Ulysse Nardin

pkonos
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Well, this is kind of sad … (and the storage case, curious).

Whilst recently rummaging (very carefully) through the safety deposit box, I decided to strap on my UN Perpetual Ludwig GMT +/- Ltd. Ed. in Pt. for the first time in a while only to find that … Alas! –  it’s apparently been TOO long of a while.

Appearing amidst the silvery dial’s pretty wave patterning… light brown stains, like English milk tea, dribbled about the subdial.

(I’m loath to call the localized discoloration "patina.")

I’m left wondering what could have caused this, as:

-       the watch has never been near water; and

-       the ambient air of the storage area feels nothing but arid.

Very odd.

I’m looking rather suspiciously at the old watch case by Underwood (purchased some 25 years ago) in which it was stored, as a Breguet Type XX Aeronavale that I had also placed inside it, next to the UN, appears to show some accelerated patina on its luminous numerals and hour markers as well.

Quite curious, indeed.  Other watches that I have nestled in separate watch cases (in the same safety deposit box) show no visible changes.  Perhaps the adhesives or the pigments used in the old Underwood?  Possibly- - but after more than a couple of decades, it’s hard to believe that they would still be (if they'd ever been) a cause of discoloration.  Hmm,.. maybe the storage case has a propensity to retain moisture.

Oh well.

Back to the Perpetual Ludwig GMT +/-.  Unfortunately, my past experiences with the service center in Japan have been far from satisfactory.  I suppose I’ll have to look into sending the piece back to its Swiss home… or, perhaps, learn to live with its newly acquired, …ahem, patina.

In any case, lesson learned, memo to self:   rotate watches regularly and often!

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