660ft-200m
11-02-2010, 07:45 PM
http://www.newturfers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4862 (http://www.newturfers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4862)
After reading this above article on TURF about a dial that was switched out I dug up some information regarding the Lume:
Direct quote from the Oysterinfo:
"For vintage lovers the "correct" luminous material is an important criteria for purchasing a watch. Like other manufacturers, over the years Rolex has used different kinds of luminous material on the dials, hands and the bezel pearl on rotating bezels. For a watch collector it is important that the luminous material corresponds to the year of production of the watch and that, whenever it is possible, the same luminous material is present on dial, hands and bezel pearl - and even more so has the same color or toning."
"Until end of the 50s the luminous material contained radium. Afterwords it was replaced by tritium, which is more weakly radioactive. Starting from 1998, supported by laws, Luminova, a non radioactive material, was introduced. Somewhat later (2000) an improved version was introduced - Superluminova. The advantage of the early luminous materials containing radioactive material was their self luminosity. On the other hand, their disadvantage was that their radioactive decay after some years rapidly reduced the amount of luminosity."
"Today only a few late manufactured watches can be found with their tritium material still functional. Most tritium watches do not shine any longer. Luminova and/or Superluminova always shines, but must be ‘charged’ before it will shine by exposing it to a strong source of light. Luminosity decreases quickly with the time in the dark. It is initially brighter than a new tritium watch but fades as the stored energy from exposure to the light source is used without further replenishment. Dial printing allows us to easily identify which material is used:"
SWISS
http://www.oysterinfo.de/de/images/leuchtmasse_radium.jpg
luminous material Radium
used until 1960
radioactive
SWISS - T<25
http://www.oysterinfo.de/de/images/leuchtmasse_tritium1.jpg
luminous material Tritium
used from 1960 until 1998
radioactive, radioactivity less than 925 MBq (25 mCi)
T SWISS T
http://www.oysterinfo.de/de/images/leuchtmasse_tritium2.jpg
luminous material Tritium
used from 1960 until 1998
radioactive, radioactivity less than 277 MBq (7,5 mCi)
SWISS
http://www.oysterinfo.de/de/images/leuchtmasse_luminova.jpg
luminous material Superluminova
used from 1998 until 2000
not radioactive
SWISS MADE
http://www.oysterinfo.de/de/images/leuchtmasse_sl.jpg
luminous material Superluminova
used from 2000
not radioactive
The above is a direct quote used from Oysterinfo.
What I have learned:
To put Lume into a nut shell:
Luminova: Nemoto, a Japan based company developed this for the lume on watches. This is used on Rolex watches from about 1998 until present. This is the safe lume used today. Since it is new no one knows if it will age like the other lume Rolex used.
Tritium: This was used on Rolex watches from 1960 to 1998 when it was banned. This was also radio-active. 12 year shelf life on the lume. This will change color with time, making it awesome looking.
Radium: This was used on Rolex watches until 1960. Due to risk of cancer (of people applying Radium to the dials and yes they did have people get cancer from this) they quit using this. This was radio-active. This will change with time, making it awesome looking.
The dial:
Based upon the evidence from what I have collected, changing a dial/hands in any way, weather it be a new lume, re-painted, re-placed, touched up, on a vintage watch is not recommended as it will affect the value of the watch, and if you replace the dial with one from another year, a WIS can spot the change real fast. The only way to repair a Rolex watch with a damaged dial is to: leave it alone if at all possible, replace it with the exact year, checking the old dial to the replacement on every exact detail or it will not work.
Sellers:
Their are sellers who will re-paint a dial and add COMEX, Tiffany, something important, or a red line to make the dial more valuable and some naive buyers do not know the difference and pay big bucks for a worthless dial. Worst case is the dial is fake, so you have to do your homework on the dials and hands or you will be taken advantage of. One trick the sellers have used is "cooking a dial/hands" to brown the lume and make it look old using a toaster oven. I saw this and it does work except the dial looks fake a mile away. Another trick that I just heard about and did not see the outcome is using tea to make the lume dark.
Rolex repair:
Rolex does not care about vintage, they will put a replacement dial/hands on a vintage watch just to bring it back to looking new again. Some people can make a strong request not to replace the dial/hands and Rolex will comply most of the time, if not say good by to the dial and hands.
Exposure:
The lume on the watches before 1998 would change due to exposure to the elements. If a dial has been sitting in a drawer and not exposed to the light it will not show the change like one used every day.
This is a great article on the watch lume history:
http://ulyssenardin.watchprosite.com/show-nblog.post/ti-399346/
This is the article I used quoted from Oysterinfo
http://www.oysterinfo.de/en/detailinfos/leuchtmasse/index.php
After reading this above article on TURF about a dial that was switched out I dug up some information regarding the Lume:
Direct quote from the Oysterinfo:
"For vintage lovers the "correct" luminous material is an important criteria for purchasing a watch. Like other manufacturers, over the years Rolex has used different kinds of luminous material on the dials, hands and the bezel pearl on rotating bezels. For a watch collector it is important that the luminous material corresponds to the year of production of the watch and that, whenever it is possible, the same luminous material is present on dial, hands and bezel pearl - and even more so has the same color or toning."
"Until end of the 50s the luminous material contained radium. Afterwords it was replaced by tritium, which is more weakly radioactive. Starting from 1998, supported by laws, Luminova, a non radioactive material, was introduced. Somewhat later (2000) an improved version was introduced - Superluminova. The advantage of the early luminous materials containing radioactive material was their self luminosity. On the other hand, their disadvantage was that their radioactive decay after some years rapidly reduced the amount of luminosity."
"Today only a few late manufactured watches can be found with their tritium material still functional. Most tritium watches do not shine any longer. Luminova and/or Superluminova always shines, but must be ‘charged’ before it will shine by exposing it to a strong source of light. Luminosity decreases quickly with the time in the dark. It is initially brighter than a new tritium watch but fades as the stored energy from exposure to the light source is used without further replenishment. Dial printing allows us to easily identify which material is used:"
SWISS
http://www.oysterinfo.de/de/images/leuchtmasse_radium.jpg
luminous material Radium
used until 1960
radioactive
SWISS - T<25
http://www.oysterinfo.de/de/images/leuchtmasse_tritium1.jpg
luminous material Tritium
used from 1960 until 1998
radioactive, radioactivity less than 925 MBq (25 mCi)
T SWISS T
http://www.oysterinfo.de/de/images/leuchtmasse_tritium2.jpg
luminous material Tritium
used from 1960 until 1998
radioactive, radioactivity less than 277 MBq (7,5 mCi)
SWISS
http://www.oysterinfo.de/de/images/leuchtmasse_luminova.jpg
luminous material Superluminova
used from 1998 until 2000
not radioactive
SWISS MADE
http://www.oysterinfo.de/de/images/leuchtmasse_sl.jpg
luminous material Superluminova
used from 2000
not radioactive
The above is a direct quote used from Oysterinfo.
What I have learned:
To put Lume into a nut shell:
Luminova: Nemoto, a Japan based company developed this for the lume on watches. This is used on Rolex watches from about 1998 until present. This is the safe lume used today. Since it is new no one knows if it will age like the other lume Rolex used.
Tritium: This was used on Rolex watches from 1960 to 1998 when it was banned. This was also radio-active. 12 year shelf life on the lume. This will change color with time, making it awesome looking.
Radium: This was used on Rolex watches until 1960. Due to risk of cancer (of people applying Radium to the dials and yes they did have people get cancer from this) they quit using this. This was radio-active. This will change with time, making it awesome looking.
The dial:
Based upon the evidence from what I have collected, changing a dial/hands in any way, weather it be a new lume, re-painted, re-placed, touched up, on a vintage watch is not recommended as it will affect the value of the watch, and if you replace the dial with one from another year, a WIS can spot the change real fast. The only way to repair a Rolex watch with a damaged dial is to: leave it alone if at all possible, replace it with the exact year, checking the old dial to the replacement on every exact detail or it will not work.
Sellers:
Their are sellers who will re-paint a dial and add COMEX, Tiffany, something important, or a red line to make the dial more valuable and some naive buyers do not know the difference and pay big bucks for a worthless dial. Worst case is the dial is fake, so you have to do your homework on the dials and hands or you will be taken advantage of. One trick the sellers have used is "cooking a dial/hands" to brown the lume and make it look old using a toaster oven. I saw this and it does work except the dial looks fake a mile away. Another trick that I just heard about and did not see the outcome is using tea to make the lume dark.
Rolex repair:
Rolex does not care about vintage, they will put a replacement dial/hands on a vintage watch just to bring it back to looking new again. Some people can make a strong request not to replace the dial/hands and Rolex will comply most of the time, if not say good by to the dial and hands.
Exposure:
The lume on the watches before 1998 would change due to exposure to the elements. If a dial has been sitting in a drawer and not exposed to the light it will not show the change like one used every day.
This is a great article on the watch lume history:
http://ulyssenardin.watchprosite.com/show-nblog.post/ti-399346/
This is the article I used quoted from Oysterinfo
http://www.oysterinfo.de/en/detailinfos/leuchtmasse/index.php