5513 hands Question

[jlovda]

Back last August I had my 204xxxx 5513 overhauled and have been wearing it everyday. I got a new little Canon camera and decided to try out the macro function. I was really surprised to see two spots on the hour hand. I should point out that I noticed the hands are darker than the dial and have been this way for quite a few years. Is it too risky to wear the watch now due to flaking lume? For vintage watch like this am I forced to put the original hands in a drawer and try to find replacements on TRF or ebay? Will reluming the hands really reduce the value? If I had them relumed can the colors be matched as a dentist does with teeth? Any comments would be appreciated. Note, my little camera is green and its color is reflected onto the hands.

Thanks

5513 hands.JPG

[swish77]

I'd try to preserve the hands as is. There are techniques that good vintage watchmakers use to stabilize the tritium from the back to help prevent further flaking. They can also repair the areas that have already flaked off with color-matching material, but that is a personal preference on whether or not a repair is more desirable than leaving it as is. In addition to the flaking, there looks to be serious shrinkage on the hour hand. The minute and seconds hand presumably will have similar problems eventually.

Value-wise, I'm not too sure if leaving alone or a repair has more of an impact, but it's relatively minimal either way, I would think. As an alternative, tritium hands can be sourced as replacements, but matching the dial patina is always tricky and they are getting more and more expensive.

I'd contact Bob Ridley or another vintage watchmaker mentioned often on this forum about your options for stabilizing and/or repair.

Good luck!

[Dan S]

Yes, it would be a good idea to have the lume stabilized. Anything beyond that would just be a matter of personal taste.

[jlovda]

I just noticed something from my picture. I can see a portion of the "O" on Rolex by the shrunk portion of the lume. I was always under the impression the lume was deposited into a depressed cup. Are all the hands hollow? Is the lume a hardened paste like epoxy that is only held in by the edges?

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by jlovda

Is the lume a hardened paste like epoxy that is only held in by the edges?

Correct, that's usually the case. You will often see hands that have lost their lume, and they are just skeletons (you've probably seen this many times if you think about it). Thus, as Aaron mentioned, lume can be stabilized by applying a thin layer of binder/lacquer on the back side.

[athom]

Originally Posted by jlovda

Back last August I had my 204xxxx 5513 overhauled and have been wearing it everyday. I got a new little Canon camera and decided to try out the macro function. I was really surprised to see two spots on the hour hand. I should point out that I noticed the hands are darker than the dial and have been this way for quite a few years. Is it too risky to wear the watch now due to flaking lume? For vintage watch like this am I forced to put the original hands in a drawer and try to find replacements on TRF or ebay? Will reluming the hands really reduce the value? If I had them relumed can the colors be matched as a dentist does with teeth? Any comments would be appreciated. Note, my little camera is green and its color is reflected onto the hands.

Thanks

Attachment 1109735

Is it too risky to wear the watch now due to flaking lume? Good question I'm asking myself.

Will reluming the hands really reduce the value? For sure

If I had them relumed can the colors be matched as a dentist does with teeth? In any case, the purpose of reluming is that it looks perfect and matches with the dial.

Would also really appreciate to know if it's risky or not.

[Dan S]

Is it risky to use the watch? Yes, of course it's somewhat risky. The lume is clearly not held securely in the hands. Will it fall out tomorrow, next month, next year, or 10 years from now? No one can say. How lucky are we feeling?

To really complicate matters, the lume could also be damaged when the watchmaker removes the hands. It's an old watch, stuff happens.

[pnorell]

Originally Posted by jlovda

Back last August I had my 204xxxx 5513 overhauled and have been wearing it everyday. I got a new little Canon camera and decided to try out the macro function. I was really surprised to see two spots on the hour hand. I should point out that I noticed the hands are darker than the dial and have been this way for quite a few years. Is it too risky to wear the watch now due to flaking lume? For vintage watch like this am I forced to put the original hands in a drawer and try to find replacements on TRF or ebay? Will reluming the hands really reduce the value? If I had them relumed can the colors be matched as a dentist does with teeth? Any comments would be appreciated. Note, my little camera is green and its color is reflected onto the hands.

Thanks

Attachment 1109735

I have the same spot on the hour hand of mine