In Defense of Faux Lume

All those horrid radium watches will get scraped!

I agree that the Rail looks incredible but part of me wants to see a seamaster without.
Give us V3 of the 300 so a modern case, slimmer like the 57 with white hands

Faux lume is an interesting topic, lots of thoughts both for and against, and very preferential decision....I myself don't have very strong arguments for either side, so hence I'm quite undecided on it. There are equally compelling reasons for either side I think.

But at least for the 60th anniversary releases, I just can't imagine them with white lume. Those just don't look right with anything other than brown colored lume, faux or not.

There's all kinds of lume colours on watches these days, why not just accept that Omega have chosen to go with what they think looks best.

That's what I'm saying....

And that's why it's a reissue

OK I'll bite and be the salmon swimming upstream in this discussion...

I am generally not a fan of faux patina on watches. I have no problem if other people feel differently and the fact that there are different opinions and tastes leads to variety in the marketplace, which I'll always be a fan of.

Here's why I don't like faux patina (it's not really faux lume...it's actual lume, but it's made to look aged and not new, hence the term faux patina) with regards to watches, cars, or anything else:

I have an appreciation for a quality, original, surviving vintage piece. Because it represents kind of a time capsule, a reminder that real time has passed and the piece survives intact. It also represents individuality. A vintage Speedy Ed White, for example, will not look exactly like any other Ed White. Everything that makes a vintage piece attractive to me doesn't exist in new models, and a watch company choosing to put cream-colored lume on it doesn't change that, and to me smacks of a cheap ploy to bank on a popular trend. It seems entirely contrived to me that a company create a new model, in mass quantities of identical pieces with the expressed design point to look older than it really is. I don't blame them for doing so, since the masses seem to like it and the market has a demand for it. But for me, what makes actual vintage cream-colored lume attractive is the actual representation of the passage of time, and a new model that is made to look that way doesn't sit right with me. In the end it's your money, and if you like it, go ahead and buy it.

Counterpoint: when new, 60 years ago...the lume was white on these pieces. As such an honest re-issue should follow suit. If a company like Omega really wanted to blow my mind, they would create a re-issue with painted tritium, or another painted-on lume material that will age over time instead of Superluminova. I'm not a chemical engineer, but I can't imagine something like this is not physically possible.

Well here you go! I must admit I don't like the faux patina on the 60th editions and it was actually a deal breaker for me, I don't think the all white lume looks that much better (but better though ;-)). Although this was probably how they were sold in sixties. I'd love the own this one.

Here's the Seamaster.

And a 50% whiter lume version. I just don't like color of the lume they used, have seen it many times in the boutique. But an excellent replica of the aged models.

I'm firmly in the "it's just a colour" camp. These are new watches aimed at the buyers of new watches. Sure they hark back to earlier iterations, but a crucial difference is that the lume adds functionality to the new versions (i.e. it actually glows 😀)

Ask yourself just how popular a reissue would be to the above target market if the lume was uneven/puffy/greeny-black and didn't actually glow. For example, courtesy of Speedmaster101.com comes this image of a tritium dialled Speedy


I'd suggest that the condition of the lume would be treasured by collectors, but if reproduced on a modern iteration as true "faux lume", would not appeal to the new buyer market and it's the new buyer market that Omega looks to first and foremost.

There's also the "tropical" dial, retro Omega logos and the domed sapphire crystal, all recreating the look of the original. I would have loved the clasp to be more slender and retro as well.
They chose some things to be modern (the movement, the clasp) and some to be retro.
For me, the combination is a wonderful compromise that appeals to me very much and motivated me to buy my first new, full retail-priced luxury watch. The lume color appealed to me and especially the size...if it would have been a 43mm case, that also would have been a deal-breaker.

Sorry dumb question, what’s the reference on that PO @Foo2rama ?

TIA!

I'm not so much pro faux patina lume as I'm anti sterile, clinical white lume.

The lume on many contemporary pieces is so white is makes the watch look... I don't know, less organic. A lot of pieces, the contemporary Speedy Pro and the Sub, would greatly benefit from a slightly off-white lume to make them look a lot warmer. Think Seiko MM300 SBDX001 for example.

I never used to like it, but I think when done properly, is less annoying. Personally, I think the fauxtina on the Ultraman was done nicer than on the 60th.