Three month ago I purchased a new Seamaster Aqua Terra and have found it to be useless when trying to read it in the dark! For some reason Omega used lume only on the arrowhead of the minute hand rather than the hand itself. The result of this practice is that the minute hand's location on the dial is often impossible to pick out. The luminous arrowhead portion of the hand blends right into 5 minute markers of the watch and can't be readily seen. Has anyone else had this problem? I have no idea why Omega made this change. My earlier made 36mm Aqua Terra is a dream to read at night with both minute and hours hands clearly luminous and easy to read. Comments?

 

This is how I tell the time when the sun goes down.

Sunset...



Bedtime...

 

A torch or being in the vicinity of a light switch when you need to know the time may help....

 

Had the same issue with my 2020 38mm AT with blue dial. It was illegible in any sort of low light situation. Ultimately sold it for another reason entirely but I did love wearing it.

 

Just can't get too excited about lume issues, way too much emphasis on lume, imo. But everyone has their important aspects.

 

This is the biggest downfall of my AT. But when it’s fully charged, it does seem to last most the night.

 

You're not wrong - especially as the arrowhead-only treatment is also given to the sweep seconds hand, where it works because of its easily perceptible motion. Thus it looks odd as well as hard to see. Odd mistake for designers to make. Cue more love for "old" AT and GM I guess.

 

My JW also lasts most of the night when fully charged, but eventually it runs down, like Charlemagne's.

 

Had the same problem, hour hand can be even worse to read at night if covered by the minute or the seconds hand.

 

This is precisely why I want to purchase a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms for my right arm. I will use it at night to illuminate the dress watch on my left arm when I need to see the time.

 

Or you get the 2254 Seamaster, would do the job just as good!
Edit: i do love the look of Blancpain FF though!

 

It is well known that the AT line is not heavy on lume. That being said the arrowhead hands are highly legible in low light, at least to my eyes (and they are not strong)

Is the new AT useless? Not really. many high end watches have little or no lume at all. The AT is not a divers watch, although you can swim and dive with it. Nor is it a "night watch" on concept. The lack of lume is part of the design, it doesn't make it useless as a watch, it makes it less desirable if lume is your main interest.

I often find that even watches with great lume are not that useful as they are often under my shirt or jacket and by the time I'm on a dark space the lume is under exposed to light to start with. I do enjoy seeing it in the middle of the day as I change rooms but I wouldn't say it is adding to the visibility of the watch.

So I guess I find the title here a little over dramatic. But it is your view.

 

I do like my 8500 AT so wouldn’t go as far as to call it useless. However I do agree the lume hands are difficult to read in the dark. So much so that should I ‘briefly’ wake and look to see what time it is, by the time I’ve figured it out I’m wide awake.
Conversely my 2254 keeps me wide awake too

 

have fun
kfw

 

Right you are. But in my case, my job requires me to be able

Amen. That's the exact problem I have noted during the night

Perhaps your right about the headline. Other than not being able to readily tell time in the dark this watch is gorgeous and spookily accurate. Unfortunately, my job requires I be able to quickly access time in the dark. For that reason only I will probably sell this Omega for a different watch in the future. Thanks for the input...

 

I've also found my ATs harder to read in the dark but I didn't really them for that reason. For lume/legibility (legibility day and night, actually) the 2254.50 has me covered.

 

I agree, there is enough charge for a couple of hours.

 

I’d recommend you be more practical, and get a Timex indiglo for your job. Keep the AT for everything else.