Please will you give me your opinions on this '64 Ed White Speedmaster lume. ORIGINAL or RE-LUME?

 

IMO relume, and not a very good one. EW lume can be very wobbly but that is beyond anything I have seen previously.

 

To me it looks like the original lume was stabilized with some compound which eventually flaked off on its own. That could also explain the very yellow hue and the even aging.

 

Looks relumey.

 

Looks relume

 

Looks like it needs a re lume

 

It needs a relume lol

 

The relume needs to be relumed

 

The idea that it was original material that was decaying then was "stabilized" would explain the smearing and the partial loss of lum may be correct, or it's the worst attempt to re lum I've seen in quite awhile. Either way, the others are right when they say it needs NEW lum.

Is that a fiber, like a black hair in the one photo?

 

Looks terrible either way.

 

Looks like a bad re-lume applied with a brush "Maude-Style"

Looks like some of the brush hairs were even stuck to the plots...

 

This brings up an intersting dilemma then. With all the talk abut originality and patina, and we all acknowledge that this just looks bad, can that dial be cleaned and relumed by a know pro safely? And will that be an asset to the watches value versus just doing a service dial and keeping the original as is in a package for the next owner to decide if they choose to sell it at some point?

 

The damage may have already been done to that dial, so a good relume will make it more enjoyable to wear. A good relumer should be able to handle the job.

 

Thanks all for your comments, appreciate them.

 

Check out micheal young, he does some nice work.

 

Link?

 

http://www.classicwatchrepair.com/

 

Johnson?