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9 April 2020, 09:55 AM | #1 |
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How does a UV light affect old dead tritium?
I thought it would make it sparkle or "twinkle" lightly but watches that used to show some sparkle under an older black light, now don't show any reaction but i'm also using a newer black light that is looking more purpe/blue than the uv light i used to use..... or am I mis-remembering?
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9 April 2020, 10:08 AM | #2 |
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Sometimes some older Tritium's will react, sometimes not.
It's all a cr__p shoot. My Oyster Perpetual Date from 1987 shows no more glow, not even the slightest, under the strongest of UV light. It died off many years ago.
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9 April 2020, 10:17 AM | #3 |
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thanks - both watches are @ 50 yrs old, and i could have sworn the tritium on one would sparkle, not light up, just kind of show twinkles like stars in the night but i got zero response using a new UV light - my old one seems to burn out the batteries in < five seconds
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9 April 2020, 12:49 PM | #4 |
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My 82 shines bright white under UV, but it doesn't glow at all when the light is turned off.
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9 April 2020, 01:08 PM | #5 |
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I don't think a UV light will activate Tritium?
It could activate residual phosphor in the original mix as small specks or a faint short glow?
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9 April 2020, 02:07 PM | #6 |
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it might well be that's what i recall seeing - but old age and C.R.S. are a helluva combination
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9 April 2020, 02:45 PM | #7 | |
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With my 68 7016 it was mentioned one check for original hands would be those flecks under UV. Is this what you mean in the picture? Can see them on the dial/hands on early snowflakes. I had to use a UV under a loupe to see them. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk |
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9 April 2020, 11:59 PM | #8 |
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I will have to look at mine more close under a loupe in UV. I don't recall seeing crystals. This is an early 80s watch. My guess is that Rolex could have modified their tritium recipe over the years. They have a philosophy of continually improving upon watch technology, so it wouldn't surprise me if their recipe for tritium changed over the years.
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10 April 2020, 12:51 AM | #9 | |
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Here's my DRSD under UV. Completely dead when the UV is removed, of course. |
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10 April 2020, 01:26 AM | #10 |
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Is about the mix not the trit. Twinkles are normal around 68. Dead or full glow on uv also possible depending on the mix they were using. 63-70 they did a lot of experimenting with the lume mix.
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10 April 2020, 02:13 AM | #11 | |
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10 April 2020, 07:05 AM | #12 | |
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My loupe, somewhere along the line, developed a short in it where it "eats" the small button batteries in about 5 seconds from installation BIG Thanks for that loupe shot and reminding me to use a loupe took about 35 shots, but this was the best i could grab with a small auto camera - it did not like focusing on the loupe |
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10 April 2020, 01:23 PM | #13 |
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That sparkle is really cool!
My watch looks more like Swish77's under UV. Bright white light, then dead when UV is removed. |
10 April 2020, 02:15 PM | #14 | |
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Great minds and all....I responded to PM. My 7016 is a black dial though. I do have a 94010 with a blue dial though. Cheers, Chris Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk |
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10 April 2020, 02:18 PM | #15 |
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10 April 2020, 02:32 PM | #16 |
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the issue is i'm techonologically retarded - the owner's manual for my new camera is 308 pages - i've learned the camera, maybe 10% of it's capabilities.
Now i need to research how to turn off the "post focus" feature. THe post focus is a neat feature that when you take a shot, the camera automatically takes 2 - 5 seconds of shots in a burst, each shot focusing on a different point, and then merges them into the final image - great for adding depth of field to macro shots, but i can't figure how to turn it off to manually focus the damn thing on the loupe. That shot i caught only because i went back to my old canon powershot and got that pix after about 35 shots. I've decided tomorrow to go back thru the owner's manual for my new camera (Panasonic Lumix 10) |
11 April 2020, 12:36 AM | #17 | |
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11 April 2020, 02:38 AM | #18 |
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well, if you see a real man with nothing to do, send him over........ I'm not even halfway thru the manual and have already gone thru 4 aspirin
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11 April 2020, 02:54 AM | #19 |
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11 April 2020, 06:56 AM | #20 |
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heck of an idea - thanks
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11 April 2020, 07:27 AM | #21 |
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My 69 1680 has no glow at all guess I’ll have to invest in a black light to try
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11 April 2020, 08:02 AM | #22 |
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be sure to go with a loupe as well, i went thru two blacklights without seeing any sparkle. It was BrazenC5's post reminding me of the need for the loupe
i used a 10X and believe anything stronger will be too difficult to catch a pix thru. My shot above was with a 10X loupe and a black light flashlight here's the one i just ordered https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Main reason, all these cheap chinese loupes seem to go south - last one i had to fail, ie the 2nd one developed some sort of short where a new set of batteries (3 button batteries) burn up in about 5 seconds of use. At least the one above, has a backup loupe in case one fails FWIW |
11 April 2020, 03:08 PM | #23 |
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My old 1675 had completely dead lume as well and I had half thought it was relumed that way.
But man, now I need to get a loupe and try my black light again. Good suggestions! |
15 April 2020, 02:49 AM | #24 |
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just rcvd the two loupes I linked to above, and the flat one works really nice with a decent power UV light. Now the question will be durability
the other one, the all metal teardrop shaped loupe, is 40X, and is usable but you really need to position it in a small vice above the dial to hold it steady at exactly the right distance - it's enough of a headache focusing the camera on the viewing side of the loupe's lens, it's not fun when the loupe is moving. FWIW |
15 April 2020, 10:40 AM | #25 |
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while it was easier to position and focus the camera, even with the new loupe catching the right shot showing the sparkles took quite a few shots to get one really definitive
, and just a suggestion if anyone is ordering that loupe i linked to or any chinese loupe - go ahead and order replacement batteries while you're at it. Took me just over an hour to take the shots tonite, and ended up with dead batteries in the loupe so i had to recruit the wife unit to hold the UV flashlight. You might consider ordering one of the cheap UV flashlights as they use AAA batteries and seem to last longer here's the flashlight i'd gotten https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 at $10 for 2 flashlights, they even came with batteries installed |
12 October 2023, 02:47 PM | #26 |
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Sorry for resurrecting an older post but this topic fascinates me. The Rolex Tritium era ran from 1964 – 1997. The mixture process was Tritium, which is in its natural gas state, is then infused with a solid, then ground to a fine powder and then mixed with phosphorescence zinc sulfide. Zinc sulfide on its own will glow very briefly after being hit with a UV light but then fades rapidly after the light source is removed. In Tritium luminous compound, the radioactive decay bombards the phosphorescence zinc sulfide produces a continues glow. The caveat is from the moment the compound is mixed and applied, Tritium starts to lose it radioactivite decay reaching a half life after 12.5 years. Now, one would think a 1994 Submariner being more than 25 years old would not glow at all however I find even today that many even early 90's sports models can still be seen in the dark after your eyes adjust. It’s very faint but you can still see the remaining radioactive decay at work charging the zinc sulfide. What is perplexing to me is Singer, who made dials for Rolex, seems to have used two different types of radioactive luminous compounds. One that would glow after hit with a UV light but rapidly fade after the light source is removed like my two 1970’s Datejust’s and my 1980 Air King with the other like my three 1990’s sports models which do not react to any light source at all including a UV light yet you can see the very faint glow in pitch dark after you eyes adjust.
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12 October 2023, 06:51 PM | #27 | |
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As well as the (Circa +/- 1 year) the very well-known 1967 ZS dials that are very bright.....nearly all 70's 37.5 mm Daytonas lume up strongly, as do many Datejusts and a lot of DayDates! And I have had a few 90 Subs that had the fag-end of luminosity too, as you have noted. So clearly different manufacturing materials and processes were used.
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