Question about Luminova on new SS SUB with Date Z series

[docmfg]

Hello to all. I am new to this forum. I have recently purchased my first Rolex, a Z series SS Sub with date. My question is about the illumination form the Luminova. When I come in from the outside on a sunny day the illumination is very strong but eventually fades. It is hard to tell time in the middle of the night. I researched the forum and some have said that the illumination had been improved on the newer watches. Do you guys thinks this is a warranty issue or is this weak illumination normal for a watch that is less than 2 weeks old.
Thanks.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Welcome to TRF!

That is quite normal with Superluminova

Here is a little story about Superluminova and its predecessor, Tritium.

I assume you would know about the qualities of Tritium? Tritium was used up until about 1998. The dials with Tritium would be marked "T SWISS T" at six o'clock.

The "T's" in mean Tritium which is a mildly radioactive substance (beta waves) that has a halflife of approx. 12-13 years. Tritium did not glow on its own, but via phospher paint that acted as a catalysator the the Tritium to glow.

Tritium would "degrade" (due to its radioactive halflife cyclus) and would after about 12-13 years hardly glow at all.

SuperLuminova, however, has (as far as we know until know since 1998!) no degression in terms of glow, but needs light to glow, and tends to glow for a shorter period (during the night/in the dark, not in terms of any "halflife") than Tritium did.

In this link you can read more about luminousity of Rolex dials: Luminous Material. CLICK TO READ!

[wandyprawira]

The illumination on that model and other models, except the ones with maxi dial, just sucks. No, you can't make a warranty claim about it because it's just what it is (due to design limitation). Even if it's replaced by a new set of markers but of the same type, it will be just like that.

[docmfg]

Thank you. I am new to the world of Rolex and can tell you the more I read the threads in this forum the more watches I want to purchase, but must fight the temptation for now. I read somewhere on the internet that when you wind a Rolex it should not make any clicking sounds. When I wind my Sub I can hear very fine clicks and even feel them. I would assume this is normal? BTW I purchased my watch at a Ben Bridges.

[wandyprawira]

Clicking is absolutely normal. That way we know that we're winding.

Btw, welcome to the forum. However, the longer you stay the lesser your bank statement balance everytime you see it.

[JCirillo]

Welcome - clicks normal when winding, you got the real deal if you bought it at BB, no worries.

I have same watch, lume sucks. My 12 year old Omega SMP glows better. But it aint a rollie....

welcome to TRF

[Tools]

Welcome to TRF.

Don't sweat the small stuff....life's too short..

Enjoy one of the premier icon watches in the world..

[jhelms]

Agreed, the lume on my ~5y/o sub performs much the same.

I have a super luminova video in my signature that I did a couple of months ago also...

[mike]

Originally Posted by docmfg

Hello to all. I am new to this forum. I have recently purchased my first Rolex, a Z series SS Sub with date. My question is about the illumination form the Luminova. When I come in from the outside on a sunny day the illumination is very strong but eventually fades. It is hard to tell time in the middle of the night. I researched the forum and some have said that the illumination had been improved on the newer watches. Do you guys thinks this is a warranty issue or is this weak illumination normal for a watch that is less than 2 weeks old.
Thanks.

Hey doc,
Most of the "improvement" comes from the increased surface area as opposed to the smaller markers found on the current sub series.
As has been stated luminova needs an outside source to "charge" as opposed to the older tritium dials. The best source generally is felt to be UV rays.
Older trit. dials either T SWISS T or SWISS T<25 (less that 25 milicuries of tritium --beta radiation) were "always on".
NOTEWORTHY; trit. dials were composed of three components.
1. tritium--the exciting agent.
2. phosphors--the glow part.
3. the bonding agent--about 90% of what you see.
While tritium indeed has a half-life of about 12.5 years or so, Many feel that over the years Rolex played with the mixture. Many collectors experience glow from vintage pieces 35 to 40 years old and older. Interestingly this occurs more with gloss dialed watches prior to Rolex's move to the matt dialed pieces .
When one compares standard luminova dials vs. maxi-dials the difference in surface area is apparant.


More interesting is the difference in the mixture from one brand to another.

Omega vs, Rolex maxi,

[ron17402]

Originally Posted by mike

Hey doc,
Most of the "improvement" comes from the increased surface area as opposed to the smaller markers found on the current sub series.
As has been stated luminova needs an outside source to "charge" as opposed to the older tritium dials. The best source generally is felt to be UV rays.
Older trit. dials either T SWISS T or SWISS T<25 (less that 25 milicuries of tritium --beta radiation) were "always on".
NOTEWORTHY; trit. dials were composed of three components.
1. tritium--the exciting agent.
2. phosphors--the glow part.
3. the bonding agent--about 90% of what you see.
While tritium indeed has a half-life of about 12.5 years or so, Many feel that over the years Rolex played with the mixture. Many collectors experience glow from vintage pieces 35 to 40 years old and older. Interestingly this occurs more with gloss dialed watches prior to Rolex's move to the matt dialed pieces .
When one compares standard luminova dials vs. maxi-dials the difference in surface area is apparant.


More interesting is the difference in the mixture from one brand to another.

Omega vs, Rolex maxi,

Great pics!!! I was wonderiong the same thing about lume on my 116710.

[Solar]

Originally Posted by Tools

Welcome to TRF.

Don't sweat the small stuff....life's too short..

Enjoy one of the premier icon watches in the world..

Too true. Don't sweat the small stuff. That said, I find the lume on both my Z series Rolexes is very bright and that if I go to bed at 23:00 and get up at 05:00, I can easily read the dial.

Just me.

Chris

[SSD]

My 16610 is the same way as Chris'. The new Z-series lume seems to be brightest at lights out, then settles in for the rest of the night. I'm sure the dark-adaptation of our eyes playes a part, but your lume sounds just fine. Welcome to TRF, enjoy the classic Rolex of all time. It seems our hobby's already got ya good!

[alglez]

OMEGA glows nicer then rolex!!!

[BiG JeEzY]

The lume on Rolexes are indeed bright but very short. In about an hour, my watches lose almost all their lume when I charge the lume then leave the watches in a dark area afterwards.

Its okay though, usually I turn to my cellphone to get the time in dark areas. However when I watch a movie at a theater, the lume is almost faded but I can still make out the time using the brightness of the movie screen.

[nimm12]

if you are overly-concerned about brightness of the indices , get a Ball watch , they glow like crazy