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Is It Aqua or Is It Turquoise??

Started by Dennis Markham, January 21, 2009, 03:06:54 PM

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bingster

It's not a bad phone.  It's modular, so it's not my taste, though.
= DARRIN =



Dennis Markham

I agree with Bingster on this one.  Too new.  It looks like the handset is darker than the rest of the body.  Maybe a replacement.  The foot pads don't seem to have rust.  That base has been around a while.  Looks like a few coats of black paint hiding all the original numbers.  Another clue that the phone is modular (if you can't see the plugs in the seller's photo) is the little "M" on the dial card.  Also the sticker on the bottom reads DM indicating "dial" and "modular".  It's still a nice old phone that probably works great with a loud ring.

Dan

#17
http://tinyurl.com/bmuvn3


Is this a light blue described as turquoise? The date on the back predates turquoise, doesn't it?
I'm thinking light blue. What do you guys think?
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

Perry

#18
It looks turquoise to me. Note the sticker near the bottom of the phone dated 71. Maybe it was refurbished then?

That handset cord doesn't look salvageable. 

Dennis Markham

It does look like Turquoise.  The Turquoise 500's didn't come out until 1964. I'm sure the 554's would have been the same time.

With that lighting it is difficult to determine.  The inside of the caps almost look aqua.  But with the handset removed there doesn't seem to be any obvious color shift.  The starting price is a bit high.  But if it's a true Turquoise and in good shape and a person NEEDED one to complete the color spectrum it may be worth it.  Good luck finding a replacement cord.

It does have the later dial as evidenced by the narrow opening for the finger stop.

Kittybell

#20
author=HobieSport link=topic=530.msg5687#msg5687 date=1232672469]
What do you all think of this one?:

http://tinyurl.com/ceu6qx

I guess it's a pretty new phone.  "New" as in early 1970s?  I never touch the stuff.

I gave up on trying to describe light blue colors and accurate color photography in general.  I used to work in that field and it became too frustrating because people do see color differently. Now I just call the light blue colors   "Sparrows Egg" and "Various Sky Hues", and it helps if they have a few white paint household splatters for special effect.



I agree with you, Hobie. The receiver and cord are Robin's Egg Blue, and the body is more of an aqua.
Faded colored phones personally look a bit sad to me, so I'm still staying with black for now. A shiny black telephone reflects other colors and lighting and even the expressions of various people in the room.  Just my opinion for what it's worth.  -Matt







[/quote]
"Read it back to you! Are you insane?"

Kittybell

Quote from: Dan on January 23, 2009, 11:22:51 AM
http://tinyurl.com/bmuvn3


Is this a light blue described as turquoise? The date on the back predates turquoise, doesn't it?
I'm thinking light blue. What do you guys think?

I think there's too much green in that to be light blue. I'd have to go with aqua.
"Read it back to you! Are you insane?"

HobieSport

Finally a Womans' eyes for color on the forum.

Perry

Yes, but if you look at Dennis' post, what WE called aqua was really light blue, and the turquoise phones were the ones with the greenish blue.

This series of posts has made me really paranoid about my turquoise and aqua phones fading. They look unfaded to me at this point (except for the one I showed earlier in this thread). I always assumed the discoloration was caused by smoking (which I don't do). I think I'll find some protectant this weekend. Is the Turtle Wax product better than the more common Armor All for this?

Dan

I'm going to buy a light blue (aqua) and take it over to my brother's house for a little smokers patina, then I'll have a valuable turquoise phone :P
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

Dennis Markham

Perry, I don't know which product is better.  But probably anything is better than nothing.  I keep my phones in a mushroom environment.  If there is no direct light coming in I open the blinds.  Late in the afternoon on a sunny day I shut them.  But I'll bet UV light can effect them even if the sun isn't shining directly on them.

I like the term mentioned earlier---sun tan lotion for phones.

I think it's good to polish them first to protect the plastic, and then apply the UV polish afterward.  I have heard that Armor All will dry out plastic, but I don't know that to be factual.

Perry

I keep all my phones (even the black ones) out of the direct sunlight, but I'll add some protectant anyway. I'll also see if I can find some of that plastic cleaner that Steve mentioned earlier in this thread. My two-tone phone should provide a good test for it.

Kittybell

I believe that Armour-all does dry out plastic, because my front dash cracked where I used it.
"Read it back to you! Are you insane?"

McHeath

QuoteI have heard that Armor All will dry out plastic, but I don't know that to be factual.

QuoteI believe that Armour-all does dry out plastic, because my front dash cracked where I used it

This has been my experience as well with Armor-All, and I used to be  religious user of the product on all my cars.  I discounted as hooey the cracked dash stories till it happened to me.   :-\

I don't know, or think, it would be able to cause much trouble with our phones however as they are pretty thick and we are not leaving them in the Wal-Mart parking lot when it's 103 outside.

Perry

I got a bottle of the 3M plastic cleaner that Steve mentioned earlier in this thread. I thought my faded/discolored turquoise phone would be a good test for it. I'm sorry to report that it had no detectable effect on the color. It seems to be a fine polish (despite the ad copy in Steve's link saying it isn't), maybe something like Novus #2. Anyway, as has been pointed out earlier, the typical discoloration on these phones is too deep to polish out with a fine polish.

I also picked up some "303 Aerospace Protectant," which seems to get better reviews than Armor All. I'll let you know how well it prevents fading and discoloration. It might take 10 years or so to reach a conclusion, though.