Question about tritium, re-lume and luminova

[pteryx]

Hi,

I've a 1967 meters first 5513 sub and i'm curious about the lume.

By its age, it should be a tritium

In thick darkness without prior 'charging' with light, - the second hand and hour markers light up very faintly, so this is consistent with tritium - the hour and minute hands do not light up.

In darkness after charging with light - the second hand and hour markers light up strongly (compared to having no prior charging), but fades away quickly within 2 minutes - the hour and minute hands do not light up at all

Now, my question is

1) Does tritium "charge" with light exposure? Even for a short period. I've read accounts that say tritium does not 'charge' at all, and some say that tritium does become more luminescent for just a while after a charge
2) When RSC re-lumes, can they relume a tritium marker with luminova?
3) My watch hour markers/second hard are disparate from the hour hand/min hand.
4) PS: The pip does not lume at all, so probably a dead tritium

Thanks in advance!

[Tools]

1. Tritium is not the Lume, it is the "battery". The Lume is phosphorescent paint and it may excite by light, but only for as long as the light is on. The tritium in the paint matrix emits beta radiation that excites the paint, but when it is gone, no battery.

2. RSC does not re-lume, they replace the dial with a Luminova dial.

3.

4. Probably.

[pteryx]

Originally Posted by Tools

1. Tritium is not the Lume, it is the "battery". The Lume is phosphorescent paint and it may excite by light, but only for as long as the light is on. The tritium in the paint matrix emits beta radiation that excites the paint, but when it is gone, no battery.

2. RSC does not re-lume, they replace the dial with a Luminova dial.

3.

4. Probably.

Thanks!
Useful to know that RSC does not "relume" tritium markers with Luminova.

I meant, for (3), is it common for disparity between the dials and hands?

[roh123]

1967 sports watches usually glow. Without seeing your watch it is impossible to say if it is relumed or not. Just by your description it sounds normal.

[pteryx]

I've attached two images, hopefully it helps

Webp.net-resizeimage (1).jpg

Webp.net-resizeimage.jpg

[roh123]

It is not relumed with Luminova at least. I think it is the original lume. It does however look a bit water damaged judging by the color and the stains.

[waspy1]

From those 2 pics, I wouldn’t touch it. It looks correct for the year and although the lumes are a little uneven it’s very good for a 52 year old watch. Usually I’d expect all the dial markers and hands to glow a little after charging with light on this age of watch.


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