Patina deepens over time.

[julianf]

Homebase garden center -

 

[Seadog]

I saw exactly the same thing today at our local HB. It was up on a rack so I couldn't work out what it was. I still don't know

 

[Farside]

I think it's supposed to be a weathered kind of verdigris look, not a piece of rusty old crap.
If they'd managed to palm them off on some mugs ... ahem... sell them to discerning customers in time, they would now be quietly mouldering away in the corners of some gardens or patios and the owners would be gushing about the 'patina'.
Instead of which, they now look like a pile of scrap in Steptoe's yard.

 

[anto44]

I hate the word patina from watching those antiques shows
"Oh isn't the patina on this piece magnificent"
No mate its not, someone left it in a shed with a leaky roof and it's rusting to bits.

 

[rtcosic]

My then new next door neighbour acquired a rather spiffy cast iron lamp standard and was wire brushing the last of the paint off it.

I volunteered to set up a temporary electrolytic bath to de-rust it for him. His wife wanted it in bare rusty 'finish'. "Lacquer or oil?" I asked. "No need" he said.
(apologies to our resident artist in steel)

The top fell off in a recent high wind.

I didn't laugh. Much.