Can't they get decent lume in china?

[Royal Oak]

So I got my BR03 from trusty the other day. It's the PVD one with the orange hands and numbers.

This watch is damn near perfect but for all the work they put into making these things identical, the numbers aren't lume and the hands are some sad 24 second glow stuff.

WHY??!!

I mean I knew this before I ordered the watch and I still love the damn thing, but if they can get everything else right, why not the lume?

[takashi]

Well... Cost savings contributes to this. Imagine this; cost of 1g SuperLuminova powder is about 40 CHF. 1 gram you can made into about 5 watches including hands. Now... let's picture with china made lume which costs 0.4 CHF. Which one will the chinese repmakers choose?

[piratedzeus]

Gold is ~900$ / oz. Superluminova is 1000$ / oz.

Pretty huge risk, right?

[Royal Oak]

And those milling machines are pretty expensive so thats why they just cast them out of plastic . .

Superluminova, yes. . . but the stuff they put on Timex's is NOT superlume and I'd call it acceptable.

Is this the last hold out of the rep collector?

We demand that everthing else on our reps be as close as possible but we put up with total crap lume?

Edited February 8, 2008 by Royal Oak

[Guest Carl]

It's a good question and a good topic.

Looking over the last few month's of reps (mostly Rolex, now that I look at them, where am I going?) they are all over the place.

I have one that lights up the entire nightstand at 3am.

I have a vintage rep that has a beautifully dim dial and hands that are like super luminova.

I have another which is a rep of a near-current model and it's DIM.

But I like them all and I still like rep collecting. I think it is still getting better.

Carl

[ajoesmith]

And those milling machines are pretty expensive so thats why they just cast them out of plastic . .

Superluminova, yes. . . but the stuff they put on Timex's is NOT superlume and I'd call it acceptable.

Is this the last hold out of the rep collector?

We demand that everthing else on our reps be as close as possible but we put up with total crap lume?

Its a good point but i think this has been discussed before somewhere.

The super luminova is seriously expensive stuff, the chinese custom seems to be get rich quick no matter who you burn in the process, imagine the factory having all that expensive super lume and all the chinese workers thinking, hey i can get rich real quick if i steal 100grams of this stuff. Its just to big a risk for the factory as there probably is zero trust.

As for your comment about the milling machines, its a bit too big to put in your pocket and walk out the front door....

[takashi]

Ah anyway, a comparison for you.

Standard lume on hands and dial:

Superlumed hands and dial:

The bottom line is; not all reps come with crappy lume (especially recent batch of PAM rep).

[TeeJay]

The consistency of the lume can also vary between the hands and the dial markings, with one being brighter than the other. Although it's not too bad when the hands are brighter than the dial, as it's still possible to get the position, when the dial is brighter than the hands, it can be harder to judge where the hands are... Of all my watches, my PVD 111g has the best lume (and with hands slightly brighter than the dial) The lume on my 127 is the same order (hands brighter than dial), but it's not as long-lasting as the 111g's lume, hense, why, when I get enough spare cash, I'll be sending the 127 off to TWP for a a Plume job

[Dani]

I heard its beacuse the Chinese rep workers like to use it as spice on their dog or cat meat its a trend dont ask me why.

[Pugwash]

The consistency of the lume can also vary between the hands and the dial markings, with one being brighter than the other.

That's because the hands come from one source and the dials from another.

[TeeJay]

I heard its beacuse the Chinese rep workers like to use it as spice on their dog or cat meat its a trend dont ask me why.

Like that vodka with gold flakes in it? I remember hearing that back in the 70s, additives were added to dog food to make their 'waste' luminous so people wouldn't tread on it in parks (of course, the only people in parks after dark tend to be perverts ) but the trend didn't continue... Instead, the government brought inti fouling laws and make owners clean up after their dogs immediately

That's because the hands come from one source and the dials from another.

Such a simple reason, but one I'd never considered

[crystalcranium]

Why not you ask???? Because these are watches made in the black with clandestine parts sourced from dozens of "suppliers"...no QC...no responsibility for production quality...

My replica experience changed 2 years ago viewing the infamous video of the Cartier executive touring the "assembly shop" of a replica supplier. It was a back room in a house with crying babies in the front hidden by a drawn curtain in the doorway. It didn't exactly look like Breuget manufacture back there. This is where replica production happens, in hundreds if not thousands of these little "mom and pop" operations. To expect consistancy and quality out of such a production scenario is unrealistic in fact, I'm surprised at the quality we DO get.

Buy a positively reviewed watch from a reputable dealer with the expectation you are getting a base from which to start. A Ziggyfied Asian 7750, re-lumed watch is going to run you close to $750 total but you will have a quality timepiece. Out of the box performance with replicas is rarely perfect.