![]() ![]() I normally apply 1-2 light coats to get the desired coverage. The liquid material is applied to the underside of the hands and left to dry. The mixing process is done in this glass bowl, you just sprinkle out some of the color then add some of the liquid, mix it up with an oiler and you are ready to go. ![]() It is a sticky liquid that is mixed with the luminous powder that is applied to the hands. The liquid bottle on the right is the catalyst agent. ![]() Below are 3 colors, bright green, light green and white. The luminous material comes in a few different colors. The material is normally very easy to remove, using a light brush will remove the old material very quickly. The first step is to remove all of the old luminous material and clean the hands as best possible. Below is a sample set of hands with cracked and missing luminous material. Replacing the luminous material on a set of hands is not a difficult project. The company patented the technology in 1992, making Timex one of the few producers of analog watches with this type of lume Timex Indaglo How to replace the luminous on watch hands Timex’s Indiglo is the most notable use of this type of luminescence in an analog watch. At the press of a button, an electric current is delivered, causing the phosphor to react, acting as a backlight. In a watch, a glass or plastic panel is coated with an electric conductor and a phosphor, then is mounted behind the dial. Luminox with tritium gas tubesĮlectroluminescence is the production of light as a result of an electrical current passing through a phosphor. However, with a half-life of just 12 years, after about 24 years only a quarter of the radioactive material is left thus, tritium gas tubes glow dull enough to require replacement. A handful of watchmakers are known today for using tritium gas tubes, like Ball, Luminox and Marathon - specifically for tool watches, because their luminescence doesn’t fade away after a few hours like Super-LumiNova. Though still radioactive, the gas poses less risk than tritium paints by way of its being encapsuled. The tritium gas undergoes beta decay, which releases electrons, causing the phosphor to glow. Essentially, tritium in gas form is encapsulated in borosilicate glass that has been internally coated with a phosphor layer. Tritium has made a comeback of sorts, though not as a paint. Swiss brand Super-LumiNova, founded in the early ’90s, brought the method into the mainstream and today is one of the largest suppliers. The downside, compared to radioactive materials, is the longevity of the glow in the absence of light - the glow usually only lasts about seven hours or so in darkness. This non-radioactive material is painted onto hands, numerals and dials, then glows in the dark by absorbing light then re-emitting light. Pigments based on photoluminescent material (like strontium aluminate) are what are most commonly used for watch lume today. In the early 1990s new even safer alternatives - still used today - took its place. Tritium is significantly less radioactive than radium, meaning it was safe enough to be painted onto watch dials for decades. Another radioactive material started to be used at this time. Watches with Radium on Dial and Hands “The Radium Girls”īy the 1960s the amount of radium used in watch dials was one-hundredth the amount used in the early 1900s in 1968 it was banned altogether. Unfortunately this material was highly radioactive and was a major health issue for the workers that applied the paint at various watch companies.įor more info, read my blog post on the “Radium Girls” This material would glow an entire night, making this a real advantage in early watches. Originally the hands were treated with radium which is a radioactive substance that was painted on the hands. Luminous watch hands have been in use since around 1910. ![]()
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