Patina on modern Rolex

[Olyckan]

Is the lume material on modern Rolex (for example my F-series 14060M) the same as on the old 5513? Will it age with the same grace and take on a yellowish tone in a decade or two as the beautiful vintage Subs?

[mike]

No, it is not. Your 14060M uses luminova as the illuminating material. Older versions used a substance call tritium as the exciting agent in the paint matrix.

The use of tritium was generally done away with circa 1998 due to health concerns when it was replaced by non-radioactive luminova (superluminova). One of the qualities of SL is said to be it's ability to resist the patina effect of the eariler tritium.

What is interesting is that many vintage pieces equipped with tritium still maintain the snowy whiteness they originally had. This has always been a hot topic of discussion in the vintage community as to why some tend to patina yet others experience much less of an effect.

Some feel it's exposure to UV radition of time (sunlight) while others tend to feel it comes from moisture incursion over time (seals, stress cracks in acryllic crystals, etc....)

Noteworthy is that older trit. dial markers are actually composed of three parts:
1. tritium--the exciting agent--mildly radioactive--Beta (and in and of itself does not glow)
2. Phosphors -- the part that gets excited and glows.
3. the bonding agent that holds it all together--about 90% of what you see.

Of course it's a bit early yet to really make a determination--time will tell.

[Olyckan]

Thanks Mike!

Yes, it will be interesting to see what it looks like in twenty years. I guess I should'nt expect it to be yellow, though!

[SSD]

Here's one: since the tritium was before "my time" of WIS infection, and the recent lume shots are Luminova, can someone tell us if the tritium glowed green also? Or was it white or yellow? All the tritium was seemingly dead on the ones I have seen so far, and different forms of blacklight/ UV lights excite the phosphors into glowing with different colors...

[mike]

Here's a discussion that was on VRF a while back,

http://www.network54.com/Forum/20759...ad/1180475650/

[SPACE-DWELLER]

SuperLuminova has been there since 1998 and it does not seem to discolour, but it has been debated whether SL loses it ability to GLOW at all after many years, like the Tritium.

Time will tell.

[mailman]

Originally Posted by mike

Here's a discussion that was on VRF a while back,

http://www.network54.com/Forum/20759...ad/1180475650/

There's some great examples there Mike. Thank you

[Olyckan]

Originally Posted by mike

Here's a discussion that was on VRF a while back,

http://www.network54.com/Forum/20759...ad/1180475650/

Thanks!

[koronet-kid]

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...d/DSC00486.jpg
here are some pics of the red sub i sold on monday serial is 3.4 million makes it 72-73 from memory as you can see the dial has never been refinished. but the hour markers are still snow white strange how some age better than others. already feel down about letting this one go! full set red subs dont come your way very often. i hope you can see pics i followed bo's guide.

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by koronet-kid

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...d/DSC00486.jpg
here are some pics of the red sub i sold on monday serial is 3.4 million makes it 72-73 from memory as you can see the dial has never been refinished. but the hour markers are still snow white strange how some age better than others. already feel down about letting this one go! full set red subs dont come your way very often. i hope you can see pics i followed bo's guide.

Well, something went wrong. But I fixed it for you:





Very nice watch, indeed!

[koronet-kid]

thanks bo will try and post some pics of my gmt and sub lv later. i have a feeling you may have to fix that as well !!!!!


regards sean

[SPACE-DWELLER]

Originally Posted by koronet-kid

thanks bo will try and post some pics of my gmt and sub lv later. i have a feeling you may have to fix that as well !!!!!


regards sean

Nah, just be sure to click on the IMG tag in Photobucket and wait for it to write "copied". Then go to your post here and press the CTRL + the "V" buttons. Bingo!

I just inserted the [IMG] + [/IMG] codes, that's all, but you also seemed to post two pic urls in ONE row, so I made a free text line between them by pressing "Enter".