Actually for me it's not so much about the patina as the build and details. The collars, the sleeve shape and seam construction. While the patina is certainly eye catching, the sum total of the build is also far more appealing than the modern derivatives.
I guess with the bigger variability in construction you see in older jackets, you have those that feel just "right". Probably those made by the machinists with a better sense of proportions.
You will after all only pick the jackets with the proportios that appeal to you once you have gone through as high a number as you did