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Have you Tried DIY Re-Lume? Kits start @ $29.99


NotASolder

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OK, if a watch comes machine-superlumed out of box. It is good... But re-luming a watch ruins it in a way... Leaves unavoidable imperfections on dial/hands due to hand-work.

But I cannot live with imperfections on the dial, those are bugging my eyes all the time :)

Here are the imperfections I am referring to in my statement.

I don't consider my work "ruining" a watch...and my customers think the results are quite acceptable.

(NOTE: this is all my work done by my hand...no trickery, no photoshop, just direct pictures of the results.)

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5.jpg

FM2.jpg

FM4.jpg

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5.jpg

2.jpg

1.jpg

2.jpg

4.jpg

RG

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(NOTE: this is all my work done by my hand...no trickery, no photoshop, just direct pictures of the results.)

4.jpg

5.jpg

RG

Ok Rob, now you're just showing off! ;)

Are you serious? Did you lume that whole strip? I am impressed!

Thats has got to be the BEST lume job i have ever seen. Absolutely amazing.

I never even gave this watch a second thought before and now im in love after seeing your work :wub:

Your Franck Muller above is also VERY impressive. I've always liked those dials and the lume just brings it to life!

Lonnie

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Ok Rob, now you're just showing off! ;)

Yes, I agree, but if your going to make a statement that by applying lume by hand, your "ruining" the watch, I am going to show you otherwise, especially if your quoting my caution in my capabilities list.

Are you serious? Did you lume that whole strip? I am impressed!

Thats has got to be the BEST lume job i have ever seen. Absolutely amazing.

Yes, I did the strip, as well as the small numerals around the bezel, more shots. Time consuming and not easy to do, but not bad results, if you consider that the pictures below at at 4X which your eye can't see (unless your superman...)

1.jpg

3.jpg

7.jpg

@ its_urabus

PM me on Dec 1, so you can get my email addy...

RG

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Where can you get Tritec SL? How much does it go for?

http://www.rctritec.com/index.php?id=13

sales@rctritec.com

Repair sets (1g powder + 1g varnish + 1g diluent + mixing pot and glass rod) were at 41 or 44.20 CHF each, depending on the color (C3 and natural: 41 CHF; C1, white and coloured: 44.20 CHF).

Plus 30-40 CHF shipping & handling, depending on your country (Europe 30, other countries 40).

Those were their prices on March 2007, at least.

Ask Elisabeth politely for one or more sets by qualifying you as an amateur/hobbist watchsmith.

Unfortunately, they were not taking credit card or paypal payments.

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I'd just like to add that it's a little unfair to view super close-up images of a dial and say the lume is flawed or that it's ruined the watch. The fact is, when viewed from the wrist, whatever slight flaws may exist are virtually invisible. Another reason why slight flaws like "Seanaster" on some Omegas are generally unimportant to the overall look. You can barely spot them unless you're using a loupe. Great job, Zig.

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I'd just like to add that it's a little unfair to view super close-up images of a dial and say the lume is flawed or that it's ruined the watch. The fact is, when viewed from the wrist, whatever slight flaws may exist are virtually invisible. Another reason why slight flaws like "Seanaster" on some Omegas are generally unimportant to the overall look. You can barely spot them unless you're using a loupe. Great job, Zig.

I agree with your analysis, small flaws only add to the character of the watch. Anything done by hand has much more personality than something made by a machine.

Glad you like the results.

RG

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The most amazing thing is the #5 in The Zigmeister's pic, not only the crispness of the #, but the fact that he has corrected its position relative to the dots. I assume the 10 and 15 were also done, which removes the only flaw on the CD dial.

I also like the idea of using the cheap [censored] to practice the switching to tritec when you get the hang of it...unless the N-lume has different application performance than superlume. No point in learning how to use something that you'll never apply on a watch you care about.

Anyone know how a gen's lume is applied? By hand w/ specialized stencils? By computer controlled machine? Screen/Pad printed?

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Give me a break guys.

Dear The Zigmeister, I quoted your OWN warning, that is not a warning I created... So if you didn't think re-lume leaves imperfections, why did you use that warning anyway?

And on the other hand, this is my opinion, re-luming adds imperfections. This is NOT about the artist. Some may not even see those kind of small imperfections... (Let me give an example: there is an old guy in my gym who has a gen pvd 9A, we befriended, while drinking something after training, We handed our watches each other... There was a deformation on the T SWISS T writing on his 9A, very visible deformation.... the part "SS T" is completely deformed, I told that guy about it, he said "WOW you are right, but I own that watch for years and I never saw that, I must be blind")

Again... I'm NOT blaming The Zigmeister or any other modders, I'M sure The Zigmeister is a master in watchsmith art, but I'm just stating a point of view about the re-luming PROCESS ITSELF, not about modders or watchsmiths themselves...

Anything done by hand has much more personality than something made by a machine.

This is a point of view... For example, a huge ding on the case.... One may think it is personality, other may think it is imperfection... There is no problem if you are happy with your ding on your watch... Nice of you... But please don't try to make everyone think of same. :) There may be someone who thinks it is an imperfection. :)

For me, it is an illusion... The same illusion makes some awful straps (which also doesn't have any collectional value) being sold over $250-300 on gen forums :) You know, an awful strap with poor stitching and lots of imperfections, holes, damages on it... But it is made from an ammo pouch(!), it is done by hand(!) so it is very valuable, costs more than $250... A local leathersmith can make same strap for $5 in 10 minutes... :)

Don't get me wrong, this is open market, if buyer is happy there is no problem for me. But these are my opinions... There is no need to argue, everyone may have different opinions on the same subject.

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funny is last time Ive checked Noctilumina site they stated it lasts up to 16hrs. Althought I claim its way too overrated statement they seem to upgrade it even better :)

Noctilumina is good if ya dont have money to send it to one of rwg's reluming members or buy a real SL stuff.

Ive tried Noctilumina and I am pretty happy with its effects ;)

@ The Zigmeister: outstanding work on that IWC :wub:

Edited by pubus
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  • 2 weeks later...

i purchased noctiluminova and i was satisfied by its results,

at the pics below in the left there is my invicta russian diver, that has a decent lume (not superluminova, but 10 times better than the poor standard lum most reps have) and at the right there is my project 127 sandwich dial,

you can also see the time elapsed in the left dial.

dunno who tritec performs but noctilum is very nice for me

dsc0784zm4.th.jpg

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open the thumbnails because at the last pics low res shows nothing,

ofcourse everytime i took a pic the camera settings where the same

Edited by esdee
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http://www.rctritec.com/index.php?id=13

sales@rctritec.com

Repair sets (1g powder + 1g varnish + 1g diluent + mixing pot and glass rod) were at 41 or 44.20 CHF each, depending on the color (C3 and natural: 41 CHF; C1, white and coloured: 44.20 CHF).

Plus 30-40 CHF shipping & handling, depending on your country (Europe 30, other countries 40).

Those were their prices on March 2007, at least.

Ask Elisabeth politely for one or more sets by qualifying you as an amateur/hobbist watchsmith.

Unfortunately, they were not taking credit card or paypal payments.

Is this repair set enough to do 4 dials? If not on average how many dials can one set do?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just got my dial back from The Zigmeister and just finishing reluming my stuffed up dial with Noctilumina. This is the comparison of Trictec C1 and Noctilumina (G8UF/B8UF). The things that I hate about noctilumina are they don't have anything with White body colour such as Tritec C1 and also the binder is very hard to work with.

img0645pg6.jpg

After 15 mins you can barely see anything. The lume in this watch is mild lume so don't expect it to glow like the one on Panerai.

img0648mx6.jpg

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