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Seamaster model lume: good? bad? indifferent?

tikkathree
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I'm toying with the idea of a "previous model" Seamaster as a bedside timepiece. Currently I use a Seiko 7T84 Velatura Yachting Timer which serves me well so this would by way of a brand upgrade. Simply for convenience this is one of the times when quartz is my go-to; why do I use a watch rather than a clock? Well there is an LED digital display clock which SWMBO prefers but (1) I don't wear my specs when sleeping so it's waaaay out of focus for me and (2) don't see why I have to move from the horizontal to squint at the out-of-focus clock when holding a watch dial close to my face in the darkness is preferable and is less of a wake-up call.

So with little hands-on brand experience I'm wondering just how effective the lume might be on a dark - blue or black dialled Seamaster. Much though I truly adore my Aqua Terra Teak Opaline 8500 the lume on those hands hardly cuts through the night especially if the watch has only been exposed to the light of light levels we get in GB on rainy winter days. I repeat, I am short-sighted so squinting at this point.

I've just run a couple of searches here on "Seamaster lume" and "lume" and not really found any threads which answer my question so I'm asking it now.
Taking the following examples of the breed (not these specific watches), firstly how good is/was the standard lume and assuming it is likely by now to be fading awayin these or similar models would a relume do anything to their value?

Thanks in advance guys

s-l1600.jpg

s-l1600.jpg
s-l1600.jpg
 
dc_in_sf
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The sword hand models have awesome lume, probably the best you can get in any Omega model. I had the 2254 pictured and it was the brightest watch in my collection before it was sadly lost at sea.

AFAIK Superluminova doesn't really age out since it is not radioactive like the previous Tritium dials, not sure when Omega switched away from Tritium, but suspect anything this century would be superluminova and thus still functional and not needing a re-lume.

No superluminova watch will glow brightly all night, so your ability to read it at say 5am will depend on how dark your room is, if it gets some light that can be enough to wash out the (by then) weak glow of the watch.
 
Huus
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You can't go wrong with the lume of the 2264.50. It 's like a torch. You can read a book with it 😀.
The Bond skeleton hands are difficult to see in the dark. And yes, I do need to squint also.
I have no experience with no 3 on my nightstand.
 
CPRwatch
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The 2254 lune is in my most humble opinion , Unreal . It's got to be one of the best ever produced by anyone , this watch has some serious luminosity . And I cannot recommend this watch highly enough , the amazing lume is just a added bonus .
 
tikkathree
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CPRwatch CPRwatch
The 2254 lune is in my most humble opinion , Unreal . It's got to be one of the best ever produced by anyone , this watch has some serious luminosity . And I cannot recommend this watch highly enough , the amazing lume is just a added bonus .

Thank you for the lume feed. By the way is your experience with quartz or auto?
 
CPRwatch
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tikkathree tikkathree
Thank you for the lume feed. By the way is your experience with quartz or auto?
My experience with the 2254 is with the automatic.But there wouldn't be any difference in the lume ,between quartz or the automatic .
 
padders
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I have owned all 3 at the same time. The Blake/Sword hands SMPs have awesome lume as mentioned above. The Bond less so. The Pre Bond 200m in the third pic will have tritium lume if still original meaning by now it’ll be very dim as 2 half lives have elapsed. Be aware that there are early tritium dial 2531 Bond SMPs out there which will also be dim and probably beige by now too. The change over in SMP lume was late 1997. All the sword hands models use bright SL lume.

I use a 2265 as a UK bed side table clock. It works fine.
Edited:
 
tikkathree
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padders padders
I have owned all 3 at the same time. The Blake/Sword hands SMPs have awesome lume as mentioned above. The Bond less so. The Pre Bond 200m in the third pic will have tritium lume if still original meaning by now it’ll be very dim as 2 half lives have elapsed. Be aware that there are early tritium dial 2531 Bond SMPs out there which will also be dim and probably beige by now too. The change over in SMP lume was late 1997. All the sword hands models use bright SL lume.

I use a 2265 as a UK bed side table clock. It works fine.

Obliged to you. Thank you. i think it's flip "some others" time.
 
T
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dc_in_sf dc_in_sf
The sword hand models have awesome lume, probably the best you can get in any Omega model. I had the 2254 pictured and it was the brightest watch in my collection before it was sadly lost at sea.

AFAIK Superluminova doesn't really age out since it is not radioactive like the previous Tritium dials, not sure when Omega switched away from Tritium, but suspect anything this century would be superluminova and thus still functional and not needing a re-lume.

No superluminova watch will glow brightly all night, so your ability to read it at say 5am will depend on how dark your room is, if it gets some light that can be enough to wash out the (by then) weak glow of the watch.
Lost at sea?!

I really feel for you!!
 
dc_in_sf
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T trumpetera
Lost at sea?!

I really feel for you!!

My insurance actually paid out more than I paid when I bought the watch new, but do miss it (bought the IWC Spitfire UTC with the proceeds to mix things up and still get more sword hands fix).
 
WineGuyd
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Omega's Super Luminova is their own proprietary blend of strontium aluminate and is arguably the brightest and longest glowing lume of any watch brand. The Planet Ocean followed by the Diver 300 have the most amount of visible lume and to my eyes are super readable when I wake up in the dark... and I need 1.75 reader yet I can easily read my dial.
 
padders
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WineGuyd WineGuyd
Omega's Super Luminova is their own proprietary blend of strontium aluminate and is arguably the brightest and longest glowing lume of any watch brand. The Planet Ocean followed by the Diver 300 have the most amount of visible lume and to my eyes are super readable when I wake up in the dark... and I need 1.75 reader yet I can easily read my dial.
Which PO? My Blake SMPs are brighter than my PO. Or perhaps you were referring to the less bright Bond dial?
 
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