Good evening, everyone.

Please look at my watch (Submariner 16610 S Serial One owner).
Luminous Point - Orange
Indexes - slightly creamy

How can we get the colors together?
How long will the tritium change color?
Tell me about it.

Thanks!!

 

Unfortunately, they won’t change colour at the same time.

unless you plan on tucking this watch away in a dark safe for a decade or so, I don’t think it’ll be a quick process.

 

Looks fine to me. Enjoy it or buy another which appeals to you more than the one you have.

 

Your bezel pip and dial look very much the same as on my 1996 Sub 14060 with tritium lume...so quite normal! I remember reading somewhere that no two Subs with tritium will incur the same patina over the same period of time, and bezel pips and dials can age differently. Depends on so many different factors.

 

Most noticeable discrepancy is the hands IMO. The pearl doesn't bother me.

 

I think it looks great. If you don't like it, and it bothers you that much, consider selling and buying a version without tritium markers and hands as the color is far more stable and everything should match to your heart’s content.

But consider.. "you hear collectors speaking often about the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, or the acceptance of imperfection. This type of aesthetic has its own allure, and much of it is centered on this philosophy that beauty is impermanent and imperfect."

Here are a couple of my imperfections... see below. Everything doesn’t match in color.

A link to an article about the Rise of Patina: https://www.gearpatrol.com/watches/a590374/a-history-of-patina-in-the-watch-industry/

 

The story behind my ‘93 14060 is it was from a one own home that collected Rolex’s. They wore it a handful of times but kept it locked away for the remaining time. Though, I specifically hunted for something that matched as I knew it wasn’t something that could be corrected naturally.

 

Enjoy the differing patina.

One Snowflake I bought years go had off white patina on hands and dial. A couple years in the sun bleached it to near white. A few years in the safe has brought a creamy patina. It gets worn from time to time but spends most time in the safe or SDB.

I have had several NOS tritium dials that have spent years in packages never seeing the sun, almost all, but not all, have developed great patina.

 

Thank you all.
You all are enjoying the change in hue!

This watch was purchased new and has been a favorite for many years.
I will never part with it, but I was wondering why the color was different.

By the way, how long does it take for the color of the tritium to stop changing?
Does it stop when you get to a certain shade instead of time?
Does it turn white in the sun and color in the dark?

Are you PERFECT Human?
As you noted, the hands on the watch are Luminova.
When I took it in for service, the glass and hands were replaced.
Rolex explained to me that they were changing from tritium to luminova.I said without thinking too much about it at the time and said, "OK, thank you".

I then bought the used tritium hands and now I'm looking for the glass without the logo.

Thanks!!

 

It seems that there are many factors that affect the color of tritium lume, including, light, moisture (mold), and other factors. But it's so slow and variable, that I don't know if any person really knows for sure. Most likely it will continue to gradually change over time. I have also heard that sometimes the color changes more in the dark and becomes lighter in the sun. But I am just repeating what someone else told me, and I have no way to verify that. I definitely believe that the way the color changes is related to the formulation of the lume compound itself, since lume from different years often tends to age differently.

 

I see!
Thank you so mucho.

 

I have experienced this directly.

 

it can definitely vary, but those examples that seem aged to perfection always seem suspect to me. Like artificially toned coins, watch patina can be artificially aided as well.

 

look at the difference between the markers and the hands. All original.