Luminous hands and dial

[johnybrecks]

Hi all, just bought my GMT MASTER II and expected the luminous parts on dial and Hands to show bright however not so, is there something I can do tho improve this, if diving the watch would be useless as you could not see it to tell the time.
Ideas please?.

[travisb]

It needs to be exposed to direct light for a bit to get a good bright glow.

[matsarge]

I normally check my watches by shining a flashlight directly on it for a couple of minutes and in a room that will be pitch dark when I turn the light off(ie no windows). If its not bright after that, you have a problem and probably need to have it looked at. My Sub lights up pretty well, is the GMT new or used?

[padi56]

Originally Posted by johnybrecks

Hi all, just bought my GMT MASTER II and expected the luminous parts on dial and Hands to show bright however not so, is there something I can do tho improve this, if diving the watch would be useless as you could not see it to tell the time.
Ideas please?.

Well first the GMT is not really a diving watch as it has a bidirectional bezel. And no luminescence would glow underwater on any watch unless you charged it with a very strong light mainly because once you past 10m only the blue spectrum light exists.And if you had a light source with you underwater then there would be no need for luminescence as your light source you were carrying while underwater would illuminate the dial. And when diving in daylight in clear water its not a problem to read any watch dial 60m below surface same for depth gauges computer and other equipment etc.And when using a dive watch like a sub you would just line up the bezel marker to wherever the minute hand was on the dial,then you could check the lapse time while underwater.But in general Rolex lume is not the best its mainly down to small hour markers and thin lume hands.The more total lume surface area the brighter the glow,less surface area not so bright glow its that simple, but lume is not needed on any watch underwater.

[johnybrecks]

Originally Posted by matsarge

I normally check my watches by shining a flashlight directly on it for a couple of minutes and in a room that will be pitch dark when I turn the light off(ie no windows). If its not bright after that, you have a problem and probably need to have it looked at. My Sub lights up pretty well, is the GMT new or used?

Three weeks old at most.

[johnybrecks]

Originally Posted by padi56

Well first the GMT is not really a diving watch as it has a bidirectional bezel. And no luminescence would glow underwater on any watch unless you charged it with a very strong light mainly because once you past 10m only the blue spectrum light exists.And if you had a light source with you underwater then there would be no need for luminescence as your light source you were carrying while underwater would illuminate the dial. And when diving in daylight in clear water its not a problem to read any watch dial 60m below surface same for depth gauges computer and other equipment etc.And when using a dive watch like a sub you would just line up the bezel marker to wherever the minute hand was on the dial,then you could check the lapse time while underwater.But in general Rolex lume is not the best its mainly down to small hour markers and thin lume hands.The more total lume surface area the brighter the glow,less surface area not so bright glow its that simple, but lume is not needed on any watch underwater.

Many thanks for the info, I would NOT be diving in my pride and joy, but will expose it to more sun light.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by johnybrecks

Many thanks for the info, I would NOT be diving in my pride and joy, but will expose it to more sun light.

Then if you do not plan to dive I find your quote below statement in your post a bit strange (if diving the watch would be useless as you could not see it to tell the time.)

[johnybrecks]

Originally Posted by padi56

Then if you do not plan to dive I find your quote below statement in your post a bit strange (if diving the watch would be useless as you could not see it to tell the time.)

Just used that as an example, I am out a lot at night ( shooting ) so would like to know the correct time at a glance

[padi56]

Originally Posted by johnybrecks

Just used that as an example, I am out a lot at night ( shooting ) so would like to know the correct time at a glance

Well at night when hunting I would have thought you would of had some-sort of torch with you even artificial light if bright enough will charge the lume on watch.

[johnybrecks]

Originally Posted by padi56

Well at night when hunting I would have thought you would of had some-sort of torch with you even artificial light if bright enough will charge the lume on watch.

Yea ok we will drop this one I think.
I wonder why some watches glow more than others without the dial and hands looking any different than each other, anyway we'll end it there I think Thanks.

[Castor]

I sometimes wear my watch to bed and stopped because the glow can wake up my wife!

[Tools]

Originally Posted by johnybrecks

Yea ok we will drop this one I think.
I wonder why some watches glow more than others without the dial and hands looking any different than each other, anyway we'll end it there I think Thanks.

Some brands are well known for their lume.. I think that lume is more for marketing than reality. Some dive watches make a big deal about using tritium in tubes so they always shine, but as Peter said, if you're diving in the dark, you better have a light for your tanks and almost never rely on a watches lume, you shine the light at whatever you want to look at.

So too, even out at night to the movies and such, you can almost always find a light source to see your watch face..

It's kind of fun to poke at the lume, or it's lack of, on Rolex, but it's seldom way up on anybodies list of must-haves when buying a Rolex.

I did get my aging dad a Seiko with a push button to light the dial - I wonder if Rolex will ever do that..

[The Relumer]

lume rocks my world , its a usefull feature on any watch , telling the time in complete darkness

[Rogdogg]

I really enjoy the lume on my watch (ExII216570). I thinks it's fun to watch it change in all different lighting situations. For example on the drive home from work, passing under a bridge, the lume will light a lovely blue colour for a second or 2 and then back to daylight. Even in low light, daylight situations, it seems to change as I walk in and out of shadows or different light situations etc. I think it's fun to look at. I love the blue against the white face.