Hi all, it may be my imagination but the hand lume on my SubC seems to have an ever so slightly different colour to the lume plots on the dial. To my eye the hour plots have a polished creamy white lume which 'pops' and the hand lume seems a different shade of white and less pronounced. The hand lume is certainly not as bright as the hour plots. Anyone else noticed or is it just my Sub. Regards. Kev
Ps. My SubC is brand new and received fully stickered up from an AD
Last edited by bubblehead; 20th December 2015 at 16:07.
I think it's quite normal. I certainly noticed it on my Sea-Dweller, but less so on the Hulk - maybe more pronounced on a black dial? If it's any consolation many vintage watches have hands that age at a different rate to the dial lume.Originally Posted by bubblehead
Ant
Should probably not be like this on a completely new Rolex
Mine seems ok. I'm interested to see your one with the different colours, might a valuable one off.
Looking at mine as I type and the lume is consistent across all indices and hands
I had one - it had a consistent lume which is blue, not white in the dark
E.g.
Or normal light - I can't see any difference on mine.
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 1st December 2015 at 00:11.
I've never noticed colour variation but I've certainly noticed the Deep Sea models tend to have lower brightness to the hands compared to the hour plots in a dark scenario. I'm sure it's normal.
I've just checked my BLNR and SDc and under low energy lightbulbs I notice the same thing as the OP. The dial markers seem to have a slight creamy look to them whereas the hands are a starker white.
I'll check again tomorrow in daylight as I've never noticed it before. Could be a lighting effect from the stupid bulbs we have to use these days? The markers are domed lume rather than the flat lume on hands?
I had one - it had a consistent lume e.g.
Take the damn thing right back to them then because you're clearly not happy with it....
I've just checked my BLNR again in natural light and it looks to match now. I think it's a 'feature' of light source vs the thickness/profile of lume on the hands and dial.
I would suspect that's the answer.
If you are not 100% happy take it back otherwise you will always see it and be unhappy.
The Chroma Light material Rolex use on these is the same on the dial and hands as far as I can tell.
There's a fantastic article here that details the history of Submariner lume with loads of great pictures and explanation.
Luckily your 114060 is safe to wear unlike this vintage Panerai compass: (pic from the article)
http://rolexpassionreport.com/15606/...olex-luminous/
Prior – 1953, The early age of Rolex luminous, used on their pocket watches, early oyster cases, bubble backs and radiomir Panerai’s.
1953 – 1956, When Rolex introduced the world their sports / utility / tool watch concept with radium Submariner, TOG, Explorer & GMT Master.
1957 – 1960, When Rolex lowered radiation and chanced dial printing from 1 to 2 colored print and enhanced the lacquer to a more glossy variant.
1960 – 1963, The pre ‘Transitional” period with “Exclamation” mark and due to the starting international regulation, again less radioactive luminous.
1963 – 1964, “Transitional” underline of which Rolex switched from Radium to Trtium, delivered dials are “swiss” signed but laminated with tritium.
1964 – 1967, The new generation tritium luminous got added on glossy dials, signing chanced from “Swiss” to “Swiss – T<25” & “T-Swiss-T”.
1967 – 1983, The matte dial with tritium luminous got introduced by Rolex. We see tritium signings variations like T Swiss T<25 or σ T-Swiss-T σ.
1983 – 1997, The last era of the tritium dials when the glossy dial surface came back, now the luminous was added in a added white gold surround.
1998- 2000, LumiNova was invented in 1993 and patented in 1995; Nemoto & Co. Ltd. was contracted in 1998 to provide LumiNova to Switzerland.
2000 – 2008, Super Luminova, a improved version of Luminova, a material that has the same properties as tritium but is not radioactive.
2008 – now, Chroma Light, the new blue-ish colored Super Luminova thats been in use since Rolex patented it.
Last edited by TimeOut; 1st December 2015 at 14:56.
TimeOut,
Many thanks for that - the attachment on the history of the dials is a fantastic read.
The way the radium has attacked some of the dials illustrated is incredible.
Thanks for sharing.
I haven't experienced a difference in the colour of lume plots and hands,but I am stunned at the difference in luminosity between a ceramic 116710 from 2007/8 when compared with a 116600 from 2015. The brightness of the green luminova is off the scale whereas the blue looks incredibly dim by comparison. A step backwards I feel.
Still keen to see this multicoloured Sub of the OP's..
Hi everyone. Sorry for the late reply and many thanks to those who responded. I have now had a chance to compare my watch to other new ones in the AD and it would seem mine is perfectly normal. I still think the hand set is a slightly whiter shade of white but I am perfectly happy with it In fact I absolutely adore the watch and it has become my daily wearer. Have a great Xmas. Kev
Last edited by bubblehead; 20th December 2015 at 16:26.
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