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@smorrisonmd [Leaving aside the notion of whether or not this would be a wise purchase] Q: Can the orange "lume" on this Mark II racing dial be redone?? A: Yes
[Leaving aside the notion of whether or not this would be a wise purchase] Q: Can the orange "lume" on this Mark II racing dial be redone?? A: Yes[/QUOTE] Thanks. Whether or not this is a wise purchase of course depends on purchase price, which is unknown. And I am not necessarily interested in this particular watch. But I would like to see what can be done in this regard. Do you know of examples, or who might do this work?
The case should have a polished, chamfered section between the radial, sunburst upper face and the brushed sides. This seems to have totally disappeared. Also, the crystal may not be a genuine OEM part, which possibly is contributing to the overall effect.
As someone who spent a fairly long time looking for a honest unpolished Mark II racing dial, I vote with the others and say pass. Good ones are out there, you just have to be patient. I agree that this is easily one of the most over polished Mark II cases I've ever seen but those hands do not look faded to me. They look painted.
Thanks. Whether or not this is a wise purchase of course depends on purchase price, which is unknown. And I am not necessarily interested in this particular watch. But I would like to see what can be done in this regard. Do you know of examples, or who might do this work?[/QUOTE] Now that the Mark II is off the table, we can just talk about your original question. I’ve seen many examples of lume color-matching that looks totally spot on. In the U.S. I highly recommend ABC Watchwerks, Los Angeles Watchworks, and Bob Ridley (Watchmakers Int’l.). Going a bit further, even compromised/cracking Tritium can be stabilized from continued deterioration by conserving the backside of the hour, minute, GMT hand, etc. even though the lume on these moving parts is extremely fragile. Obviously all original condition and parts are what collectors pay top dollar for. But, even rare, highly desirable vintage watches wherein the handset and/or hour plots have been color-matched—and that information is fully disclosed—in my experience the value isn’t really affected that much, as long as the hands and dial are original and correct (not period incorrect replacements).
