Alchemist relumer uk

[996marty]

Just wondered has anyone used the services of the Alchemist relumer in the Uk? I need a dial redoing but he never responds to any emails sent.From what I’ve seen the feedback for his work is good,hopefully someone can help.

[Mark020]

Top knotch quality. I'll send you his mobile number by PM

[lupus66]

busy man

[MorningTundra]

Best in the business. Try DM via his insta…

[1675-David]

As my father used to say “if you want something done ask a busy man”

[dbhak22]

James is a fine gentleman. Excellent work and such a nice and cordial person.

[SignotheTimes]

[QUOTE=SignotheTimes;12369970]A nice compilation…



IMO, Sorry, but the Vintage Rolex Field Manual is under copyright. Please remove my post #6

[swaini3]

He was responsive on Instagram. Try that.

[Xeramic]

[QUOTE=SignotheTimes;12369970]A nice compilation…

LINK REMOVED

IMO, this is under the copyright of MorningTundra and may not get posted here.

Greetings,
Xeramic

[996marty]

Thanks for everyone’s input I have managed to contact him and look forward to checking out his work

[PVR]

Keep in mind that the lume James uses is Lacquer based, not water based like original lume. It will not react the same way tritium does under UV light. So, while cosmetically it will look excellent and far better than a dial void of lume, it will not pass as an original lume job to anyone who knows vintage.

I have seen his work and it is excellent.

[TuRo]

Originally Posted by SignotheTimes

A nice compilation…

That is a really good research source thanks v much !
Edit - Oh I just saw the other comment by Gerhard. MODS might want to remove it.

[ravenhome777]

Originally Posted by PVR

Keep in mind that the lume James uses is Lacquer based, not water based like original lume. It will not react the same way tritium does under UV light. So, while cosmetically it will look excellent and far better than a dial void of lume, it will not pass as an original lume job to anyone who knows vintage.

I have seen his work and it is excellent.

I am still dumbfounded why original tritium lume cannot be applied to a dial. If Rolex applied this lume for 30 years, there should be a restorer who can reproduce tritium lume to reapply to a dial, no? I don't think it's rocket science. Maybe I'm wrong.

Also, if I remember correctly, I believe I have seen recipes for creating tritium lume floating around on the internet. An amateur chemist could probably produce this stuff quite easily.

[TuRo]

Interesting one this. I've never in 45 years of watch interest, ever thought about having a watch relumed - I've had hands retouched occasionally, but I've never retouched a dial, it seems so risky and fraught with likelihood it wouldn't pass muster come resale.
No criticism intended, just a broad observation.

[MorningTundra]

Originally Posted by pauldavidthorpe

Interesting one this. I've never in 45 years of watch interest, ever thought about having a watch relumed - I've had hands retouched occasionally, but I've never retouched a dial, it seems so risky and fraught with likelihood it wouldn't pass muster come resale.
No criticism intended, just a broad observation.

He’s been doing it for quite a few years now, and his work is understandably controversial. Ironic given he’s a pretty grounded low key guy with a full time day-job. He’s very popular among the vintage Omega crowd. His work falls under the umbrella of “vintage dial restoration” as opposed to full-on refinishing. His work is very sympathetic to the eye.

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by ravenhome777

I am still dumbfounded why original tritium lume cannot be applied to a dial. If Rolex applied this lume for 30 years, there should be a restorer who can reproduce tritium lume to reapply to a dial, no? I don't think it's rocket science. Maybe I'm wrong.

Also, if I remember correctly, I believe I have seen recipes for creating tritium lume floating around on the internet. An amateur chemist could probably produce this stuff quite easily.

What is typically done is to recycle old tritium lume by grinding it up and resuspending it in binder, with pigment as necessary. There are various restoration shops that do this, especially for hands. Fewer people want to mess around with dials, since it's riskier.

A good polymer chemist could certainly create tritiated polymer binder, but it would not be trivial or inexpensive in small quantities. And it would require reagents that may fall into protected categories.

[ravenhome777]

Originally Posted by Dan S

What is typically done is to recycle old tritium lume by grinding it up and resuspending it in binder, with pigment as necessary. There are various restoration shops that do this, especially for hands. Fewer people want to mess around with dials, since it's riskier.

A good polymer chemist could certainly create tritiated polymer binder, but it would not be trivial or inexpensive in small quantities. And it would require reagents that may fall into protected categories.

If someone were to gain a reputation as a "true" dial restorer, and restore dials with actual tritium lume as was originally used, it seems that they could charge a premium for this service, and they would have endless work. The upfront cost of creating a batch of true tritium lume may be worth it for the prices a shop could charge. I am just speculating here. Perhaps the cost of producing true tritium lume is astronomical, but perhaps not. Rolex seemed to be somewhat thrifty in the early days, so it was not cost prohibitive for them. Also, many other watch makers of the era were producing tritium lume. I have inexpensive Swiss Army watches from the 1990s that have tritium lume applied to the dial. Of course, Swiss Army was producing watches in mass quantity, as was Rolex, so it might be a different financial equation for them.

I contemplated making a batch of true tritium paste myself. A DIY project. I collected a couple recipes on how to make it, but never got around to it.

[Dan S]

LAWW will relume hands with tritium lume, either vintage or new/hot. Not cheap either way, but more expensive for the hot tritium. I don't know if they do dials. As I noted above, there is a lot more risk with a dial, and it's more of an art.

[springer]

There is one guy reluming dials in California and from what I have heard, prices can be as much as $10,000 to relume the dial based on the watch model. Of course the problem with reluming dials, as everyone is probably aware of, is that many end up being sold as original which creates a problem for collectors.

[Mark020]

Originally Posted by pauldavidthorpe

Interesting one this. I've never in 45 years of watch interest, ever thought about having a watch relumed - I've had hands retouched occasionally, but I've never retouched a dial, it seems so risky and fraught with likelihood it wouldn't pass muster come resale.
No criticism intended, just a broad observation.

My SM 300 went from this:

to this:

[TuRo]

Originally Posted by Mark020

My SM 300 went from this:

to this:

Ah yes I can see why repairing someone's terrible work is worth it defo...it looks very good.
My comment was on original but pitted/cracked/chipped lume.... I've always just cleaned it and left it as is.

[Mark020]

Agreed but if it is really bad already I am (now(!!) in favor of fixing it

[lupus66]

my 5513 had lume scrapped. now this.

[PVR]

Originally Posted by springer

There is one guy reluming dials in California and from what I have heard, prices can be as much as $10,000 to relume the dial based on the watch model. Of course the problem with reluming dials, as everyone is probably aware of, is that many end up being sold as original which creates a problem for collectors.

That guy in California charges $20,000 to relume a dial, not 10,000