Tritium Under Black Light

[42itus]

First, I'll take pictures when I get home. I just thought of this and wanted to post it.

I have a question about tritium and how it glows under black light. I have a 5513 that is supposed to be all original. Under black light, the markers and hands all look the same and with a loupe you can see the little flecks. However, the second hand glows a different color, it's kind of blue and not flat white like everything else. Under normal light the second hand looks like everything else. But the second hand does not glow. Does this mean that the second hand was re-lumed?

Again, I'll take pictures later but I was wondering if there is an obvious answer to this.

[Zhaodan920]

Looking forward to seeing the photos. Based on your desc - it sounds like a luminova replacement second hand to me. To clarify are you saying the second hand glows blue under UV? Also - how long does it linger after the UV is gone?

Could be either luminova or tritium but if it's not behaving like the rest of the markers (which sounds correct to me) then very likely a replacement part.

[42itus]

Originally Posted by Zhaodan920

Looking forward to seeing the photos. Based on your desc - it sounds like a luminova replacement second hand to me. To clarify are you saying the second hand glows blue under UV? Also - how long does it linger after the UV is gone?

Could be either luminova or tritium but if it's not behaving like the rest of the markers (which sounds correct to me) then very likely a replacement part.

Obviously I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure it's not luminova. Under UV it looks like luminova but under normal light it looks just like the hands and markers and it doesn't glow at all after the UV. My first thought was that it was a re-lume to match the original tritium but I'm wondering why it glows blue under UV.

[Juhuatai]

It's not luminova. It would glow under regular light if it was luminova. Photos will help.

[swish77]

You want to see tritium that is uniform and even under a UV/blacklight. There can be slight variances, but nothing drastic, which could indicate it's not factory original.

If you have one hand that looks very different under UV, that could be a sign of color-matching (assuming that hand doesn't glow).

Here's my 5512 (3.7 million) and my 1665 DRSD (4.1 million) under black light. Note that the tritium is completely dead, with no glow, once the UV light is pulled away.

[42itus]

Originally Posted by swish77

You want to see tritium that is uniform and even under a UV/blacklight. There can be slight variances, but nothing drastic, which could indicate it's not factory original.

If you have one hand that looks very different under UV, that could be a sign of color-matching (assuming that hand doesn't glow).

Here's my 5512 (3.7 million) and my 1665 DRSD (4.1 million) under black light. Note that the tritium is completely dead, with no glow, once the UV light is pulled away.

Thanks. I agree and I think it’s safe to say that it’s not original but I’m wondering why it glows blue. I’ll have pictures up later today and then you guys will probably figure out what’s going on.


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[springer]

The hand glowing "blue" has probably been relumed or repaired. Vintage tritium doesn't last forever and is very fragile. I would worry less about what it is - since it doesn't appear to be original post 1968 tritium - and enjoy the watch.

As a footnote, a wrote post 1968 tritium since bassed on my experience, the tritium found on the sport models before 1968 glowed green with sparkle effects under a blue light instead of white like that found on later tritium dials/hands.

[Costa Rakaro]

IMG_20191228_183622.jpg

[42itus]

Thanks John and everyone else for replying. Yeah, I love my watch and this doesn’t bother me one bit. I just thought I would learn more about it. It’s obvious that it isn’t original, just wondering why it’s blue. It looks green in these photos but it’s blue when I look through the loupe. Sorry for the poor photos, I need a proper light.




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[mbc]

Here’s my 1970 5513 under UV Light. Note uniform response under the light...




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[1watch]

I see what you mean. Looks to me like it was a color match relume at some point. If it bugs you, there are ways to get it relumed with tritium. I don’t think having the hands addressed is in the same category as reluming a dial, which I would not recommend.


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[42itus]

Originally Posted by 1watch

I see what you mean. Looks to me like it was a color match relume at some point. If it bugs you, there are ways to get it relumed with tritium. I don’t think having the hands addressed is in the same category as reluming a dial, which I would not recommend.


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Thanks for your input. It doesn’t bother me.

So.... if a dial has been relumed will it possibly glow blue/green like my second hand? How do you identify a relume under black light?


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[1watch]

Originally Posted by 42itus

Thanks for your input. It doesn’t bother me.

So.... if a dial has been relumed will it possibly glow blue/green like my second hand? How do you identify a relume under black light?


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Under a loupe the plots should all have a similar aged and texture/color appearance. I personally don’t have experience with reluming on my watches. From what I understand, you could see a different reaction if some plots were relumed once the UV is pulled away in that they would not all be instantly dead. However, some of the older models from the 60’s had tritium that glows briefly. On those models the plots should all fall off at the same rate. If they glow for some time like a modern luminous watch, then I would suspect it’s been relumed.


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