Rolex Lume - YIKES!

[Numismatist]

YIKES! My old Mickey Mouse Citizen Eco-drive has FAR better lume than my brand new Rolex Does...

Rolex lasts about 1/2 hour, Citizen went for 5 hours.

[Adam K.]

Don't know what to tell you there--my Milgauss glows quite well for hours--and is exceptionally brilliant when first "charged". Other Rolex Oysters Ive owned have been at least bright enough to see them in the wee hours of the morning.

Want REALLY crummy lume? Try the previous generation IWC Aquatimers! (new ones are quite awesome, however).

[MrMojo]

Since my joining of this fine forum this is probably the most reoccuring discussion Ive seen. And what amazes me the most is the difference among the same models. As the aboveposter states his milgauss glows for hours where as my milgauss glows very very faintly for about 5 minutes after 2 hours of charging in broad daylight.

It sure is interesting :D

[Colnago]

I think people's night vision varies a lot too which could account for this......I do not wear glasses and my eyes are pretty good.....my GMTIIc glows like a "goodun" for at least an hour, but even after 5 or 6 hours it still glows more than sufficiently to be able to read it if I wake up through the night.......one very odd thing I can report is that I have a 23 year old DJ (my avatar) and it has a Tritium dial....that's only supposed to last about 12 years...well I can still read it fine in the middle of the night, it still gives off some glow and it's enough for my eyes to see.....when it was new though...wow.....original Tritium dials back in their day were fantastic......24 hours a day glow with exactly the same intensity, even at dusk when you could still really see the watch they glowed, not quite on the same scale as a Super Luminova maxi dial glows when you take it indoors after it's been in direct sunlight...but still excellent....I wish they could manage to get Luminova to do this.....it's great initially but it does fade away through the night....the old Tritium dials were the best!!!

[Numismatist]

I'm sure this has been covered...

Can they re-charge the Lume at servicing - or do you buy a new dial if it really bothers you?

[rkb]

My Z Explorer 1 has quite a punch to the lume but past Rolex watches lost their staying power of even ceased to glow altogether. My older DJ and a ExpII of my dad's were perfect examples of this, no glow at all. By contrast my very old Tudor Sub glowed fairly strong from 1964 up until I sold it earlier in the year.

You guys may not want to hear this but IMO the best lume honors goes to Seiko. It's not the bright white paint that Rolex uses but you can use it to read by.

[Colnago]

Super Luminova apparently does not age much (if at all) so what you get now will continue......there was a post a few days ago enquiring how anyone thought patina would develop on the newer dials.....

[WatchSnob]

Adam
I have to disagree with you. I have the last generation IWC Titanitum Aquatimer Chrono and the lume kills any of my Rolex watches.
Lume has never been a strong point on watches but if you need serious lume look at Ball or Luminox. I have 2 Ball watches I really enjoy, one is worn for hunting and camping due to the never ending lume.

[R1@160@alltimes]

No lume issues with my Sub

[DRAWTOOL]

If I were in a cave without a flashlite, lume on my EXP-II is:
1. The least of my problems.
2. Not gonna save me.
3. Not even gonna comfort me.

[Numismatist]

Yeah, I don't really need it - just trying to soak up all the great collective TRF knowledge there is!

I find myself staring at my Rolex throughout the day, and wondering about every conceivable feature. Does this ever go away?

[SeamasterGMT]

The lume on my Deepsea is good but not as good as my omega.

[karmatp]

Yes, this has been covered many times and the consensus we always come to is Rolex lume blows. For the price point, Rolex has the worst lume, that is a fact.

If you want to see better lume, go to any watch dealer and close your eyes and pick another brand, the lume will glow much brighter and longer than any Rolex.

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by karmatp

Yes, this has been covered many times and the consensus we always come to is Rolex lume blows. For the price point, Rolex has the worst lume, that is a fact.

If you want to see better lume, go to any watch dealer and close your eyes and pick another brand, the lume will glow much brighter and longer than any Rolex.

Unfortunately true.
dP

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Numismatist

I'm sure this has been covered...

Can they re-charge the Lume at servicing - or do you buy a new dial if it really bothers you?

The lume is recharged by natural or artificial light only,you could like you say buy a new dial.But that would be quite expensive but Rolex lume is not the best but better now than it was.The lume IMHO is not all that important in my 30 plus years of wearing Rolex watches, you could count on one had the times I have ever needed it.Rolex watches in general have quite a small surface area on dial markers and hands thats why lume seems poor.The more surface area for markers hands etc the better lume performance like one of my Seiko divers below.

[Erix]

Originally Posted by karmatp

Yes, this has been covered many times and the consensus we always come to is Rolex lume blows. For the price point, Rolex has the worst lume, that is a fact.

If you want to see better lume, go to any watch dealer and close your eyes and pick another brand, the lume will glow much brighter and longer than any Rolex.

hear hear...I'd buy a new watch if the sub came out with tritium dials again.

[tthopp05]

The lume on the rolex is my only complaint.Why dont they FIX it.

[Mike B]

Originally Posted by tthopp05

The lume on the rolex is my only complaint.Why dont they FIX it.

Because many people are still buying thier watches with the lume as-is.
In a perfect world, sure, I think Rolex should absolutely fix their Lume problem. However, as long as they are making money, I don't see them changing it anytime soon

[valentine]

send me the rolex...Ill take it off your hands...

[Art 1]

Some of mine glow all night, others don't. In general the lume on Rolex watches does not seem to be that good. It's too bad really.

[Watchdog]

The lume on my GMTIIC TT is terrible. If I go to a movie, I might be able to tell the time for 10-15 minutes.

Sure, I would like it to blaze for 12 hours straight. But will it turn me off to Rolex? Nope.

[Boopie]

The lume on my Yachtmaster has never been a strong suit. It does fade out after, at most, 15 minutes. It never makes it through the opening trailers of a movie. On the other hand, I didn't buy the watch for that reason, so it doesn't bother me much.

[emagni]

Yeah, I guess the only annoying thing about this is that Rolex is perceived to be a tool watch at least in regards to their sport line. You would think that lume would be something they want to outshine other competitors with....no pun intended. But I guess that is what the diamonds and precious metal are for? ;-)