Early Seamaster 300 Tritium/Super-Luminova question

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Hey there.

I have a 49M serial Seamaster originally bought in 1993 but it is a new aquired by myself.

My second hand is severely bent for some reason at the red tip and it appears that the minute hand is higher at the end than it should be. I plan to send the watch to Swiss Time Services in the UK for an overhaul as it is running fast and needs tidying up generally.

I believe my dial is tritium due to the age but the lume pips all appear very white still despite the age of the watch and the fact it has signs of severe use (the case back has become polished through wear).

Can anybody take a look at some photos and give me an idea whether the dial and hands have been replaced with the Super-Luminova dial and handset in the past? Or; when I send the watch to STS will they replace the dial and hands if straightening the hands isnt a possibility?

I feel like with the age of the watch and the fact that it has clearly been worn a lot the dial and hands should be orange by this point.

If you would like more photos let me know!

16945222054623548641544980526059-jpg.1663097

20230912_113907-jpg.1663099

20230912_113840-jpg.1663100

Thank you for your time! 😀
 
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I'm not an expert on these, but it looks like a fairly modern dial with luminova. Wouldn't a watch from 1993 have T on the dial? Possibly the previous owner had it serviced by Omega and they replaced the dial. A UV test would give you the answer if you are familiar with how luminova responds.

BTW, 1993 is not very old, and most tritium dials from the 90s have not aged very much, unless damaged or exposed to moisture.
 
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That looks like a modern dial and hand set.

Wouldn't a watch from 1993 have T on the dial?

No - these were never marked with a T even when they had tritium...
 
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That looks like a modern dial and hand set.

This was my thinking. It was confusing me so much.

Thank you for your reply.


I'm not an expert on these, but it looks like a fairly modern dial with luminova. Wouldn't a watch from 1993 have T on the dial? Possibly the previous owner had it serviced by Omega and they replaced the dial. A UV test would give you the answer if you are familiar with how luminova responds.

BTW, 1993 is not very old, and most tritium dials from the 90s have not aged very much, unless damaged or exposed to moisture.

I have tested under UV and it reacts the same as any modern Seiko I've ever owned. I don't know what to look out for with a Tritium dial under UV.

I see lots of Seamasters of this age and younger on the bay with very brown markers.

And thank you for saying 1993 isn't very old. I wasnt sure if this should have gone in the older omegas forum section
 
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A while back I serviced 5 of this model for a collector (along with a couple of Speedmasters), and you can see that 3 of them are tritium, and 2 are luminova...



The tritium versions are all pretty obvious at this stage with the colour of the lume plots.