Hand relumes? Yay or nay?

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I’m always up for a good hand job as long as it’s done with care and no runoff is visible on the steel-part of the hands.
 
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I think the examples shown in this thread are excellent jobs and were done sympathetically to the watch- not try it to make it look like new.
I am having the same quandary as I have a watch where the lume is completely gone from the hands and barely hanging on to the indices. Otherwise the dial is spectacular but the missing lume feels like a classic car missing it’s hubcaps-it’s just looks unfinished.
 
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One thing I’ve noticed with reluming the hands to match the dial, you can get it done perfectly but if your wear your watch in the sun then the lume on the dial and hands don’t react in quite the same way and then they don’t match anymore...
 
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I’m always up for a good hand job as long as it’s done with care and no runoff is visible

That can be interpreted in a few ways.... 😁
 
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I think the examples shown in this thread are excellent jobs and were done sympathetically to the watch- not try it to make it look like new.
I am having the same quandary as I have a watch where the lume is completely gone from the hands and barely hanging on to the indices. Otherwise the dial is spectacular but the missing lume feels like a classic car missing it’s hubcaps-it’s just looks unfinished.
Thank you @JwRosenthal, it is indeed a critical factor to be able to trust the person to do it well. I’ve often thought I would love to learn how to do these things myself. Fortunately I know at least two people locally who can do really beautiful relume work without going so far as a cross border shipment. But there are people in the US and the UK who can do that type of stuff, if that’s where you are.
 
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My watchmaker mixes the new lume with some coffee to get the right shade of color.
He says it is the best method for not having different colors between dial and hands.
The results are excellent IMO

 
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Steel lasts longer than brass, brass longer than enamel, enamel longer than lume paste.
Something has to be done at some point.

Not many people ditch a car when the tyres are worn out.
 
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My watchmaker mixes the new lume with some coffee to get the right shade of color.
He says it is the best method for not having different colors between dial and hands.
The results are excellent IMO
That is so awesome... does he use light, medium or dark roast?

I had some positive feedback from mentioning Noctilumina (http://www.noctilumina.com/main/pigments.html) on a different thread and figured it would be equally relevant here.

I ordered yellow + orange pigments after Scott replied to a pic of my dial, and my watchmaker spent 3h mixing them until they were the perfect shade to match - now they look like vintage tritium in both day and night (green glow) 😀

I wish I had known and tried tried the cheaper coffee method first, but am still super happy with my Noctilumina!

(DISCLOSURES: just kidding, no conflicts of interest to report hehe)
 
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That is so awesome... does he use light, medium or dark roast?

I had some positive feedback from mentioning Noctilumina (http://www.noctilumina.com/main/pigments.html) on a different thread and figured it would be equally relevant here.

I ordered yellow + orange pigments after Scott replied to a pic of my dial, and my watchmaker spent 3h mixing them until they were the perfect shade to match - now they look like vintage tritium in both day and night (green glow) 😀

I wish I had known and tried tried the cheaper coffee method first, but am still super happy with my Noctilumina!

(DISCLOSURES: just kidding, no conflicts of interest to report hehe)
Very interesting, but now we want to see a picture of the watch !!
 
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Very interesting, but now we want to see a picture of the watch !!


No natural light at this time so posting this older photo: it is the "air" in my ensemble of land, air & sea (IWC Mark XI, with untouched tritium dial]
 
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IMHO, if a watch comes with hands missing lume (or was previously relumed, and just looks wrong), its 100% ok to get them relumed, if it improves the overall aesthetic and is a good job (I have bought both cases). I don't see how a potential buyer (who is a serious and sympathetic collector) would see this as a problem, and to me it would not impact the sale. Naturally, full disclosure is king, and I feel certain if, e.g. in your sales pitch, you illustrate why it was done, and thus show how much better it looks as in this thread, its all good 👍

Edit : naturally, and I know you know this, the same watch with original lume would command a slightly higher value, and so, if priced correctly and a buyer knows this difference, it might even be more attractive to him/her.
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