swiss, not swiss made

[daunwaun]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting

take a look at this picture, below the 6 marker it says swiss. not swiss made. when did rolex do this

[llamaofdoom]

they made the transition from Luminova ("swiss") to Super Luminova ("swiss made").

[daunwaun]

Originally Posted by llamaofdoom

they made the transition from Luminova ("swiss") to Super Luminova ("swiss made").

thanks for the clarification!!

[BiG JeEzY]

Originally Posted by llamaofdoom

they made the transition from Luminova ("swiss") to Super Luminova ("swiss made").

Yes that is true. Watches from around the year 2000 that said swiss had luminova on them. The ones that have swiss made on the bottom are the ones that have superluminova.

The ones that have T swiss made T and swiss T<25 both have tritium on them which was used in for much of the late 20th century.

Back in the 1950s and some of the 1960s, watches also had swiss made written on the bottom because they used radium to make the hours and hands glow. Or I think that is what its called, I cant remember anymore. Radium was stopped right away though because it was HIGHLY radioactive.

[daunwaun]

Originally Posted by BiG JeEzY

Yes that is true. Watches from around the year 2000 that said swiss had luminova on them. The ones that have swiss made on the bottom are the ones that have superluminova.

The ones that have T swiss made T and swiss T<25 both have tritium on them which was used in for much of the late 20th century.

Back in the 1950s and some of the 1960s, watches also had swiss made written on the bottom because they used radium to make the hours and hands glow. Or I think that is what its called, I cant remember anymore. Radium was stopped right away though because it was HIGHLY radioactive.

Great info bud thanks

[Lobo]

Very usual watch.
Since 1959 tritium ( swiss T<25 ) replace radium, and since 1998 luminova ( only swiss ) replace tritium.
Best regards, Lobo.

[iflooru]

Originally Posted by BiG JeEzY

The ones that have T swiss made T and swiss T<25 both have tritium on them which was used in for much of the late 20th century.

To add...There were a batch of dials with the T swiss made T and Swiss T<25 that went through Rolex service around 2000 that were actually applied with Luminova.
I had my 1675 dial replaced in 2000 because of extensive moisture damage and it came back with a Swiss T<25 but it has Luminova, best of both I guess. Here is a pic:

[BiG JeEzY]

Originally Posted by iflooru

To add...There were a batch of dials with the T swiss made T and Swiss T<25 that went through Rolex service around 2000 that were actually applied with Luminova.
I had my 1675 dial replaced in 2000 because of extensive moisture damage and it came back with a Swiss T<25 but it has Luminova, best of both I guess. Here is a pic:

Brilliant picture there iflooru!!

Yes thanks for adding that point. If you service a watch with tritium on the dial, Rolex will likely have applied superluminova over it and perform a redial to the watch.

They did that to my 1675 GMT. It looks exactly the same as yours in the picture. Some people have been able to keep the tritium on the watch, especially those who are vintage collectors.

We both have the same watches iflooru, a GMT 1 and an Explorer II.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by daunwaun

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting

Click the below link to get an overview over the luminous markers used by Rolex:

Luminous materials used by Rolex and their according markings. CLICK!
take a look at this picture, below the 6 marker it says swiss. not swiss made. when did rolex do this

Luminous materials used by Rolex and their according markings. CLICK!

[timebroker]

The women that applied the radium in the early days all died from diseases because they would lick their fingers dunno exactly anymore why.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by timebroker

The women that applied the radium in the early days all died from diseases because they would lick their fingers dunno exactly anymore why.

Partly true

They licked the hairs of the paint brush, dipped in Radium, to get a better pointed tip of the brush!

[timebroker]

[JJ Irani]

I prefer SWISS MAID!!

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

I prefer SWISS MAID!!

With a nice cleavage!

[timebroker]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

I prefer SWISS MAID!!

And you wonder why we make fun of ye ewes?

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by timebroker

And you wonder why we make fun of ye ewes?

...because they aren't Swiss?

[timebroker]

Ok ok 1 - 0

[dr_rolex]

Originally Posted by Spacedweller

Partly true

They licked the hairs of the paint brush, dipped in Radium, to get a better pointed tip of the brush!

Bo Spacedweller, PhD. Rolexology





Man, you know your stuff.

[daunwaun]

this post has been hijacked

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by dr_rolex

Bo Spacedweller, PhD. Rolexology





Man, you know your stuff.

Why, thanks!

[mike]

Indeed it the early days dials marked "SWISS" used radium as the luminous material. Due to health concerns to employees AND at least in one case concerns to end users Rolex abandoned the practice in favor of tritium (a mildly radioactive Beta compound).

Rolex, in fact, issued a recall on the 6542 due to concerns of the use of radium on the bakelite bezel,



As the use of tritium fell by the wayside circa 1998 Rolex(as well as others) switched to the use of Luminova (a non radioactice compound). Noteworthy, while early dials were indeed marked "SWISS" Rolex, being the company it is, used dials previously received from dial manufactures already bearing the legend "SWISS T<25"--indicating a tritium dial. These dials were received sans luminous compound (placed on the watch at assembly). Rolex simply added the Luminova compound. This practice continued untill roughly 2003 when this batch of dials was exausted.
It should also be noted, current replacement service dials, though using Luminova, still use the word "SWISS" at the bottom of the dial.
My 1680 with current service replacement dial,