[fmalloy]

some of these pictures of lumes are also misleading. The wonderful photographers we have on this site give you great pics of everything to their finest detail. I also think, that they leave the shutter open longer when taking a pic, this usually leads to a lume which is brighter then expected.

Exactly. If you put a camera on a tripod and leave the shutter open for hours, even an outdoor scene lit solely by starlight will look like a day scene, tho somewhat strangely bizarre, with no shadows.

It's a pretty cool effect, but shows you that lume photos don't prove anything.

 

[Grooveuniverse]

I agree with the part about expectations setting self precedence, but the fact remains, Aqua Terra having less lume is fine (I accpeted that by now), because of the expectations and classification of that watch.

The PO, or more rugged watches worn and symbolized by James Bond and his heroics (mind you heroics arent done only during the daytime, as a spy, assasin should have good luminosity throughout the evening. Im not saying it should be a glow stick, but for some who mentioned that it fades in minutes in the dark is something that worries me. These are watches that have lumiunosity as a function for a reason, alongside its outdoorsy name. If you fall asleep and you wake up an hour or two later and you cant tell time, that is unreasonable to me.

 

[SpringDriven]

Remember that a Superluminova glows as it charges. It does not wait till it is dark out to glow. It needs a charge of light to glow, and with a good charge it will glow for eight or more hours. It really depends on how much of a charge it gets for how long. My SMP and PO both glow all night long into the next morning with a charge. The brighter the light and longer the charge, the more and longer it will glow.

The article that a link was posted too about superlumninova shows a graph, and it is a very good article.

Just because you wear it for a few hours in the sun, it is releasing it's charge at the same time, so by the time you are ready for bed, it needs another charge to last all night long too!

 

[nathantw666]

We have some halogen spotlights to light up some areas and before bed I just hold the watch up to the light for about 30 seconds or so. Of course the lume is brighter than bright in the beginning but, as you know, it fades quickly. However, the lume will stay bright all night long. It's not so bright that it'll light up a room, but bright enough that if you wake up in the middle of the night, your dark adjusted eyes will be able to read the time.

That said, my Speedmaster is the worse performer out of all my watches. The lume just isn't all that bright. My Tissot T-touch comes next. The best performer out of the lot is my Seiko 5. Yes, you read correctly. My least expensive watch has the best lume out of all. I only use those if I don't have my Nike quartz watch handy. I just press a button and it lights up the room.

The watch I use the most for night lume, though, is my Traser Classic automatic. It uses tritium tubes, like a Ball watch, so it glows all night and when I wake up in the middle of the night it's like a bright becon. It's interesting that it doesn't look all that bright when nightfall comes since the tubes are rated at T25 but once your eyes adjust to the darkness it's REALLY bright. I gave my son a Traser diving watch and he just loves looking at the watch in the middle of the night.

 

[Grooveuniverse]

Remember that a Superluminova glows as it charges. It does not wait till it is dark out to glow. It needs a charge of light to glow, and with a good charge it will glow for eight or more hours. It really depends on how much of a charge it gets for how long. My SMP and PO both glow all night long into the next morning with a charge. The brighter the light and longer the charge, the more and longer it will glow.

The article that a link was posted too about superlumninova shows a graph, and it is a very good article.

Just because you wear it for a few hours in the sun, it is releasing it's charge at the same time, so by the time you are ready for bed, it needs another charge to last all night long too!

Omega PO is selling itself as a durable quality watch, enough for espionage, branding itself as Planet Ocean. I see where you are coming from in terms of it needing a charge and that it will glow for 8 hours as you stated, both glow all night for 8 hours. So lets say you wear your watch with a short sleeve shirt outside during the day for 8 hours....and while it is charging it is still luminating..but you say it needs another charge to last all night long, where do you get that "charge? Between the sunny day, and evening during sunset, youre either in a very bright room all night right before going to bed, or letting it sit under a direct lamp every evening then going to bed.

Im not trying to debate here or point to any subjective faults of others opinions..but if you need it charged all day to maintian a charge between sunset and evening, it seems you need another charge just to have it glow in the late evenings while using defribilators in an Aston Martin overseas. :-d

Dont get me wrong, i love my AT, but a Planet Ocean should have very good luminosity. Imagine a cloudy day out and about on a road trip or hike or something.

 

[GregB]

I have a Seiko diver ("King of Lume" so some), a Seamaster (skeleton hands), and a Rolex Sub Date (skinny minute hand).

Guess what.

No problem reading any of the three at any hour of the night, without having to charge them when they are the watch that was worn that day. No, they won't light the way to the bathroom, but once my eyes are dark-adapted I have no trouble reading them. All three are 'tool' watches so no idea how the AT would, or should compare. My Hamilton dress watch has no lume - no biggie to me - it looks GREAT with a suit!

- GregB

 

[SpringDriven]

Omega PO is selling itself as a durable quality watch, enough for espionage, branding itself as Planet Ocean. I see where you are coming from in terms of it needing a charge and that it will glow for 8 hours as you stated, both glow all night for 8 hours. So lets say you wear your watch with a short sleeve shirt outside during the day for 8 hours....and while it is charging it is still luminating..but you say it needs another charge to last all night long, where do you get that "charge? Between the sunny day, and evening during sunset, youre either in a very bright room all night right before going to bed, or letting it sit under a direct lamp every evening then going to bed.
:-x
Im not trying to debate here or point to any subjective faults of others opinions..but if you need it charged all day to maintian a charge between sunset and evening, it seems you need another charge just to have it glow in the late evenings while using defribilators in an Aston Martin overseas. :-d
:-x
Dont get me wrong, i love my AT, but a Planet Ocean should have very good luminosity. Imagine a cloudy day out and about on a road trip or hike or something.

:-x

I think this is a case of expectations, and I find the answer to be simple. If I want my watch to glow, I charge it. I don't expect it to glow without doing so. When I do charge it, it lasts all night long, from 10pm to 6am, so it does work, it just does not work without my intervention, and that intervention is what you are expecting not to have to do. It would be cool if it was self sustaining like tritium gas tubes, but they have a half life and Superluminova is supposed to be good for longer...

 

[nathantw666]

:-x
It would be cool if it was self sustaining like tritium gas tubes, but they have a half life and Superluminova is supposed to be good for longer...

What's funny about that statement is I have a 35 year old triple-date watch that has T Swiss T on it. One night I just glanced at my watch case and saw two little lines glowing where there shouldn't be. I turned on the lights and saw that it was my triple-date watch with the tritium luminous material! I would have thought the radiation would have decayed by now, but I guess not.

 

[TSC]

So basically I think we can read into this that if I want my PO to be visible at night I have to charge it beforehand. Well, that's not gonna happen. I think for a watch of that price it should be visible enough without having to. And, If I'm driving at night and glance at it it's non-existant.

Shining a torch on a watch face before bed was something I probably did when I was about 6, it would be a tad sad to start that up again...

 

[vbuskirk]

Mine shows absolutely nothing at night. Sure, if you go get a big torch and shine it at the watch before you go to bed for 30 seconds, then you'll see the 'great lume', but who does that?

I do. ;-) The trick is to buy a new refrigerator. Many of them now have big banks of LED lights. That last drink of water before going to bed always brings a smile to my face now.


(P.S. my Speedmaster's lume is nicely executed, but it isn't the brightest watch out there.)

 

[vbuskirk]

Shining a torch on a watch face before bed was something I probably did when I was about 6, it would be a tad sad to start that up again...

And yes, I am a 6 year old little boy when it comes to my new found hobby. Or, at least that's what my daughter told me about how I ran down the stairs to meet the FedEx man yesterday.

Yes, I've got it bad, but "sad"? Really??? I prefer "precious", with a little pat on the head. ;-)

 

[TSC]

No offence mate, I admire your dedication to the cause. But for the record, 15 seconds under a light isn't enough, well at least it isn't on mine...

 

[vbuskirk]

I not stretchy the truf. It's is a big bank of lights.

 

[redsrover]

I've been impressed the last week or so with my Seamaster 300m mid-size. I took the stainless bracelet off and put on a Tropic rubber strap (love it $2000 watch on a $7 strap!). One night I took the watch off and set it face up on the night table under a lamp. I turned the lamp on, read my latested Roundel issue for 10 minutes, and went to sleep. That's the routine almost nightly. The bedroom lamps stay off during the day, and plantation shutters keep most of the sunlight out of the room too for that matter.

EACH morning since leaving the watch on the night table beside my side of the bed I've gotten up at 545am and EACH morning I have been impressed with the amount of brightness in the lume on the face and hands of the 300m.

I don't think my Seadweller would match the lume if I were to do the same with it for a week. One thing about the SD and the GMTII though is that after being outside in the sunlight and coming back indoors, even under the flouresent lights of the office or the ambient sunlight indoors at home, I can still see the bright lume from my ROLEXes for a few minutes.

And yes, sometimes I'll hit the face of one of these with a surefire torch just to pump it up (kids love to look at the face of my watch in the dark before the settle down for bed).

Cheers!

 

[TSC]

That's a fridge, not a sunbed right?

Is the FedEx man a good friend?

 

[vbuskirk]

That's a fridge, not a sunbed right?

Its the one "watch accessory" that your wife will get behind!

 

[SpringDriven]

So basically I think we can read into this that if I want my PO to be visible at night I have to charge it beforehand. Well, that's not gonna happen. I think for a watch of that price it should be visible enough without having to. And, If I'm driving at night and glance at it it's non-existant.

Shining a torch on a watch face before bed was something I probably did when I was about 6, it would be a tad sad to start that up again...

1. Are you aware of these two facts about Superluminova?

a: It is currently the best chargeable glow material available on the market, so Omega can do no better. If I am wrong I am interested in knowing...

b: Superluminova supposedly has a longer life then Tritium based glow material, which dims with age. So SuperLuminova will still be glowing the same after tritium glass tubes stop.

2. Is night time visibility important to you? Maybe you should look into one of the Ball Watches that use the tritium glass tubes for their dials and hands? They do not need light to glow, the tritium charges the glow material in the tubes, so you never need to charge them. However someday, admitedly a dozen years at least, they will stop glowing, and their glow will gradually reduce over time due to Tritium's half life, which is 12 years I think. Superluminova will still glow, and that maybe the reason why Omega chooses to go the charging route, less maintenance in the future involved, and as it is the brightest and best choice, it is what it is.

Good Luck, and sorry that some part of your Omega does not meet your expectations!

 

[MICK SOUL]

While I appreciate that the lume shots we see on this forum are enhanced, particularly with being sat under a lamp prior to the pic, there are many who say it burns bright all night.. Same with the SMP, which I too have, and haven't experienced it since I've had it. On the PO if I've been out in bright light, remember it's London, so not often, it does glow, but that fades in minutes, not hours

yep mine's the same.

 

[AAP]

I'm also in the "glows like a torch all night" category with my Planet Ocean. But keep in mind that this is only relative to adjusted night vision. On many occasions I've gotten up at 6 or 7am, glanced at my watch, and not even had to squint to make out the time. What more could you possibly expect?

 

[TSC]

1. Are you aware of these two facts about Superluminova?

a: It is currently the best chargeable glow material available on the market, so Omega can do no better. If I am wrong I am interested in knowing...

b: Superluminova supposedly has a longer life then Tritium based glow material, which dims with age. So SuperLuminova will still be glowing the same after tritium glass tubes stop.

2. Is night time visibility important to you? Maybe you should look into one of the Ball Watches that use the tritium glass tubes for their dials and hands? They do not need light to glow, the tritium charges the glow material in the tubes, so you never need to charge them. However someday, admitedly a dozen years at least, they will stop glowing, and their glow will gradually reduce over time due to Tritium's half life, which is 12 years I think. Superluminova will still glow, and that maybe the reason why Omega chooses to go the charging route, less maintenance in the future involved, and as it is the brightest and best choice, it is what it is.

Good Luck, and sorry that some part of your Omega does not meet your expectations!

Hi James, no need to apologise, it's not like you made the watch is it? In all honesty, I couldn't really care less and no, it's not important to me that it can be seen in the dark, The only time when it does annoy me is in the car when I can't read it. I'm just stating it like it is that's all, All I'm saying is that's how my PO works, or doesn't, whichever way you look at it. But as a problem, nope, it isn't. Was just interested that so many have a dayglo version Omega, but as you can see there are others like myself on here who also have a lume that needs to be under a lamp for effect and don't get the buzz.

It may very well be the best chargeable glow material available on the market but I'm telling you how mine perfoms, or doesn't where lume capability goes