Opinions on reluming hands 1969 Speedmaster

M'Bob · Nov 8, 2020

padders
Originality is king yes, but not at the expense of aesthetics.

I agree. I think the pendulum has swung too far in the “originality at all costs” direction. Sympathetic restorations are done in many venues by very talented people, and if done correctly, can improve the appearance and potential enjoyment of any object.

joeshoup · Nov 9, 2020

I had the dial plots and hands of my -69 relumed by Mr. Hyman this year and haven't regretted it for a second. Such an incredible improvement on the moldy lume... I see reluming as a type of service tbh.

NEWT · Nov 24, 2020

@joeshoup I would love to see a before and after pic of your relume if convenient. My 69 has one "good" plot while the remainder are quite dark. While I don't lose much sleep over it, my eyes are always drawn to the good plot. Am I going to sell it? Most likely, no. It was a gift from Dad in my late teens. It's been recently serviced and now carefully worn........just thinking about it.

Appreciate the pro and con comments too, they've prompted me to give this more thought.

bbozic · Nov 24, 2020

I would not touch the hands. The lume has its own special patina and that alone gives the watch a unique look and soul. Leave it as it is 👍

Flip · Nov 24, 2020

I’m all for originality so “keep as is” gets my vote too but at the end of the day it’s your watch so do what you feel happy with.
Talk of James Hyman’s work in this thread and the quality is worth mentioning. I’ve seen 2 watches this year that were relumed by him, both fantastic jobs so there’s arguments for both

myatt · Nov 24, 2020

Norfolk
The dial is excellent and the lume acceptable and still working. The hands are however black and dead eg no lume. So do I get the hands

I think I remeber @Spacefruit observing in one of his vidoes that the hands were black when the hour markers are custard yellow, which in this reference are a sign of the hands being entirely original and having aged with the watch - something worth watching out. Does that settle it for ya - I think OF has already got it covered for you. Just my 0.02. Don't get it relumed. Get a spare set of hands and lume and keep the original ones in a safe. Just in case.

Norfolk · Nov 24, 2020

Rest assured I will be leaving this exactly as it came to me...

nanjingcigaretes · Nov 25, 2020

I would not touch it. I made a mistake let a local watchsmith to relume my watch, came out not as I expected so I would never do that again.

Flip · Nov 25, 2020

Here’s an example of James Hyman’s work ..... before and after

Flip · Nov 25, 2020

...... certainly more aesthetically pleasing relumed wouldn’t you say ?

padders · Nov 25, 2020

Yep he’s a magician. And active on here at times too, as I discovered to my embarrassment when I declared a particular watch to be likely a JH relume (since it was attractive but suspiciously uniform for its age) and he was quick to point out it was certainly not his work at all.