Somewhere in the first year, a dark patch appears and the question arrives: is this character or a problem?
Run through the checklist.
Where is it? Patina lives on the outside, where flame meets metal. Darkening at the base and lower walls is the fire writing its diary. Damage shows up anywhere, often as spots or rings nobody can explain.
Does light catch it evenly? Patina shades gradually, blending into the surrounding metal. Corrosion-style damage arrives as distinct patches with edges, usually where something sat wet for weeks.
Is the surface still smooth? Patina is a colour layer, texture unchanged. Damage you can feel: pitting, roughness, flaking.
Does the inside lining care? It doesn't. Outside patina has zero effect on cooking. The only interior change that matters is bare metal showing across the lining, which is renewal territory, not danger.
Used well, peetal darkens and deepens for decades. That record of meals is the point of owning the real thing.
Split view of an evenly darkened patinated base beside a smooth polished rim on one vessel.