1989 Submariner

[SubbySub]

Im pretty sure this is real, but why is the pearl yellow-ish? can that happen?

My dad passed away and I found this buried deep in his closet. He would never buy fakes. He was a wealthy man.

[Tools]

Tritium lume ages and darkens, it should not be a real surprise.

None of the tritium parts are matched so will age at different rates.

[SubbySub]

Originally Posted by Tools

Tritium lume ages and darkens, it should not be a real surprise.

None of the tritium parts are matched so will age at different rates.

thanks for answering, but i mean the pearl at the top.

[Tom1675]

Originally Posted by SubbySub

thanks for answering, but i mean the pearl at the top.

He was speaking about the pearl, hands and plots on the dial and letting you know that the aging you see on your dad's watch (pearl included) is consistent, even though it has aged to different colors.

[SubbySub]

Originally Posted by Tom1675

He was speaking about the pearl, hands and plots on the dial and letting you know that the aging you see on your dad's watch (pearl included) is consistent, even though it has aged to different colors.

Ah ok. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Old Expat Beast]

All good. Here's a pic of one of mine, similar age to yours, taken about ten years ago.

[SubbySub]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

All good. Here's a pic of one of mine, similar age to yours, taken about ten years ago.

wow. looks very similar!

[NikitG]

From age,fully normal.

[kegan]

Here’s one more for you U serial 16600 from approx. 1997


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kegan]

Also it’s been said that many of the watches of this age may have luminova dials even though they are marked as tritium. It seems possible that inserts could be mis matched from the factory.

[Filipão]

Originally Posted by kegan

Also it’s been said that many of the watches of this age may have luminova dials even though they are marked as tritium. It seems possible that inserts could be mis matched from the factory.

You can easily check if pip, hands and plots react the same way to UV.

Those transitional dials (production leftovers marked T lumed with Luminova) do exist and IMHO make a perfect tool watch.

They're called "tritinova" in Rolex slang, here's mine:

[ExplorerI]

Yeah looks real don’t see any problems with it. That lume dot coloration is very normal.

If it’s been sitting in a drawer for years it’s probably time to get it serviced. If you send it to Rolex you’ll probably have to specifically request they don’t swap out that bezel insert with the aged pip on it.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by ExplorerI

Yeah looks real don’t see any problems with it. That lume dot coloration is very normal.

If it’s been sitting in a drawer for years it’s probably time to get it serviced. If you send it to Rolex you’ll probably have to specifically request they don’t swap out that bezel insert with the aged pip on it.

RSC swapped the pip on mine and kept the original bezel insert.

I had the dial and hands swapped out during service, too, but I had bought it with a damaged service dial and hands anyway, and being a late 1980s model, it came out looking pretty much original, but with Swiss on the dial and full lume.

[ExplorerI]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

RSC swapped the pip on mine and kept the original bezel insert.

I had the dial and hands swapped out during service, too, but I had bought it with a damaged service dial and hands anyway, and being a late 1980s model, it came out looking pretty much original, but with Swiss on the dial and full lume.

Nice yeah I just think it makes sense to do all tritium or all luminova. Kind of off if they don’t go together. Also weird to have some of it glowing but not others in the dark. This one’s all tritium. Bought it with tritium hands and dial but had to source a tritium insert.