I've often wondered how these cases would look taken back to the brass, polished and lacquered... the battle scars on this example begin to give me a better idea of what that would look like. Better not leave it near me and a lathe Darren!

I think it could look good actually, but that may just be me and my fascination with different case materials - I'd be making these things with copper cases and malachite dials given half a chance, but I'd also make sure to have something in the range that was actually legible too! :)