WatchFan1
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Mr. Eklektik - have more updates.
Went to *another* place that has the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy tool. Also took my yellow gold 5059 for comparison and I got more assurance that this 3448 watch is not made out of yellow gold, because the two are very different
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5059J tested having 12.75 % of copper and about 12% of silver (75% gold)
3448 tested having about 21% of copper and 6% of silver
21% of copper pretty clearly indicates that the case is made out of so-called *Pink* gold which was very prevalent in vintage Patek watches in that era. In other words ,no yellow gold watch has that much copper in it.
So....the plot thickens a little bit.....looks like it's RG.....but will have to wait and see what PP says.
While I know that the ultimate answer will be received from Patek Service and Archive folks, I took the watch to a local well known jewelry store that does a lot of buying and has a huge *buy department* with experts in metals and stones. They do XRF Ther...
Fantastic!
Please please keep us posted. Glad my suggestion could help. First, XRF is extremely accurate. The Thermo Fisher XRF gun that they used (thanks for including the picture) is from a gold standard manufacturer of precise scientific instruments and not some ...
Thank you for keeping us informed as this is so interesting.
But, most of all, how beautiful the 3448 is, and your example, is beyond words for me. Congratulations again and again on this acquisition. Best, Emmanuel
It looks still too yellow gold, compared to to the rose gold FPJ. Patek will tell.
And the FPJ is not 50 years old.
You are correct about your observation when you compare it to FPJ and yes, Patek will have the last word.
There are big differences between 18k RG watches from different manufactures. And RG FPJs are much warmer in general..... the overall look is further exaggerated here, because that FPJ also comes with a complete rose gold blasted dial. Per my experience, ...
Following along since your initial post. This is kinda wild.
If it turns out to be rose gold that will be some story.
Thanks for your posts on your beautiful 3448!
Regardless of the final outcome, I am thoroughly enjoying your posts and the journey. I look forward to hearing the final answer from Patek but in any event your watch has a wonderful hue. All the best, Jon
Mr. Eklektik - have more updates.
Went to *another* place that has the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy tool. Also took my yellow gold 5059 for comparison and I got more assurance that this 3448 watch is not made out of yellow gold, because the two are very different . 5059J tested h...
To get to meaningful results…
… you need to test J and R from the 70s. Today, Rose means something different than back then. I.e. comparisons to recent production is probably less meaningful.
I brought with me *a yellow gold watch* only to establish the Baseline, for comparison
After I talked to a very well-known expert on Patek vintage watches, the research that I did was confirmed by him, that during that time period, Patek *pink* gold watches were using a little bit less copper than they are using now in their *rose* gold wat...
Thank you... needless to say, I enjoy all three tremendously
.... but currently, obviously, this is the Undisputed King of the collection, it seems. ...