Officine Panerai

I would not go so far as to call the patina fake more of an aesthetic choice.  As dreamer8 noted it rather difficult to reproduce the patina naturally without the ingredients.  But tastefully done with quality products it is a personal choice as to whether or not the presentation is appealing.  As for the strap some are really made of old materials and some are distressed newer materials.  I think this is another personal choice.  Of course you can't beat originals I don't think that is your question.

So I guess what I am saying it is all personal and I had hesitated on the concept of the aged patina and did not pay any attention until this combination on the 390, applied markers and a very simple brown dial,  pleased me very much.  My strap happens to be made from an old ammo case and it is ridiculously thick as Nico noted but I am having fun with it.  I think the whole package of the 390 is very accessible. 

I am with you 100% that the original aged watch is the best but this is a close second.  Aged original a few and far between and definitely not as accessible but for the mortals that did not have the good fortune to have the foresight 10+ years ago that train has left the station.  We can content ourselves with tasteful combinations like the 390 and we can look and see what they look like in 30 years.  So far a lot of the new materials are behaving in strange ways, let's hope that this has its own aging process.   You need to have some battle scars on a watch to feel aged so unless they start to scratch up the case and speed up the aging process by dropping a few drops of water on the dial and dripping solution to change the hue on the case….  Hey that idea could be appealing and I know some have tried… LOL

Enjoy the watches and the community it creates look how much fun we are have here.

One pic for the road.

Bill