Jeff

I think there must have been several batches of paint used, for sure the Chronomatics and earlier Transitionals are very prone to paint degradation, especially if the watches come into contact with moisture, either from getting too hot and cooling down or from the opposite, although the late batch of Transitional (1580xx -1581xx) mostly were ok, so perhaps at the end of production they had improved the finish) It looks to me that they do not have the same top coat seal that some of the later 1133G metallic dials had, although saying that we see those and 1533G/B suffering similar issues, albeit they are mostly started by melting seals, not inherent weakness in the paint. As you say metallic dial finish was uncommon and I suspect they just had not quite perfected it yet, and I‘d wager pre-launch testing was not rigorous!

However it was successful use of colour because many an original owner of a metallic blue dial 1133b will attest they bought it because of the stunning dial effect and several bought it specifically to match the metallic blue American muscle car they owned at the time!

Rich

: As I have been studying these "Paintless" Monacos, it
: seems clear that something in the "midnight blue"
: paint failed. So then I start thinking that this was one of
: Heuer's first attempts at a colored dial, with almost all the
: previous Heuer dials being wither black or dial. Of course, the
: Skippereras from circa 1968 did just fine.

: So here's the question: Were many brands using colored watch dials
: around 1968 / 69 or was this a relatively new thing? Part of the
: "pop" culture of the era. I will need to flip through
: some multi-brand books (to check the other brands), but it does
: strike me that until the late 1960s, the primary color choices
: in watches were black and white (and the silver variations, of
: course).

: Jeff

: ++++++++++++++++++++++++

: