Reluminizing 16800 Sub hour/min/second hands in the UK

[aalkazemi1990]

I took my 1982 16800 submariner to RSC in Kuwait, and despite assurances there will be be no changes in the watch appearance they "cleaned" the hour/minute/seconds hands, obliterating the patina. This is driving me crazy.

I am going to be in London for around a month in September. Is there anywhere in the UK you can recommend (similar to International Watch Works) that will relume the watch hands?

Or should I just accept the watch as-is and move on with my life?

Attached is watch pic pre and post service.

Thanks guys.

[TimeToGo]

.
James Hyman - impressive work there

https://www.alchemistrelumer.co.uk/

[aalkazemi1990]

Will do, thanks!

[swaini3]

Originally Posted by aalkazemi1990

I took my 1982 16800 submariner to RSC in Kuwait, and despite assurances there will be be no changes in the watch appearance they "cleaned" the hour/minute/seconds hands, obliterating the patina. This is driving me crazy.

I am going to be in London for around a month in September. Is there anywhere in the UK you can recommend (similar to International Watch Works) that will relume the watch hands?

Or should I just accept the watch as-is and move on with my life?

Attached is watch pic pre and post service.

Thanks guys.

Hi,
Looks like they changed your hands, not clean them.

[aalkazemi1990]

Originally Posted by swaini3

Hi,
Looks like they changed your hands, not clean them.

They assured me that they didn't change them, and that there would have been a charge to change them. Look at the attachment, the hands still look pretty old.

[swaini3]

Compare the thickness/ shape of the shown areas, I see a difference. Maybe its the pictures, but I have gotten corrosion cleaned off hands before, they scrape it off lightly without using anything that will change the color of the lume. It's also possible that they put back the wrong hands because as you say, they are old and have signs of wear.

[aalkazemi1990]

I’m not sure what I can do about it if they did. The watchmaker at RSC insists they just cleaned the hands to restore the intended glow. There is no independent watchmaker in Kuwait legit enough to do the service so I’m stuck with RSC. Lesson learnt tho, in the future I will have my other vintages taken care of overseas by a legit independent watchmaker.

[Filipão]

Are you sure they're still T?

[aalkazemi1990]

Not sure tbh. They glow like crazy, a lightsaber level glow. But they look old as hell too. Probably relumed with a white SLN. I believe they are the same hands. Too many consistencies with the wear/corrosion if I compare photos pre and post service.

[CF999]

James H is the solution!

[Styles Bitchley]

My limited understanding of tritium is that the luminous properties are directly proportional to time. No amount of “cleaning” will restore its ability to glow. Could they have relumed without telling you? Maybe the tritium crumbled during the cleaning process and they “fixed” by using new lume…

[aalkazemi1990]

Originally Posted by Styles Bitchley

My limited understanding of tritium is that the luminous properties are directly proportional to time. No amount of “cleaning” will restore its ability to glow. Could they have relumed without telling you? Maybe the tritium crumbled during the cleaning process and they “fixed” by using new lume…

Highly likely that this is what happened in my opinion as well.

[TimeLord2]

Do they glow now? if that is the case then yes, replaced. The corrosion also seems to have miraculously disappeared.

[aalkazemi1990]

Originally Posted by TimeLord2

Do they glow now? if that is the case then yes, replaced. The corrosion also seems to have miraculously disappeared.

The hands on the watch aren’t new. Would they put on used hands?

[aalkazemi1990]

https://ibb.co/QprsrL2

A better shot of the hands.

[jim.cannataro]

Like others have said there is absolutely no way to remove patina. They clearly relumed the hands or put new ones on for some reason maybe they damage they damaged the loom while we're moving them and tried to cover up their error.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[Tools]

Originally Posted by aalkazemi1990

Not sure tbh. They glow like crazy, a lightsaber level glow. But they look old as hell too. Probably relumed with a white SLN. I believe they are the same hands. Too many consistencies with the wear/corrosion if I compare photos pre and post service.

Tritium hands that old don't glow, and you cannot "clean" them to restore any glow, that's not how it works.

If they now "glow like crazy", they are newer Luminova hands, exactly as they appear.

[aalkazemi1990]

Originally Posted by Tools

Tritium hands that old don't glow, and you cannot "clean" them to restore any glow, that's not how it works.

If they now "glow like crazy", they are newer Luminova hands, exactly as they appear.

I honestly did not expect to be taken for a ride by a certified RSC. Lesson learned.

[Styles Bitchley]

Originally Posted by aalkazemi1990

I honestly did not expect to be taken for a ride by a certified RSC. Lesson learned.

Have you questioned them about this? What did they say?

[faimag]

It is surprising however that the "new" hands don't look new. In fact they look similar to the old but cleaned. But I have never heard of RSC reluming or cleaning old hands. What is happening here?!

[aalkazemi1990]

Originally Posted by Styles Bitchley

Have you questioned them about this? What did they say?

They asked the watchhmaker, and he claimed “all he did was clean the hands”.

I just called them and explained that what he said is basically the equivalent of “after I bathed the Turkey it turned into a chicken”.

They gave me the number of the corporate head of the service center, I will speak to him in two days to get clarification.

[aalkazemi1990]

Originally Posted by faimag

It is surprising however that the "new" hands don't look new. In fact they look similar to the old but cleaned. But I have never heard of RSC reluming or cleaning old hands. What is happening here?!

Something very shady.

[springer]

Originally Posted by aalkazemi1990

Something very shady.

I think what we have is a lot of "smoke and mirrors" going on here.