The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Question for those who know a lot more about watches than I do. How come Breitling (or Rolex, for that matter) doesn't offer any models with tritium inserts like Ball makes? Tritium makes the watch easily visible in a pitch black room for hours and hours with no loss of brightness. Just curious. Does anyone know?

Doesn't Tritium fade over time and become extinct after a few years/decades ?

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Mat

Breitling Navitimer 01
Omega Seamaster 300mc
Omega Speedmaster Pro "Mitsukoshi Mod"
Seiko Prospek Orange Samurai

Yes. Half life of tritium is twelve years. Tritium tubes continue to lose their brightness over time, and will eventually have to be replaced. Super Luminova does not wear out; the tradeoff is it has to be charged by exposing it to light, whereas tritium does the charging. (Technically you can't say tritium is self charging, because tritium doesn't actually glow. It charges the phospors in the tubes, which glow.) Also, tritium tubes are somewhat "confining" in terms of style, since manufacturers are limited by the physical shape and placement of the tubes. Super Luminova is paint, and can be applied anywhere the designers see fit.

That makes sense, although Ball says they will last at least 25 years. I just get frustrated when I go in a movie theater and within an hour I can no longer see my watch, so I thought I'd ask. Thanks.

Technically they might last that long, but they won't be at the same brightness as when first constructed. Half life of tritium is 12.32 years; that's a physical reality no amount of PR is going to change. At 25 years, the tubes will be less than 25% as bright as they were when new, even though they may still technically be glowing.

A good coating of Super Luminova should easily retain its readability through a movie, provided it was adequately charged to begin with. Try giving it a full charge and see if it makes a difference.

15 seconds of sunlight should charge the luminova through the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.

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SHARKMAN

Extended edition!

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Mat

Breitling Navitimer 01
Omega Seamaster 300mc
Omega Speedmaster Pro "Mitsukoshi Mod"
Seiko Prospek Orange Samurai

The answer to why Breitling don't offer tritium is that it's because of the US government.

Breitling was still using Tritium (infused paint rather than tubes) but the US declared that it was a restricted substance (because it's radioactive) and anyone wishing to import it had to be licensed and meet strict criteria for shipping, storage, etc. Breitling (and other watch manufacturers) pretty much ignored the new restrictions until the US started throwing threats of lawsuits around and then they decided to completely eliminate tritium use and move 100% to SuperLuminova.

Tritium still requires licensing, is more expensive than SL, is not as bright, and as mention it fades so it will always be niche, the only real advantage that it has is that it doesn't need to be 'charged'.

Leave it to the US government......the amount of radioactivity in that amount of tritium is about as close to zero as you can get. Plus, inside a watch, the odds that it would leak out is also minuscule. Ridiculous.

Ridiculous, yes, but it doesn't compare to the way they crucified a fellow in California who picked up a stockpile of old aircraft instruments with radioactive lume on the faces. Runaway bureaucrats can be dangerous.

Even as "timid" as it may appear on the surface, it's still a radioactive material that can find its way into water/soil. It may seem ridiculous to regulate its use and disposal, but the less of this stuff circulating around the globe, the better.

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“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.” - Albert Einstein

Does Super Luminova ever lose its luminosity JacksonStone? What constitutes a full charge?

I've seen UV torches on ebay for around £5 and wouldn't mind trying one on some other luminous stuff I have (I have a crucifix which is over 40 years old which is luminous and I would love to make it glow fully again). Does anybody know, can you buy them in the high street?

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TAG Professional (Silver/Gold) 2000 - still going strong and kept as spare when Wolf is away.
Breitling B1 (Blue) 2003 - 2008.
Breitling Airwolf (Black Sunburst) 2008 - Date.

Roff might be the better one to answer. I based that comment on stuff he has written previously. I assume he's right.


15-30 seconds of direct, bright light seems to do it for me. I haven't tried using UV, although I keep meaning to try it out.

UV will take a little longer than 'normal' light all other factors being equal, but it does give a good charge.

SL doesn't age and because it's a different chemical process (photoluminescence) it doesn't change effectiveness over time to any material extent. It is suscpetible to water so damaged SL is a good indicator of a watch with failed seals / previous water damage.

Thanks very much JS and Roff,

That was an interesting fact about the SL being affected by water.

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TAG Professional (Silver/Gold) 2000 - still going strong and kept as spare when Wolf is away.
Breitling B1 (Blue) 2003 - 2008.
Breitling Airwolf (Black Sunburst) 2008 - Date.