I haven't moved in the heady circles that find the time capsule guns and have gotten used to fading, greying CC when I can find some on something I can afford. Worn and faded is, in the pinch of what's available, also a witness to originality. "Well-preserved" at ninety years old has its charms. It's all just a skin condition whether it's surface hardness or incidental and attractive ephemera. I prefer the look of an old bruise to a nasty case of eczema. When it gets to the point of looking like somebody's been zapping the frame with a heliarc, I'd say it looks like sh7t (aesthetics) and is sh7t (metallurgy).
jack
