Should a 1978 Submariner still glow at night?

[datejustjohn]

Well my brother has a 1978 Submariner 1680 with original dial.
When he purchased the watch it was represented as being original and not having been restored.

After wearing it all day the markers and hands glow rather brightly at night. Why would that occur? We are thinking it may have been relumed. It looks original enough to us. He also has an 81 Submariner 16800 which does not glow at all, not even a little.

Is it possible that light is still exciting the lume on the original dial after all these years?

[andromeda160]

mine can be slightly charged but it goes away after 30 secondish, probably a service or relumed dial

[cop414]

It's possible but you'll probably never know if it's been relumed or redialed. If it's glowing brightly as you say I'd say there was an upgrade somewhere along the line.

[Vincent65]

my old ones still emit a little bit of a glow - the '66 gilt gmt much more so than the 1970 matte/red sub, and the 1990 tritium sd

[BaltimoreBrian]

My 1972 doesn't glow at all, but would love to see pics of that 78 glowing!

[jedly1]

all depends what you mean by glow .....if you mean walk into a room at night turn the light off and it shines green back at you then fades off ..its probably relumed or later service dial...(though this behaviour is quite normal for gilt dials)


if you mean , put in a dark room or go to bed, and after a whille as your eyes get used to the dark, you can see a faint but visable (even sometimes strong) constant glow ..its probably original and thats perfectly normal ..especially for late 70's rather than early 70 or early 80's

[GeoGio Greece]

Originally Posted by datejustjohn

Well my brother has a 1978 Submariner 1680 with original dial.
When he purchased the watch it was represented as being original and not having been restored.

After wearing it all day the markers and hands glow rather brightly at night. Why would that occur? We are thinking it may have been relumed. It looks original enough to us. He also has an 81 Submariner 16800 which does not glow at all, not even a little.

Is it possible that light is still exciting the lume on the original dial after all these years?

No to my opinion, physics and experience.

[swish77]

Can you post a couple of photos of the dial? There are some experts here who might be able to tell you just from photos whether the dial has been relumed, even without seeing the watch in the dark.

[bscepter]

the tritium dots on my '71 wide boy DJ still glow faintly in the dark.

[T. Ferguson]

Originally Posted by andromeda160

mine can be slightly charged but it goes away after 30 secondish, probably a service or relumed dial

You have the original tritium dial? The reason I ask is my understanding is the tritium lume is inherent to the material and that charging it has no effect.

Tritium has a half life of about 12 years, and supposedly the lume is essentially gone in about 20 or so. There must be some wiggle room in those numbers though because my W serial Sub (mid-90s) has no lume left but I've got tritium nite sights on another tool almost as old that still work very well.

[powerfunk]

Originally Posted by T. Ferguson

You have the original tritium dial? The reason I ask is my understanding is the tritium lume is inherent to the material and that charging it has no effect.

It's not true charging, per se, but the phosphors can temporarily become excited for a minute or so and give off a little bit of a "glow." To quote Tools from this thread: http://www.rolexforums.com/newreply....reply&p=852798

Originally Posted by Tools

Any incidental glow of the phosphors after the tritium has depleted only lasts a few minutes..

[Fredrik]

My -78 submariner with original dial and hands do not glow at all. I tried with UV and everything. I believe you have later service replacements.

Post a picture of dial and hands.

[ctek]

For reference, 1966 gilt with original dial after holding it up near the light ...

[ctek]

It does die down after about a minute but still glows faintly for a while after that...

[Tools]

Originally Posted by datejustjohn

Well my brother has a 1978 Submariner 1680 with original dial.
When he purchased the watch it was represented as being original and not having been restored.

After wearing it all day the markers and hands glow rather brightly at night. Why would that occur? We are thinking it may have been relumed. It looks original enough to us. He also has an 81 Submariner 16800 which does not glow at all, not even a little.

Is it possible that light is still exciting the lume on the original dial after all these years?

No, it is not likely.. Original tritium dials and hands glow the same all the time, not more brightly at some times than others, and a 30 year old dial would have very little glow left if at all.. Only Luminova glows brightly after being exposed to light all day.

Therefore, I would say that it is not an original dial..