Background:
So lume on a watch isn't something I've spent much time thinking about over the past 30+ years that I've been collecting watches. Yes, I have watches that have some sort of glow in the dark material on the dial and hands, but I never dwelt on it or even cared if it glowed or not. I didn't even know what kind of material was used to effect whatever glow they exhibit. Once in while, I'd notice that they were glowing in the dark and I'd think, "oh, isn't that nifty." End of story.
The Situation:
A few months back, another watchie mentioned that they'd bought a Deep Blue (DB) Master Explorer (ME). I took a quick look at it on DB's website. I liked the textured dial and I thought from the pics that the lume would be impressive.
Seeing as the watch was inexpensive to begin with and on sale on top of that, I thought nothing of it and ordered one. I figured with its red dial.
My expectations for the watch were:
- Fun to wear given the red dial
- Keeps time as well as any Miyota 9015, which is to say, well enough
- Very legible in the dark
- Excellent build quality; durable and able to take a beating
That's it. I knew it'd be a pretty basic watch and I already owned a DB T100.
What Happened:
Low and behold, like my T100, the build quality is outstanding. Indeed in that regard, it's very much on par with Rolex, Bremont, IWC, Pita, Aquadive and UTS. Fit and finish of the case and bracelet is impeccable, having very precise case edges, parts that align and match perfectly, no play in the bezel's rotation, etc. Like my T100, it's got the (unnecessary, but nice to have) solid end links that so many folks gush over re: Rolex watches. The bezel is also ceramic. And like my T100, the thing is built like a tank, as well it should be, for it's also heavier than the T100. (Both are heavier by far than my Submariner, and that's because they best the Sub's depth rating by 200 and 700 meters.)
Timekeeping is exactly what I expected too. It's neither better nor worse than any other watch having a Miyota 9015 inside. So no issue there.
I like the red dial and its texture too. I don't know what the dial is made of, but I don't care either. Sealed inside the airtight tank that is the watch's case, it could as well be made of paper and it'd look good and not get damaged. (Were it paper, its color may face from prolonged exposure to the sun, but would be all that could happen to it.)
And that brings me to the lume. The watch's luminescence results from the Superluminova (SL) coating/paint/paste on the hands, bezel numerals and markers, and dial markers. SL must be "charged" for it to glow. Exposing the light to just about any light source will charge it. Once charged, SL glows very brightly at first, but it fades over time. How long it glows brightly enough to be easily seen depends on how much SL has been applied to the surface one wants to have glow. The more SL paint/paste there is, the longer it visibly glows.
The Rant:
I knew this about SL, but as I said at the outset, I never bothered myself about it. Lume has never before the ME been a reason I chose or didn't choose a watch.
Now since DB made such a point to depict just how bright the glow is on the ME (they do so with all their watches, actually), I figured their watch would visibly glow all night long on a day's worth of charging. (Keep in mind, it's winter. Nights are longer.) Insofar as I already had a DB T100 (it uses tritium tubes, not SL), I figured that DB wouldn't offer an alternative lume approach that didn't work substantively as well as tritium.
Let me just say that rarely have my expectations been so unfulfilled! The lume on the ME glows for about 30 to 45 minutes, after which, I can't see the glow. It may still be glowing, but one'd need an instrument of some sort to tell.
Now, I don't know about you, but from time to time, I fall asleep with my watch on. Also, on occasion, I wake in the middle of the night and when I do, I look at my watch to see what time it is, whereupon I wonder to myself, "WTH am I waking at this ungodly hour? That's if I have on a watch. If I don't, I roll over and glance at the clock. Either way, checking the time isn't a "thinking" act; it's instinctual.
Plenty of my watches aren't glowing when I wake in the night. That's fine with me. I wasn't ever expecting that they should. Most of them I've had long enough to know damn well they aren't going to be glowing at four a.m. I am actually okay with that, even though they are supposed to glow at some point.
Out of curiosity, I tested several of my glowers to see which glowed the longest and strongest. Well, it turned out that except for the watch I bought from a street vendor in the PRC, they all glow equally bright and their glow lasts to within a minute or two of one another. The inexpensive ones, the pricey ones, the Rolex, the Omega, the Citizen, the Seiko, the DB, etc.; effectively they are all the same.
By now, you are probably thinking the issue isn't really SL or how long it glows. The issue is my expectations, and perhaps my failure to have paid attention to the glow on my older watches. Fair enough.
So what is there to do about it? Well, for starters, watch companies could put whatever amount/thickness of SL they want to on their watches, test it, and then list the glow period among the specs of the watch. From my own testing, it's pretty clear to me that how well and how long SL glows isn't one of those "your experience may vary" things as is fuel economy, for example. If the maker puts X microns worth of SL on the part in question, it's going to glow the same way for you, me and every other Tom, Dick and Harry on the planet.
What I'm saying is that watch companies need to better manage customer expectations. I am not upset or annoyed that the SL only glows for 30-45 minutes. That is what it is. I'm peeved that DB (and other makers) don't plainly state that 30-45 minutes of good glowing is all one can expect given how much SL they put on their watch parts.
There is no reason in my mind why a watch company cannot figure out how long the SL will glow and put that metric right there next to their indication that the watch has SL (or whatever) illumination. I had no difficulty figuring it out, so I know they shouldn't. I tried sunlight, incandescent bulbs, florescent bulbs, halogen bulbs, and LED bulbs. Same result every time.
Conclusion:- If you want lume in a watch and it matters, go with tritium.
- Consumer expectations, not the watch itself, control whether any products is any good at being/doing that which it's supposed to be/do.
All the best.