Good day everyone. When I first received my speedmaster 145.022-69, I didn't notice any crack in the lume. After wearing it every day for the past 2 and a half months, I started noticing there's a crack forming along the periphery of the hour hand's lume. I think the tropical climate I live in is accelerating the lume disintegration. Is there a way to prevent the lume from crumbling further? The lume on minute and chrono second counter hands seems fine for now.
I've heard of watchmakers being able to stabilize lume but not sure exactly what they use. I've also heard that sometimes it makes the lume color darker. Hopefully the watchmakers here will also respond!
In the past I have had a watchmaker seal lume from the back using some type of glue. Recently, I had a well-known watchmaker tell me he stabilizes lume using a two step process, covering the back of the hands with matching relume paste and then sealing that in. He does it this way to prevent the "glue" from affecting the original lume. It made me wonder what effect the sealants may have on original lume in the long term. Will it affect the composition? Would love to hear thoughts on this.
use coloured waterbased tritium lume from the back. that usually is enough to stop the crumbling for many years. kind regards. achim
When asked to conserve existing lume I have used RC Tritec binder (makers of Superluminova) it's clear, it never changes colour or seems to deteriorate, and it's the same stuff I use to mix with Super lume if I am reluming a watch. So far,10 years on from my first repair, nothing has gotten worse, the lume is stable. I apply it from the back to the hands, and you can also apply it to the dial lume if needed.
Yes, I just use the clear binder from the back. Adding more lume can make the lume too thick, so keeping it thin and tidy is best in my view.