Worn & Wound
Baltic Introduces Bronze Versions of the Hermetique
I have had a love-hate relationship with bronze-cased watches for years. I truly appreciate how the metal ages; there is nothing quite like a beautifully patinated watch just before it turns into a greenish hue. The beauty is that it never quite ages the same for everyone, and if you don’t like the results, a little lemon juice bath can have you start all over. My only issue is that I am a person who perspires quite a bit, and the bronze watches I have owned have been large honking divers. The latter would often transfer some of the patina goodness onto my arm, especially in the summer heat. Our friends from Baltic may have the solution I have been searching for: a non-honking bronze watch! Introducing the Baltic Hermétique Tourer Bronze, essentially a bronze version of their popular new series. As you may already know, Hermétique translates to “hermetic” in English, which means sealed tight. This is fitting for a watch with an impressive water resistance of 150 meters despite its elegant proportions and a thin push-pull crown that is recessed into the case. Another interesting aspect of this watch is that it is made of CuAl8 bronze, an alloy of copper and aluminum, as opposed to CuSn8, which is bronze and tin. The former, known as aluminum gold or gold bronze, is strong, corrosion-resistant, and pale gold in color. It resists tarnishing and corrosion in both air and seawater, withstands oxidation at high temperatures, and shows low reactivity with sulfurous compou...