My First Lume Job.

[Dudemeister]

A few weeks ago I decided that I was going try my hand at re-luming some of my watches. Specifically I have a couple of older Seiko Chronographs from the 70's that I wanted to bring new life into. At the same time my wife had been complaining that she can hardly see any of her watches in the dark.

So I first bought a complete AF Switzerland Lumi set from Ofrei. I mixed a small batch as per instructions and applied some of this mix to a test watch. The paint was fairly easy to work with, but the results were only marginally better (brighter) than the original lume. After searching around I found a place which specializes in the sale of Glow-In-The-Dark materials:

www.glowinc.com

After trying a variety of their powders as well as their pre-mixed paints, I think I have found the proper combination for me.

The best/brightest powder is the Ultra Green V10, Grade 0, 10-20 micron particles. There are other particle sizes going up to 85 microns, but while that stuff is very bright, it's just too coarse to be useful for watch re-luming. they also have 8 micron stuff but the brightness is lower.

Anyway, I found the 10-20 micro stuff to be a good compromise between brightness and smoothness. The best binder I found (other than specialty stuff like NoctiLumina or AF Switzerland was Tamiya Acrylic clear (X-22). Using a pipette, I first add a couple of drops of clear paint, then mix in the powder. The amount of powder I mix in is about 1/2 the volume of the liquid. I then use a toothpick to mix it thoroughly, then apply it to the surface using either a sharpened toothpick or an oiling pike.

The hands are removed and the original lume stripped, then the new lume is applied from the back. For the dial markers, I don't bother to remove the old lume, I just apply the new lume on top. The ultra fine oling pike helps spread the paint into tall the areas of the marker. The stuff can be applied fairly thick because when it's fully dry, it will shrink substantially. If yo need to thin the paint (it will start to gel as you're working with it), you can use a drop or two of rubbing (Isopropyl) alcohol.

The results a very satisfactory. The stuff is brighter than anything else I have seen, including the lume that Seiko uses on their latest chronos. The dials in the pictures below were kept on the work table under normal fluorescent lighting for about 2-3 hours, then left in the dark, and after about 2 hours, the dial was still visible.

Now without further ado, here are some shots of the work. You can click on each picture to enlarge it.

So if you were thinking about re-luming but didn't want to waste 30-40 for a luming kit, or pay $150 to have someone else do it, you can try your hand at it for very little investment:

1/4 ounce of Ulra Green specialty powder = $7.29

23ml jar of Tamiya acrylic clear paint = $3.00

Cheers.

[lanikai]

Next up "sausage dials" .. good stuff DM

A~C

L

[Dudemeister]

Next up "sausage dials" .. good stuff DM

A~C

L

Sorry, but I'm not sure I know what a sausage dial is. Are you referring to the stacked dials like the Panerai?

[lanikai]

Sorry, but I'm not sure I know what a sausage dial is. Are you referring to the stacked dials like the Panerai?

The 117 has the "Sausage Numerals" .. no borders for the lume..practice makes perfect...

[Toadtorrent]

Thanks for posting this. It's always great to hear other people's experiences.