm lying to myself.

Hey Max, I like what you have done with your watch but I don’t like to refer to it as “patina”. It’s just a color we like and is less harsh to the eyes. Real patina can be very dark as illustrated on my 806 indices.

I really don’t care if it glows or not 🤷‍♂️

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. 😉

Saw your video before this post and I am completely in agreement to everything you said. I don’t mind fauxtina if it’s done intentionally to match the rest of the Watch details. I love how you are also interested in making modifications your self as part of you enthusiasm in the hobby. Great post and video Max!

I think the concepts of fauxtina is interesting. We want everything to be pristine and shiny when its brand new, but we value age, and signs of wear and love in something that’s vintage. I would love to see modern watches be able to show these signs of wear that vintage watchs have done naturally.

I wonder if there could be such a thing anymore? Where dials colors transform over time, lume browns into a beautiful shade of tan or maybe a different color. I understand these processes happen from old techniques of paint and radium, but what if brands used these ideas of aging and degradation as a feature instead of a flaw.

Me personally I would love to see that, and we are starting to with bronze.

I try to see the faux patina as just an appealing colorway. I think it is. I just have one, the BB58. But knowing that this watch was designed to look old make it hard to add more of them into my collection. One will do. Imo the BB58 is a brilliant example when the faux patina work. A less brilliant example come from a brand I really admire and like. Normally famous for doing reissues just right. These fake spots is a step to far.

You‘re damn right 👍

Don’t like it that is why I look for the real thing in my vintage watches

I'm like you; I think fauxtina is fine, but it has to be executed correctly.

That Flieger is done correctly.

Too uniform & it just looks off.

It's like these new expensive sneakers that look distressed, but are bloody expensive! Well, it's expensive because of the brand rather than the distressed part, but ironically, because they are "aged" they became insanely popular.

Now, back to watches, I neutral on fauxtina if it's not too obvious and I actually didn't know it was a thing until recently. For example, I really like the look of baltic, but some comments said the fauxtina was too much, too brown, too orange?

Insider knowledge 🤔🤔🤔 lol

Love Fauxtina! It's only a colour, & just looks more appropriate on some pieces.

I'm not yet at a stage yet where I have a raste for patina or vintage looks.

I still prefer crisp, flawless (as possible) condition when it comes to my belongings, so intentionally staining anything is too painful to watch.

You make some good points about context. When I first bought my Hamilton Pilot Pioneer, the fauxtina was okay, but when I paired the watch with a more distressed strap, it really made a difference:

This strap was custom built using the British Military 110 FFR Land Rover canopy.

Not the biggest fan of fauxtina here. That being said, I do own a 42mm Laco Erbstueck and I do love it. One thing not mentioned about the Erbstueck (Not Erbstruck, lol) is that you can choose the level of the Fauxtina you want by 3 levels. Level one being the mildest and level three being the most extreme. Mine is definitely level one, the one you were wearing I believe is also level one aging.

I think that's pretty brave of you to disassemble that Lorrier for mad watch collector experimentation. I would destroy the watch 100%; this I know after trying to age a strap which involved olive oil, a cookie sheet, and the oven. Another strap went up the flagpole during a hurricane; I never found that strap or the top of my chimney & attached weather station lol. My watch tinkering is limited to bracelet change & resize, battery changes, and light hand polishing.

Surprised you didn't use coffee instead of tea......

Dude!! Love it!! Like your old videos when your modding…

Gonna try the coffee thing… also trying my hands on putting lume and perhaps adding coffee on the solution lol…

Love myself some fauxtina and Laco definitely do a great job with the Erbstück models. I’ve got a Dortmund and love it. I constantly get asked how old it is and you should see people’s faces when I tell them it’s basically new 😁

I also like what Certina did with the DS Action and DS PH200M.

@Max What is your opinion of Chotovelli & Figli?

Looks very cool and well priced!

So happy to see Laco getting some exposure even if fauxtina is not really my thing. Still, sometimes it just looks right, as I think it does on my Willard. Maybe lets just keep calling it the "Grey Birch."

I don't like faux anything.

I'm with you. And I think "patina" is just a polite euphemism for "decay".

Beautiful pilot watches I need one in ma collection #laco #flieger 😎