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Do modern SMP red seconds tips still turn from red to orange to white?

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As anyone who has owned/collected Seamaster 300m Professional models from the 90's knows, the red tip on the seconds hand would typically fade from red to orange and eventually to white.

Does anyone know if Omega changed their paint formulation to combat this? Perhaps there's nothing that can be done given the color red's sensitivity to UV light.

I ask because the models made in the 2010's to today don't seem to have this issue. But maybe they haven't had enough UV exposure to turn.

Just a question that popped into my head this morning as I looked at my recently serviced GoldenEye SMP that has a new seconds hand on it.
 
YY77
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I ask because the models made in the 2010's to today don't seem to have this issue. But maybe they haven't had enough UV exposure to turn.
Isn't it more so those have the hands in time replaced by default so it will be less noticeable on those models?
 
Rolycoaster
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This is my PO from 2010, the tip has been white since at least 2017, which is the earliest picture I can find of it. It has spent most of it's life in the tropics, Africa and the Caribbean, and worn daily outdoors up to about 2015, when I bought a G-Shock to wear some of the time.

Planet Ocean.webp
 
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YY77 YY77
Isn't it more so those have the hands in time replaced by default so it will be less noticeable on those models?
It could be. But you'd think there wouldn't be any orange/white tipped hands from the 90's. Unless some of them have never been serviced.
 
ErichPryde
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YY77 YY77
Isn't it more so those have the hands in time replaced by default so it will be less noticeable on those models?

Well.... I've never seen a faded SMPc seconds hand- ever. Or a faded seconds hand on the current 42mm SMP. Or any 2nd gen or later PO.

Or even for that matter a first gen coax SMP...

Some of those are old enough to have faded I'd think.
 
KeithP
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Had my SMP serviced by Omega early 2024 and hands were replaced, but looking through the bag of bits and placing the old second hand on the glass, there doesn’t seem to be any perceptible colour difference. The old seconds hand had been on the watch since the previous service in 2013 and worn daily indoors and out, with plenty of exposure sailing and sea kayaking etc, so I’m assuming whatever paint they are using now is fairly fade resistant.

IMG_6724.webp
 
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ErichPryde ErichPryde
Well.... I've never seen a faded SMPc seconds hand- ever.
Same. Which is what made me think they may have changed the paint.
 
Archer
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They really don’t fade now…
 
DoctorEvil
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Adding to the database. My 2551.80 was purchased in 2005 and serviced in 2017 by Omega, when they replaced all the hands. The original hands haven't faded at all despite being my daily wearer and getting lots of outdoor time.
PXL_20260107_063646032.webp
 
akong71
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My Omega SMP 2531.80 (gifted to me from my dad) was purchased circa 2006. I received the watch in 2016 and the red tip on the seconds hand never faded. I had the watch serviced in the summer/fall of 2025 and they replaced the hands. But the seconds hand that was replaced, and returned in a bag, still has the red tip. Much like the ones pictured above.
 
Caliber561
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Was wondering about this myself. When I was trying to decide between a model with tritium or luminova plots, it seemed like a good number of tritium-lume watches still had vibrant red seconds hand tips. Given that the hands on those models had aged tritium as well, I don't think that the fading is purely an age-based matter. It could be down to variation between production batches, but the main cause probably is just UV degradation.
 
Rolycoaster
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Rolycoaster Rolycoaster
This is my PO from 2010, the tip has been white since at least 2017, which is the earliest picture I can find of it. It has spent most of it's life in the tropics, Africa and the Caribbean, and worn daily outdoors up to about 2015, when I bought a G-Shock to wear some of the time.

Planet Ocean.webp
This went in for a crown tube replacement so had a new seconds hand at the same time.
75096b50-0998-4fa3-a9cf-3f7e4fb18ed5.webp
 
Mute
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Some people seem to have that issue. I had a 2531.80 for 19 years. The color never faded.
 
E
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The Central American heat faded my entire watch, this is an old picture from 2014, but I have restored it back to original colors,
IMG_4495.webp

my hands’s lume melted also making them dull versus chrome. Funnily enough Omega gave me back the damaged skeleton hands but I lost them, When i sent it for service back in 2015 though they were out of the blue and gave me the chrome but replaced it with the navy blue eventually for free. I got this one back in 1999

My understanding is that they use enamel on the newer movements and that doesn’t last that much either, especially with the heat.
IMG_8925.webp
 
502 to right
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E eldiano84
The Central American heat faded my entire watch, this is an old picture from 2014, but I have restored it back to original colors,
IMG_4495.webp

my hands’s lume melted also making them dull versus chrome. Funnily enough Omega gave me back the damaged skeleton hands but I lost them, When i sent it for service back in 2015 though they were out of the blue and gave me the chrome but replaced it with the navy blue eventually for free. I got this one back in 1999

My understanding is that they use enamel on the newer movements and that doesn’t last that much either, especially with the heat.
IMG_8925.webp

That old blue bezel looks like it's spent time in chlorinated water.
 
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