Luminova, SuperLuminova and Chromalight

[Asumer]

I had a technical question which I couldn't find the answer to and maybe some forum members may know.

Basically I am wondering how long luminova, super luminova and chromalight will last for, tritium is known as only having a shelf life of 12 or so years. I know the non-radioactive newer alternatives last alot longer but am curious how long.

And I have heard that the oldest of the trio - luminova does not shine as long as it originally did when purchased new. Curious what owners of all three can expect for nighttime dial reading and if and when they would need to be serviced to restore the original glow(brightness and duration).

[referencetwenty8]

I, too, would love to know this answer!

[JMGoodnight369]

You’re right that the older luminova dials tend to die down after a while but we’re talking about 25-30 years. Super luminova however lasts a very long time. Chromalight is just a Rolex branded combination of super luminova pigments to get the particular blue/green color. Which from what I’ve read on here is a particular shade on the color spectrum so our eyes pick it up easier in low light. It lasts as long as the green super luminova but it appears brighter because of the color. As for how long it lasts I don’t think anyone really knows yet. Just have to wait a decade or two and see what the deterioration rate is if there is one.

[Devildog]

Technically they should last for longer than you will as they have no half life degradation


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[Tools]

Luminova, Super Luminova, and Chromalight are all the same basic compounds.

Super Luminova is simply a name change when they began producing lume in the Swiss factory from the Japanese factory. Chromolight is Rolex name for the blue coloring, they didn't reinvent lume.

The actual paint itself has been on street signs and exit signs for decades. It should last for centuries since the actual activation source is light, not depleting self activation like tritium.

Luminova.jpg

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Asumer

I had a technical question which I couldn't find the answer to and maybe some forum members may know.

Basically I am wondering how long luminova, super luminova and chromalight will last for, tritium is known as only having a shelf life of 12 or so years. I know the non-radioactive newer alternatives last alot longer but am curious how long.

And I have heard that the oldest of the trio - luminova does not shine as long as it originally did when purchased new. Curious what owners of all three can expect for nighttime dial reading and if and when they would need to be serviced to restore the original glow(brightness and duration).

There has been discussion around this on the forum from year's ago at around the time Chromalite was introduced.
Historically, people have been quick to denigrate Rolex lume without giving due consideration to the volume of lume which seems to be a critical factor as to how long it glows throughout the night. I assume this is what you are referring to, though I note you mention the half life of the old Tritium which was commonly in use until the late 90's.

Anecdotally, I can say I've had them all and can only comment on my own observations which started at the introduction of each and every new type of lume Rolex has introduced.
My observations were simply comprised of lining the watches up beside each other at the time of switching the lights out at night and observing them at various times throughout the night as I randomly woke up and rolled over to have a look.
Upon commencing my little practical test, I shone a flashlight directly at each individual watch for a period of 10 seconds with Chromalite being first, Superluminova second, Luminova third and Tritium being last. This was in order to favour the least effective examples.
My last Tritium watch(now sold) was always well off the pace after only a few years old despite being in pristine condition.
The results were to be as expected throughout the night with a notable decline in luminosity beginning within the first 20-30 seconds after switching the lights out.
And it should be noted all the Rolex watches were of the same reference(16570) with the exception of the Chromalite example which gave it a natural advantage with it being a DSSD and an early Superluminova Kermit(flat "4").
There was a relatively new legendary Seiko diver thrown into the mix for comparison along with an Omega diver.
The early Kermit was disappointing despite the larger lume plots and handset. As lume is important to me, it was sold off
The results still stand for all intents and purposes.
The longest lasting was Chromalite by a generous margin though it should be noted it wasn't necessarily the brightest initially, but I also attribute that to the blue colour, but it's longevity throughout the night was vastly superior regardless.
The Seiko and Omega were roughly on par, followed by Superluminova the Luminova and 3 year old Tritium which lagged so far behind it wasn't even in the race.

As to the lifespan of the lumes.
Tritium is well known by now even though there were ludites back in the day that were adamant the world was a seriously diminished place without it. To be fair Rolex Luminova was better than diminished Tritium but was a little disappointing when compared to the Omega and Seiko offerings back in the day. Superluminova was a welcome incremental improvement but no great leap forward.

All the modern lumes are not known to be diminished or deteriorated in any way from their original capability over the years.
The bar has been raised with each new type of lume with bar graphs published/available on the net to illustrate.

I should also note that I purchased(new) 2 examples of Chromalite lume approximately 5+ years apart of the same reference(116660) DSSD.
Their performance was absolutely identical throughout the night when compared side by side with the same informal test methodology, except the flashlight was moved between the two watches so that neither was appreciably advantaged before turning out the light for the night.
The Omega diver is long gone.
The Seiko is still around here somewhere, but I honestly expect no change. It was good but not outstanding overall like Chromalite

I think one can tell i have had a bit of an interest in these things over many decades spanning the Tritium era through to these modern times

Happy to discuss further.
I hope this helps

[Gab27]

As others have noted, the lifespan is in decades and the speed in which it degrades is extremely slow.

I believe over time the output does decrease some as the material wears, but it's really slow provided the watch remains water resistant/sealed. 15+ year old watches with it will still generally appear new to the eye.

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Tools

Luminova, Super Luminova, and Chromalight are all the same basic compounds.

Super Luminova is simply a name change when they began producing lume in the Swiss factory from the Japanese factory. Chromolight is Rolex name for the blue coloring, they didn't reinvent lume.

The actual paint itself has been on street signs and exit signs for decades. It should last for centuries since the actual activation source is light, not depleting self activation like tritium.

Attachment 1258019

Tritium is not self activating as found in Rolex dials of later vintages with their reduced radioactivity.
It still requires a degree of "exitation" from a light source to be truly effective.
I think it has been categorised as a Beta emitter or something.
Actually the last time I looked right into it was 20 odd years ago.

Naturally, Tritium tubes are superior but they still degrade to eventually become ineffective.
As we are 20+ years down the track from when Luminova was introduced with no real evidence that it actually degrades in terms of performance, we are pretty well placed to make reasonable assumptions by now.
But even if we slapped a quick and dirty 40 year figure on it, that would be respectable performance

[Dirt]

Originally Posted by Gab27

As others have noted, the lifespan is in decades and the speed in which it degrades is extremely slow.

I believe over time the output does decrease some as the material wears, but it's really slow provided the watch remains water resistant/sealed. 15+ year old watches with it will still generally appear new to the eye.

Agreed