1958 6605 Hands Glowing

[1945Datejust]

I would have read the title and said impossible but it's not. Several weeks ago my wife and I were on a Panama Canal cruise and while taking off my watch one night something caught my eye. The hands on my Datejust were glowing! Now I've had this watch for 4 years now, so I think I know it pretty well. It's a family heirloom so the history is pretty solid. I'm 99% sure that the dauphine hands are original to the watch. Also, always assumed that they were "radium" illuminated and had long since gone dark. Did the higher UV the watch was exposed to somehow activate the lume? I'm back home in Houston and it happened again last night. No adult beverages were involved so I can trust my eyes on this. Any ideas?

[linesiders]

First - photos to tell if relumed or not.

Second - yes, perfectly acceptable if original lume. Not all do but many do.

[seattleal]

Are you saying it glows weakly after exposure to light, or are you saying that it glows very weakly on its own when you look at it in the middle of the night with dark adapted eyes?

I have a '63 1803 with what appear to be radium lumed dauphine hands that still do the latter, and this is not the first radium lumed watch to do that. The 6536-1 I used to own did as well.

[1945Datejust]

Thanks for the responses. The watch was not exposed to UV for the purpose of a lume check. Merely worn like it has been since I've had it. Normal sun exposure. This behavior was observed with dark adjusted eyes. As far as I know it's not been relumed. I'm having some difficulty getting the pics I have adjusted down to the size the forum likes. If it helps, Tommy Taylor, R.W.T., had this on his bench 2 years ago and he never mentioned a relume. Think he would have as we discussed this watch in detail.