It does not take lume long to fully charge. The easiest way is to shine a very bright light on the watch or set it in the sun. In about a minute the watch will be as bright as it gets. Here is the lume on a Lum-Tec Combat B18 fully charged. The lume will easily last all night. Cheers, Bill P.

 

About 15 or 20 seconds if you use a UV flashlight.

 

I put one inside the globe of a lamp that has one of those fluorescent "coil" bulbs that's often sold as an energy saving alternative to a traditional incandescent bulb for about as long as it took me to write this post.

Now it's fully charged judging by the fact I've not ever seen it be brighter even when charging longer.

All the best.

 

I bought a uv flashlight and it's fully charged within 3 seconds.

 

The "thing" with SuperLuminova (SL) isn't how long it takes to charge, it's how long the charge lasts and how soon it stops visibly glowing. The more SL "paint" there is, the longer it glows. Unfortunately, no watch companies I know of state how much paint they use or attest to how long the numbers/markers and hands will glow. So while, SL is, at it brightest, brighter than tritium, unlike tritium, it doesn't glow bright enough to be seen for very long, whereas tritium glows at the same brightness 24/7 for about 12 years, no charging required.

The current downside (if you want to call it that) is that tritium must be contained inside tubes and as far as I know, nobody has developed tubes that are as "sexy" as, say the numerals you see on the Pam above or the stylized numerals you'll find on many other watches. With tritium, one must be content with baton markers or "digital" style numerals.

There is a company called Black Badger (Interview: James Thompson of Black Badger - Cool Hunting and Black Badger Advanced Composites | Black Badger Advanced Composites) who have a glow in the dark composite material that they assert will glow for 12 hours on a charge. I don't know how long it takes to charge. Black Badger have partnered with Sarpaneva, but I don't know of any other watch company they have partnered with to make luminescent watches.

All the best.

 

I'm with Tony - you don't need a fancy UV light. I hold my wrist up to the fluorescent energy saving bulbs while I brush my teeth. 30 secs and it's fully charged.

 

I've always been wondering that even though it's fully charged in such a short time, does charging it any further make it last longer?

That's something that I've never tested properly but based on what I'm reading here, it's probably not the case.

I think it would require keeping track of the charge time and then keeping track of how long the lume lasts and the stages of the brightness which would take a bit of time to accomplish.

 

I've always been wondering that even though it's fully charged in such a short time, does charging it any further make it last longer?

That's something that I've never tested properly but based on what I'm reading here, it's probably not the case.

I think it would require keeping track of the charge time and then keeping track of how long the lume lasts and the stages of the brightness which would take a bit of time to accomplish.

In general, the visible glow of SL is about the roughly same as the time it takes a scuba tank to run out of air, which is on average is between 40 and 80 minutes for average divers, although 45 to 60 minutes is a good "normal" duration. Obviously, there are exceptions/circumstances that can lengthen and shorten that average time period. (Alert Diver | Estimating Your Air Consumption)

Speculating, I think that the ~40 minute "glow period" of SL is considered "long enough" for a great many divers, and thus why SL is used often on "serious" dive watches. That, and divers these days rely on equipment other than/in addition to a dive watch to monitor the duration of their underwater activity, is quite likely part of why there isn't too much griping about how quickly the glow ebbs. In the vast majority of dives, the diver will quite probably be back aboard a boat or at the surface, or somewhere that visibility of the watch face doesn't matter.

For folk like me who find themselves waking in the middle of the night wanting to reflexively/instinctively glance at their watch to discern "why and I awake? what time is it?", SL is all but useless unless one hasn't been asleep for very long. LOL

All the best.

 

I don't think that would make a difference, I guess it absorbs the light, and it's fully charged state is, well full, so it can't "contain" more of the light so to speak.. But could be wrong..

-Sent using Rock, Paper and the occasional Scissors-

 

I don't think that would make a difference, I guess it absorbs the light, and it's fully charged state is, well full, so it can't "contain" more of the light so to speak.. But could be wrong..

What about "damaging" the lume in the long run? I once read that excessive amounts of light in a short period of time could result to loss of lume intensity. Does this apply to modern lume too?


The physics of how SuperLuminova (SL) work are beyond my ability to explain precisely for I don't have a strong enough grasp of quantum physics. My understanding of the physics is that it has something to do with how electrons release energy as light as per the properties of quantum tunnelling (http://uw.physics.wisc.edu/~himpsel/107/Lectures/Phy107Lect25.pdf) and something called the "forbidden mechanism." (Forbidden mechanism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

That said, in layman's terms what I understand is that the strontium aluminate atoms/molecules that comprise SL are essentially like buckets. They can hold a fixed amount of energy and no more. When they are "full" they are full, and begin releasing the absorbed energy (from the blue/violet end of the visible light spectrum) as light. Seeing as the light released is greenish-blueish, I presume some of the energy photons absorbed from the blue-violet range of the spectrum is lost somewhere/sometime after being absorbed seeing as the color of the light released corresponds to lower energy levels.

Now, does the "bucket" wear out? Yes it does, and we know this because SL stops working after ~25 years (give or take). I've only glanced over this article -- LUMINOSITY IN WATCHES -- but perhaps a more precise/complete explanation of what, other than exposure to very hot temperatures (1000+ °C), makes the "bucket" wear out can be found there. For a more general discussion in layman's terms, see this: Strontium aluminate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .

Seeing as we've gone down this road of more detailed inquiry, I should probably clarify something I wrote earlier. I described the duration and strength of SuperLuminova's glow as depending on how much "paint" there is. That's actually imprecise. The actual factor that drives the glow's duration and brightness is the size of the SL particles. SL is actually a powder that gets mixed with a fluid to create the SL that coats various watch parts.

According to the published information from one of the producers of SL, the typical particle size is 40-60 microns (μm). Larger particles last longer/glow brighter, but cost more. (No surprise there...LOL) Furthermore, the producer claims that the green and blue colors of SL are the ones that show the greatest gains in glow strength/life due to particle size increases.

While strontiuim aluminate glow in the dark powders are the best they are not all created equal. The quality we have found that effects the brightness and duration of the glow the most is the size of the glow in the dark particle. Most typical sizes are between 40-60μm. While they generate a good glow a larger, more costly, particle will generally outperform the smaller. Green sees the most benefit from sizes over 60μm with aqua coming in second. Whereas the remaining colors often see little benefit from sizes over 45μm. All our colors have been optimized to give the best performance for our professional users with green and aqua both benefitting from glow in the dark particles in excess of 80μm.

The other issue is whether the powders are coated. Uncoated glow in the dark powders are cheaper but they will react to an water based medium and break down. This unsightly problem is often seen as a solid cylinder of paint in the container surrounded by a milky liquid. We at Kosmic Kreations do not recommend working with solvent mediums due to the health hazards and clean up therefore we recommend staying away from uncoated glow in the dark powders.
Source: Glow in the dark powder, Strontium aluminate glow powder
​

The supplier noted above, as well as this one -- GloManiaUSA Terms and Conditions of Business -- provide some good layman's info about SL/strontium aluminate that no watch company is ever likely to deliberately provide. I suggest you call the watch company that makes the watch you care about and just ask them what size strontium aluminate crystals are in the SL "paint" they use. As you can see from the two suppliers' sites, watch companies can buy whatever size crystals they feel like they want to use. (Note: another strontium aluminate particle size measure you may encounter is called "mesh." GloTech International - Leading the way in photoluminescent technology - Products)

Lastly, FWIW, as with damn near everything having to do with watches, prices vary even though the effectiveness of the crystals doesn't. (strontium aluminate crystal, View strontium aluminate crystal, Zhongbang strontium aluminate crystal Product Details from Dalian Zhongbang Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. on Alibaba.com) It doesn't matter what one pays for it, a 45μm crystal is going to glow exactly the same as every other 45μm crystal. That's just the way it is with chemical compounds. Salt (NaCl), for example, is salt, no matter whether you put it in food for flavor or on the ground to lower the freezing temperature of water.

You can also make your own SL powder: How to Make Phosphorescent "Glow in the Dark" Powder .

Fun Trivia having nothing to do with SL and glow in the dark watches:
Road salt is just table salt that has greater quantities of anti-caking additives and that hasn't been washed enough to be edible. The same additives are in table salt so you can shake/pour it, there is just less of it. If you want salt without those additives, buy Kosher salt. Put a few rice grains in with it or use a salt grinder instead of salt shaker.

All the best.

I've heard it said that God is in the details. It's the same with the truth. Leave out the details, the crucial heart, and you can damn someone with the bare bones of it.
― Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty

 

What about damaging the lume in the long run? I once read that excessive amounts of light in a short period of time could result to loss of lume intensity. Does this apply to modern lume too?
😕

 

What about damaging the lume in the long run? I once read that excessive amounts of light in a short period of time could result to loss of lume intensity. Does this apply to modern lume too?
[emoji53]

I keep my watch under the cuff and in summer wear long sleeves to ensure my watch is not over exposed to sunlight. I usually allow the watch to get exposed for 2-3 minutes daily to avoid wearing out the lume!

 

When a discussion on illumination is brought up at some point this turns into a debate between SL and tritium. Personally until tritium can be moulded into the same shapes as regular Superluminova I will admire it from a far.

Now if your argument is based on your own ability to read the time then go for which suit you best but otherwise I think each have their merits and pitfalls.

 

When a discussion on illumination is brought up at some point this turns into a debate between SL and tritium. Personally until tritium can be moulded into the same shapes as regular Superluminova I will admire it from a far.

Now if your argument is based on your own ability to read the time then go for which suit you best but otherwise I think each have their merits and pitfalls.

Off Topic:
You already have at least two watches that have markers/hands that support the existing shapes of tritium tubes.

• Makara Octopus
• Seiko Sportuna

I can see from your collection that you seem to prefer dials that have numbers rather than markers, but you do have a few that have watches with baton markers. Surely there must be at least one other baton marker equipped watch you like, perhaps even one that comes delivered with tritium tube lume?

There's no denying that by and large tritium tubes are linear, and either cylindrical or flat. At least one maker, Vostok, has implemented the cylindrical tubes in a vertical orientation and using the radiated/reflected light so that they create glowing dots instead of glowing batons. They did this with their Lunokhod 2 models.

Other makers, although not many, have apparently implemented different shapes of tritium tubes: https://www.watchuseek.com/f239/various-shape-tritium-gas-possible-94880.html ? (I saw one members post, but I haven't any idea what kind of watch he referred to. I didn't look to see if he recanted his claim)

The suppliers of tritium gas vials that I know of are SRB Technologies in Canada (SRB Technologies (Canada) Inc) and MB-Microtec Ag in Switzerland and who brand their tritium tubes as Trigalight (trigalight® | Watch Components). MB-Microtec also make Traser watches (traser® H3 more light watches) If you click on the source link for the table below, you'll see that there's reportedly a Chinese producer as well. Either way, there aren't scores of them.

Here is a list of the watch companies that use tritium tubes. (I don't know if the list is all inclusive; I didn't compile it.)

Brand​	Tritium Source​
Alexandre Christie	Unknown
Armourlite	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Ball	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Blue Thunder	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Deep Blue	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Doxa (Sub 800Ti Series)	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Equipe (Tritium Tube Collection)	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Firemark	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
H3 Tactical	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
KHS	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
LL Bean	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Luminox	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Marathon	Unknown
Mondaine (Night Vision Series)	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
MWC	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Nite	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Olympia Star	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Praetorian	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Prometheus	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Reactor	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Smith and Wesson	Not all mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
SMW	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Sottomarino	Unknown
Swiss Timer	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Tawatec	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Traser H3 (mb-microtec's house brand)	mb-microtec ag (trigalight)
Truglo	Unknown
UZI	Unknown

Source: tritiumreview: Tritium Watch Guide

Maybe one of the ones that has an unknown supplier of H3 tubes have implemented non-linear vials? I don't know. I do know there's no reason why a curvilinear tube can't be created and infused with H3 gas. I suppose there just isn't enough demand for such a thing? I don't understand precisely why there isn't. Perhaps the cost of curvy tubes would push the watches into the "pricey" range (pricier than Ball watches, say), and the folks who want H3 lume don't want to pay that much? Just a guess....

All the best.

 

In the 7s26 manual Seiko says 10 minutes in the sun on a clear day to fully charge lumibrite

 

10 seconds in sunlight will do it every time.

 

It varies depending on the type and intensity of the light source used but not long.

 

For those of you who care about lume history, this should be an interesting read: Radioactive luminous radium paint .

All the best.

 

Just to add non-scientific input,I've owned a Panerai with Luminova indices for 15 years and it still glows like a new watch & longevity has not decreased to my certain knowledge.

As far as I'm concerned Luminova will last forever in a useful capacity.