Is It Aqua or Is It Turquoise??

[Dan/Panther]

A friend likes to apply a coat of Turtle Wax polish with UV protection on his phones after he refurbishes them.  I have put it on a few of mine.  It is one of those things I plan to do to them all but never seem to get to it.  It will help protect them from future yellowing.  It comes in a pump spray bottle.  It goes on a little greasy at first but with buffing it will have a nice shine---and keep out the UV light too.  A view of the 10oz bottle is attached.

Dennis;
I bought a bottle of Turtle Wax F-21, applied it to my Princess Phone, I used a paper towel to apply it, When I checked the towel it had a blue tint to it. It actually removed some of the color.  Maybe I rubbed too hard ?

D/P

[Dennis Markham]

Dan, I don't know what to say about that.  I've never experienced paint loss on a phone I've coated with the product.  Is it possible that your phone was a factory re-paint?  They used a paint I have heard called Polene??

I can't imagine color coming off the plastic unless one used acetone or something like that.  I don't know. 

[McHeath]

And take my word for it, if you use 100% acetone it will come off!

My car rubbing compound, TR-3, will take some color off the non-painted plastic phones.  It will take color off a car even.

[Dan/Panther]

Dennis;
It appears that the mouthpiece has been painted Aqua, over Turquoise.
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

Heath, that must be why all the phone guys say not to use Rubbing Compound but instead use POLISHING compound.  Dan, I thought perhaps it had been painted.  I have had a couple pink phones that were painted---factory repaints---same color atop the old color.  It makes them nice and shiny but if you start to polish away the outer coating you're doomed.

[Dan/Panther]

Dennis;
This is just the earpiece that's painted aqua over turquoise, very obvious, the rest of the phone is original color.
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

Did that Turtle Wax effect the other plastic?  Maybe try it on the inside of the housing.

[HobieSport]

I did not mean to imply that Toms' grandpas' house be painted aqua or pink at the same time.  Give it a couple of years difference, eh?

-Hobie.

[AET]

It was pink in the late fifties and early sixties and was more of an aqua in the seventies.

[jsowers]

I've been reading this thread and looking at all the interesting phones. It's sure a problem trying to determine if a phone in an auction is aqua blue or turquoise. One thing I don't think that was mentioned thusfar is some digital cameras tend to make turquoise look like aqua blue. Dennis touched on the lighting being important early on in the thread, and as we know, most sellers just use whatever they have at the moment.

Last week I went through some pictures and came up with some composite shots of what aqua blue and turquoise are supposed to look like, so a seller can look for themselves and compare it to the phone. I had a friend who was interested in a phone in an auction that turned out to be turquoise, but it showed aqua blue in the pictures.

Some of the phones are mine and some belong to a friend. I tried to pick phones that were true to color and not faded.

I posted the pictures on my web space, so they're free for whoever wants to use them and you can send the link to a seller for them to see as well. Maybe Dennis can put the pictures on the forum somewhere and it would be a better web server? Here are the links, and please try again if they don't come up the first time.

http://web.lexcominc.net/~josowers/aqua_blue-turquoise_01.JPG

http://web.lexcominc.net/~josowers/aqua_blue-turquoise_02.jpg

http://web.lexcominc.net/~josowers/aqua_blue-turquoise_03.jpg

http://web.lexcominc.net/~josowers/turquoise-aqua_blue_04.jpg

http://web.lexcominc.net/~josowers/aqua_blue-turquoise_05.jpg

[Dennis Markham]

Thanks Jonathan, they worked just fine for me.  I really like the two 10-button sets--even though they're touch-tone!

[jsowers]

Thanks Jonathan, they worked just fine for me.  I really like the two 10-button sets--even though they're touch-tone!

Yeah, I snuck that one in there. The turquoise one is mine and came from a seller in South Carolina very cheaply about six years ago. The faceplates on those phones are unique, sort of a translucent ribbed matte plastic, and you can see that the aqua blue faceplate is totally different than the turquoise one. I take pictures in natural light, usually indirect light, and I'm lucky my Sony camera seems to be able to capture turquoise.

Something I also meant to mention is I've had pretty good results bleaching turquoise back to the original color with one part bleach to two parts water, in the sun for a day or two. But I think it depends on whether it's darkening from smoke or sun and the sun fade is harder to get out. I haven't tried the latest hydrogen peroxide treatment on them yet.

[Dan]

I wouldn't try peroxide on a turquoise. I'd polish it with Novus like Dennis does.

Here's one I had my eye on. The seller wouldn't look under the dial for me to get me the # 62 (aqua) or 64 (turq). I passed on it because I have 3 blues, one of which I swore was turquoise. Do you think this is blue or turqouise?

http://tinyurl.com/nbs375

[Dennis Markham]

Dan, I was trying to talk myself into buying that one too.  That is a good price for it.  I believe it is Turquoise.  I have one from 1964 which was the first year it was produced.  I like that one because it has the #7 dial and a soft center finger wheel.  Because the one in this listing had the newer dial (I was basing that on the narrow opening for the finger stop) I decided against buying it.  I think someone got a nice deal on a nice looking Turquoise 500.

In looking at the photos again another reason I stayed away was that I wasn't sure about the Manufacturer.  I see now that it says "Western Electric" under the Brand category.  But looking at that network it looks very late.  I think the date on the ringer looks like the end of the 70's.  Of course that doesn't mean it's not a nice phone....

[Dan]

It's a great price, that's for sure. It looks like it says bell systems under the plungers. If you look @ the picture of the ringer, it looks like '70' possibly 1970? You have the ultimate turquoise from 1964, the FIRST year and the ONLY year with the soft centered finger wheel. I am convinced the hardest phones left for me will be a soft yellow and a soft centered turquoise.