Caring for Vintage Dials and Hands (lume)

[effovex]

Hi All,

Thought I’d ask the vintage folks:

What is the best way to preserve and prevent further deterioration of tritium lume dials and hands?

I would love to pick up a vintage sub with tritium dial and hands however, is it inevitable that the lume will continue deteriorating and eventually fall off? Is there a way to prevent this/slow it down?

Will there always be a chance with tritium lume that a slight bump or knock on the watch case with break off the lume?

Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

[Dan S]

The lume in the hands can be stabilized by applying binder from behind, and I have experienced more damage associated with hands than dials, so I would definitely recommend that.

Stabilizing the lume on the dial is possible, but generally is not aesthetically pleasing, so it's not done very often.

Other than that, you want to avoid the ingress of moisture and minimize disturbance. Have the watch serviced as necessary, but remember that it is an old watch and be careful with it. Every time the watch is opened and the movement removed, something can happen. Most of the damage that has occurred to my old watches happened during service/repair, and I assure you that I don't use cut-rate or inexperienced watchmakers.

If the dial is in good condition, I don't think that a "slight" bump is likely to damage the lume, but everything deteriorates over time, and there are no guarantees with old watches. I have owned many vintage watches, and I'm not going to lie, damage does occasionally occur.

IMO, the best approach is to collect dozens (or hundreds) of watches, so if one gets damaged, it's not such a big deal. ;-)