Rust is not static - I would worry about contamination of the movement from particles coming off the dial...
Yes, I thought so too! For most of us , rust is anathema, so to deliberately induce rust... 😲 Yet they seem to have found a way to let the front rust, while avoiding rust on the back. But of course it's potentially risky.
But here's what they said on their website with refreshing candour:
"Since both the client and ourselves are equally curious to see how the dial will react with time, we have decided not to protect it from further rust by varnishing it. We think that it will not change much since the environment within the watch is poor in oxygen. However, we are not sure. For that reason we offer the same lifetime warranty on all parts manufactured by ochs und junior for this watch."
Looks like the downside is capped, as long as O&J stay in business...
There is a steel cladding material that is used for buildings called Corten. One of my projects used this about five years ago and at the time it was very stable until it got wet 😵💫 At this point, the paving around the building became permanently stained and had to be replaced after the cladding had finished weathering.
Supposedly, the manufacturers have found a way to make it more stable now so it is quite possible that the dial of this watch is made from something very similar - If you get water inside, the dial will be the least of your worries.
Where did you see that only the front of the dial is rusted - if it was in their information I clearly missed it, because I was looking for that specifically.
