i accidentally dropped my speedy while changing straps. Thought the watch was fine except for a few scratches. Then upon further inspection i realize that the lume of the chrono hand was gone. I've always wondered how some speedy's lose the lume in the hands and now i learned how the hard way! Heads up to be extra carefull with these vintage models.

 

You may want to visit your watchmaker to remove any remnants under the crystal. The lume can be replaced carefully.

 

easy, a good watchmaker does not even have to take the center second hand off.......but if the impact was that great, that the lume fell out, have the movement checked on his timing device. kind regards./ achim

 

Thanks. Good suggestion. Will take it to my watchmaker soon. Wasn't really that high, fell from my desk and was able to partially catch it to dampen the fall. Maybe the lume of these vintage watches just gets brittle in time that it easily falls off?

 

You're lucky you didn't break the balance staff!

Tom

 

That's what Incabloc is for . . .

 

True enough but it isn't 100% protection.

Tom

 

Yes. Lume material gets dry like powder over time. I have had my watchmaker reinforce it by applying some lacquer to the back side of the hands on some of my watches as part of a service.
No worries. A competent watchmaker will fix this issue easily. However be certain that whoever does it takes care to match the color. Bright white lume will not do IMO.
Cheers!

 

Broken staffs on modern shock protected watches are pretty rare. Not only is the shock protection there, but modern watches tend to have smaller/lighter balance wheels, and also modern pivots are not the same in terms of the materials and the heat treatment applied to them...all meaning they withstand shocks much better than vintage watches do.

Cheers, Al

 

Thanks man!