Rare Salvage Bronze - Terrarium

Selten Salvage Bronze

Hand-crafted patina. Bronze that will age alongside you. And no two pieces are exactly the same.

Salvage Bronze is one of the most intriguing projects from Hong Kong-based Selten. Instead of a classic mass-produced dial, the watches feature a hand-patinated metal surface, the final appearance of which cannot be perfectly controlled. Consequently, every dial has its own unique texture, pattern, and coloration. This makes every single piece an original.

The patina is created for Selten by an artist in the USA using a proprietary formula. Controlled patination can involve various materials and influences, ranging from chemicals, salt, wood, and soil to rain or fire. The result is not a set of perfectly identical dials, but rather small abstract paintings.

Three-layer dial

The construction of the dial itself is just as interesting as its surface. Selten utilizes a three-layer sandwich construction.

The bottom layer contains recessed luminescent indices, the middle layer consists of the hand-patinated dial itself, and above it sits a sapphire layer with an anti-reflective coating and printed indices. This creates an unusual 3D effect that also allows the patinated surface to take center stage.

Swiss Super-LumiNova in an Old Radium shade is applied to the dial, hands, and bezel.

Watches that will keep on changing

The patina doesn’t stop at the dial. The case is crafted from CuSn8 bronze, which reacts naturally with the environment and gradually develops its own patina through wear.

Selten has done part of the work for you by creating a unique dial. You will complete the rest simply by wearing the watch. The bronze will gradually darken and change hue, ensuring the look of every piece continues to evolve over the years.

A true bronze diver

Beneath the artistic surface lies a fully capable diving watch. The bronze case has a diameter of 39 mm, a lug-to-lug distance of 47 mm, and a height of 12.25 mm excluding the crystal.

The unidirectional 120-click bezel features a matte black ceramic insert, the crown is screw-down, and the water resistance is 200 meters. The distinctive box-shaped sapphire crystal gives the watch a slight vintage character while allowing for a lower bezel profile.

Inside beats a high-frequency automatic Miyota 9039 movement with a power reserve of approximately 40 hours. The watch comes on a black FKM rubber strap.

Three variants, three different moods

Blue Cave
The darkest and perhaps most dramatic of the trio. Royal blue shades blend with inky black areas, and Selten compares the resulting effect to looking into a mysterious underwater cave. Depending on the specific piece and the lighting, the dial can appear anywhere from vibrant blue to almost black.

Terrarium
A more natural-toned variant working primarily with moss-green shades complemented by subtle yellow accents. The resulting texture resembles the view into a small terrarium – the organic pattern of the patina works particularly well here because no surface is perfectly regular.

Vintage Wall
The warmest of the three. Deep brown tones are complemented by amber traces, and the irregular texture is reminiscent of an old wall where layers of time are visible. We believe the Vintage Wall is the most natural match for the bronze case and its future patina.

Why choose the Salvage Bronze?

Because here, the phrase "every piece is an original" truly carries weight.

The hand-patinated dial is unique the moment you receive the watch. The bronze case then begins to change based on how and where you wear it. In a few years, your Salvage Bronze will look different from all others.

And beneath it all remains a highly capable 39mm diver with 200-meter water resistance, a ceramic bezel, sapphire crystal, and an automatic Miyota 9039 movement.

Selten created the dial. Time and your wrist will complete the rest.

Technical details:

About the brand Selten

Selten is an independent Hong Kong brand founded in 2021 by Leonardo Tsai, who comes from a family involved in watch dial manufacturing. It is no surprise, therefore, that dials are among the brand's greatest strengths.

Selten works with unusual materials and techniques, such as natural mother-of-pearl, meteorite, guilloché, or various surface finishing methods. The name Selten means "rare" in German, reflecting the founder's respect for German watchmaking.

Selten is an independent Hong Kong brand founded in 2021 by Leonardo Tsai. He hails from a family dedicated to dial production, which explains why unusual materials and dial processing play such a significant role in the brand's creations.

Selten enjoys experimenting with materials and manufacturing techniques, and the Salvage Bronze is perhaps the best example of this. It is not just about a different color on a standard dial – its uncontrollable patination means that every piece produced has its own unique character.