T SWISS MADE T dial but Luminova?

[116710er]

Hey guys, quick question, did Rolex ever produce "T SWISS MADE T" marked dials that were actually Lumiova and NOT a service dial? I just picked up a OysterQuartz DateJust with this configuration. It's a 1998/1999 model so I believe that was right at the Tritium/Luminova transition. From what I've read, it would seem possible that Rolex used existing pre-printed dials and applied Luminova as they were transitioning to "Swiss" only or "Swiss Made" printed dials.

I'm fairly sure it's Luminova as it charges nice and bright with any light but it seems to die within an 30 minutes to an hour. After it dies out, in pitch blackness, there is absolutely no glow (I even used a 10x loupe to look at the dots and hands). I point this out because I've also read that there might be some odd Tritium mixtures that Rolex used so who knows, maybe it is actually Tritium. When I hit with my UV light, the lume looks like the newer blue Rolex lume but when I take away the UV, it glows green. In daylight, the lume looks more or less white (no "patina" at all).

Ack, I just remembered, I should look at it through my NVG's to confirm that isn't any sort of illumination coming off it after a few hours. I'm assuming that if it's Tritium from 1998/1999, there should be at least some low level glow as it should be at about 1/4 value assuming 10-12 year half-life.

I'm not concerned in any way, I'm just curious about it.

[Andad]

Do you have any pix?

[Hub6152]

It’s Tritium. If it was SL there would be a visible glow in pitch dark.

[Dan S]

It sounds like SL to me, but honestly the difference should be quite apparent in-person, so you would know best.

[116710er]

Originally Posted by Hub6152

It’s Tritium. If it was SL there would be a visible glow in pitch dark.

Actually, I think the reverse would be true. If it was Tritium, it would still have some life left in it and in pitch darkness it should still give off a glow (as it's self-generating lume). Luminova, after some time will eventually die completely until it's recharged.

Well I check this morning in a pitch black closet with my NVG's and there absolutely no glow. So I'm going to go with it being Luminova.

Now the questions is, how did Luminova end up on a "T SWISS MADE T" dial. My guess are:

1) Old Stock dial used during Luminova transition at Rolex.
2) Service Dial
3) Re-lumed but if this is the case, it was done absolutely perfectly (as in OEM perfect) as far as I can tell using a 10x loupe.

Either way, I'm actually happy that it's Luminova as I've seen DateJust tritium dots degrade (and fall off) and that's just not a good look on DJ's.

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by 116710er

Now the questions is, how did Luminova end up on a "T SWISS MADE T" dial.

There are already lots of good threads about this. I can try to dig some links up later, but a forum or google search should give you an answer.

[base924]

Yes, during the transitional period, Rolex put Luminova on some of the dials marked t-swiss-t. I had a Pepsi U-series like this. Came like this from the factory for sure!

[116710er]

Originally Posted by Dan S

There are already lots of good threads about this. I can try to dig some links up later, but a forum or google search should give you an answer.

Yeah I did that first but the ones I found were long threads and most of them didn't have a clear answer, or they were service dials (my OQ has never been to Rolex for service so I assumed it wasn't a service dial...of course, it could have been serviced outside of the network and received a service dial that way as I know Rolex was little more lax with parts in the past) or they were asking which marking would be the correct dial for year of the watch ("T SWISS T", "T SWISS MADE T", "SWISS", etc.)or the thread veered off onto something else. I figured someone here might have a quick answer...which leads me to...

Originally Posted by base924

Yes, during the transitional period, Rolex put Luminova on some of the dials marked t-swiss-t. I had a Pepsi U-series like this. Came like this from the factory for sure!

Thanks Base924! Just want to get confirmation that this combo was indeed a real possibility.

[springer]

Yes you can find luminova on tritium marked swiss t 25 dials. Not very common but it happened.

[116710er]

Originally Posted by springer

Yes you can find luminova on tritium marked swiss t 25 dials. Not very common but it happened.

Thanks for the info Springer!

[116710er]

Ok just to put an "official" cap on this, I had to visit my local RSC today to pickup an extra link and just for fun, I decided to ask them about the dial. I figure they weren't going to tell me anything useful but they took it back to one of their watchmakers and they verified that it is indeed a mixed transitional dial (Luminova lume on a Tritium marked) and "from the factory" correct for this A serial Ref. 17000.