"Aged" lume: cheesy, or aesthetic high point?

Kazyole · Mar 23, 2017

chows99
Never seen those people with vintage watches, having any heath issues apart from addiction to more and more watches

The problems are for the people making the dials and putting the watches together, not for the people wearing them.

Additionally the half-life on tritium is only 12.3 years, so a watch from the 60s or 70s is only about 6% as radioactive as it started. Much better than tritium's predecessor, radium, which has a half life of around 1600 years and is far more dangerous to begin with.

The addiction is a real problem though 😉

flyingout · Mar 24, 2017

Damn. If I had only known earlier.

eugeneandresson · Mar 24, 2017

'Aged lume' on one hand seems like a similar concept to 'suntan in a bottle' -> you just dont get properly tanned without doing proper time in the sun (and naturally good sunscreen also helps).

On the other hand, the-whole-is-more-than-the-sum-of-seperate-parts with respect to the models mentioned here (Pelagos LHD and Omega Trilogy) and it simply goes with these watches...but I am sure someone at some point will put out something with aged lume that will just be a total dud.

You wont find me wearing suntan from a bottle...

Nobel Prize · Mar 24, 2017

I get the appeal but then I am not sure it is for me. I think they take it too far and even on the renderings above I like the non aged lume versions better. Specially the railmaster.

I think they could just do an eggshell, cream or off white lume choice. Enough to warm up the dial or keep it from the starkness of ice white, but not so much that it looks swatch(y)

FullyWound · Mar 24, 2017

Kazyole
The industry will never move back to tritium because of the radioactivity/health concerns associated with it 🙁

thats radium

STANDY · Mar 24, 2017

chows99
Never seen those people with vintage watches, having any heath issues apart from addiction to more and more watches

Read

Archer · Mar 24, 2017

micampe
I like it and I don’t understand why it is such a big deal for people who don’t like it.

Because they see it as "aged" instead of just what is, which is "coloured" lume. Luminova comes in a wide range of colours, it's only because it's a colour that looks like aged tritium that causes people to get their panties in a twist.

Mouse_at_Large · Mar 24, 2017

Archer
Because they see it as "aged" instead of just what is, which is "coloured" lume. Luminova comes in a wide range of colours, it's only because it's a colour that looks like aged tritium that causes people to get their panties in a twist.

That's it in a nutshell. Whether it appeals to your individual taste is up to you. What I find a bit hard to understand is the idea that only a colour brought about by time/degeneration has merit and to replicate a look using functional, modern materials somehow lacks integrity. Time (and sales figures) will tell if Omega has made the right choice.

marcn · Mar 24, 2017

Archer
Luminova comes in a wide range of colours, it's only because it's a colour that looks like aged tritium that causes people to get their panties in a twist.

Which is why I only ever visit OF while wearing a codpiece! NB: Don't google image search 'codpiece' looking for hilarious images to accompany a post. No good comes of that search.

Nobel Prize · Mar 24, 2017

As I said before and Archer stated it is just a colour choice, an aesthetic factor. Nothing wrong with it when seen that way.

I'll just say that from my point of view aged lume ( as in real aged lume discoloration) has less to do with the colour as it does with the knowledge that this is a 30, 40 or whatever else piece with its original lume. Sometimes it may be aesthetically pleasing, sometimes less, but it's like the sediment on a vintage wine or wrinkles on my face or gray hair . Never the same if faked.

A bottle of wine with "fake sediment" would be ridiculous. A 20 year old with hair died white is just that.... He would not walk into a room and say " here is my vintage appeal"

So, when the coloured lume is used as a marker for "vintage, heritage, authentic" etc it does make me cringe a little.

Also, with some very notable exceptions, I often find it a little exaggerated because everything around it is so shinny ( like the speedy). Much more effective on the seamster IMO. The rail master would be much more balanced with a brush finish. All are beautiful, this is just my opinion.

Nobel Prize · Mar 24, 2017

To add, if they issued these watches with tritium just as an original piece would ( taking radium out of it) I would buy them in a second , knowing Ina couple of decades they will be "my" aged vintage pieces, rather than someone else's IDEA of an aged dial

Kazyole · Mar 24, 2017

FullyWound
thats radium

Sorry, should have clarified. I believe several governments have attempted to legislate against/restrict its use on the grounds of the health risk it could potentially present. That said, while tritium is still radioactive, it's nowhere near as dangerous as radium. It certainly poses no threat to you as a person wearing a tritium watch. What I haven't seen and am not familiar with is the risk it would potentially pose to individuals in the industry who are constantly exposed to tritium due to their job responsibilities. Even if it's not very dangerous, I could see a lot of companies moving away from it for legal reasons. Even if the risk is low, if one of your dial painters gets cancer after decades of exposure to tritium, you're probably opening yourself up for a lawsuit.

Seems like a lot of potential downside to manufacture a less stable product than you could.

eugeneandresson · Mar 24, 2017

marcnorth
Which is why I only ever visit OF while wearing a codpiece! NB: Don't google image search 'codpiece' looking for hilarious images to accompany a post. No good comes of that search.

Hahahahahaha awesome...'codpiece' now enters my arsenal alongside 'cameltoe' 😀

adi4 · Mar 24, 2017

Nobel Prize
To add, if they issued these watches with tritium just as an original piece would ( taking radium out of it) I would buy them in a second , knowing Ina couple of decades they will be "my" aged vintage pieces, rather than someone else's IDEA of an aged dial

Opinions may differ, but I think if you gave watchmakers back then the option to use current materials, they probably would have gone with the one that would degrade the least and perform the best for the price. The lume on some vintage divers may look cool and patinated, but I most assuredly will not buy a modern diver with lume that will not glow as bright in 10-15 years just to get that same look. I'd rather they use the most aesthetically pleasing lume color and have it glow like a torch even 15 years from now.

Nobel Prize · Mar 24, 2017

adi4
Opinions may differ, but I think if you gave watchmakers back then the option to use current materials, they probably would have gone with the one that would degrade the least and perform the best for the price. The lume on some vintage divers may look cool and patinated, but I most assuredly will not buy a modern diver with lume that will not glow as bright in 10-15 years just to get that same look. I'd rather they use the most aesthetically pleasing lume color and have it glow like a torch even 15 years from now.

I think you're right. That is also why watchmakers, look up or Rolex, restore the watches at service. To collectors it's a sin, to them it's a great service.

But what I'm saying is different. What I mean is that of you're selling me a modern "vintage" watch that basically follows the aesthetic specifications of the original and then you market it as a homage, THEN I would argue it would be cool to truly re-issue the original. Period. As a LE, as a Homage, as an exception that says : " it's been 60 years, you love the original, you can't find it for less than 100g, here you have it for a limited amount of time and quantify"

It would fly off the shelf faster than anything they have new.... Faster than the speedy Tuesday!

Mouse_at_Large · Mar 24, 2017

eugeneandresson
Hahahahahaha awesome...'codpiece' now enters my arsenal alongside 'cameltoe' 😀

I'll add "merkin" to your ever increasing vocabulary 😁

NeedForSpeed · Mar 24, 2017

Seems a bit of a cheat to give a new watch a faux aged look which would otherwise be "earned" over the years as @ChicagoFrog and @wsfarrell mentioned.

That said I'm not entirely against it if it aesthetically fits the design as a whole given how hard it is to find vintage watches with patina or aged loom and a dial in good condition.

M'Bob · Mar 24, 2017

Mouse_at_Large
I'll add "merkin" to your ever increasing vocabulary 😁

And no merkin is complete without a "gherkin."

FullyWound · Mar 24, 2017

adi4
Opinions may differ, but I think if you gave watchmakers back then the option to use current materials, they probably would have gone with the one that would degrade the least and perform the best for the price. The lume on some vintage divers may look cool and patinated, but I most assuredly will not buy a modern diver with lume that will not glow as bright in 10-15 years just to get that same look. I'd rather they use the most aesthetically pleasing lume color and have it glow like a torch even 15 years from now.

well this is an uneducated response (sorry) of all of these new radim & zink mixture is best and brightest and glows CONSTANTLY tritium is second best as new and luminova is a fairy light in a fire compared to these two, If your willing to pay for it there are people (ourselves included) that will strip and mix your previously radioactive dials with zinc & radim mixture to give you a little bit of the best of everything..

flw · Mar 24, 2017

Nobel Prize
A bottle of wine with "fake sediment" would be ridiculous. A 20 year old with hair died white is just that.... He would not walk into a room and say " here is my vintage appeal"

I can't help picturing Anderson Cooper in an OB, buying a new SM300 MC, and asking for a glass of wine with fake sediment 😁

"Aged" lume: cheesy, or aesthetic high point?

Kazyole

flyingout

eugeneandresson

Nobel Prize

FullyWound

STANDY

Archer

Mouse_at_Large

marcn

Nobel Prize

Nobel Prize

Kazyole

eugeneandresson

adi4

Nobel Prize

Mouse_at_Large

NeedForSpeed

M'Bob

FullyWound

flw

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