The Breitling Watch Source Forums

A quiet night in had me re-reading my cockpit owners manual and I noticed something I had not seen before!

The luminous dot on my bezel is sapphire covered Tritium. I did not know they used that on this watch, I just thought it was super luminova ( I am guessing that is what they use for the lume!) I wonder why they chose Tritium for the dot, Does anyone know why? I must say I have not noticed it glowing when the normal lume stops, I thought Tritium was meant to glow regardless of a light source?

Just thought it interesting and I love the attention to detail Breitling have gone to even covering the dot with sapphire glass, classy!

Also, one other thing, I dropped my watch tonight, just a matter of an inch and a half face down onto my wooden table, not a mark on the glass or watch, I had no idea sapphire was so tough! Hope it is not far enough to cause any damage to the internal workings,all seems fine, anyone know if a drop that far would affect the internals?

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All the best.
Ian

Cant tell you anything about the lumedot, but when it comes to saphire you dont need to worry about scratches.
I havent managed to get a single tiny mark in almost 12 years on any of my Bretlings, and I use my watches everyday regardless of activity.

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Blue Baton Super Avenger
Black Avenger Seawolf

Thanks so much for that, I am used to non sapphire ! Do you think that small drop would affect the watch? I know Breitling are designed to be tough but just wondered, I think it was actually about an inch drop, it slipped out of my hand!

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All the best.
Ian

If it still works the drop should not have hurt the movement... and again, I have never had any problems, and I have banged my B´s a lot into doorframes, floors, walls etc etc... they are rugged and tough.

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Blue Baton Super Avenger
Black Avenger Seawolf

Thats great! Thanks for the info, this was really minor and I guess It is new owner jitters!

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All the best.
Ian

I don't think you should have any worries about the glass. I believe my old Tag had the sapphire glass as well and I have not seen a scratch for over 18 years. That was my daily watch and also wore it mountain biking way back when.

Well I can't comment on automatic movement after a small drop. But just to say good to have the first drop out of the way. I dropped mine from my nightstand. I was sick and reaching for some tissues, don't ask me how it actually happened, I just knew my heart sank.

I do believe the quartz movements are tested to 200g shocks. Luckily no scratches or marks.

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There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count and those that can't.

1 - Aerospace blue dial
2 - ?

Tritium is still used here and there in the watch industry but it is much more the exception to the rule nowadays. Apparently there are restrictions in some countries (notably the States) because it is a radioactive substance..... even though the beta particles that tritium emits are so low that the risk is almost non-existant - in watch paint it is way lower that natural background radition so if it's hidden behind a nice piece of sapphire the risk is non-existant. (Most tritium is used in hard-core diver's watches as the need for the watch to visible while operating away from a natural light source is much greater).

Tritium will indeed glow irrespective of light source..... although to be more accurate, the phosphor in the tritium/phosphor-mix paint glows due to the activity of tritium beta particles. Tritium has a half-life of a little over 12 years, so as long as there is enough tritium in the paint, tritium based lume should stay nice and bright for a long time.

In the case of your Cockpit, perhaps Breitling have had to reduce the amount of Tritium still further for current legislation.... I don't know. Of course it may even be a translation typo in the manual and actually be Superluminova anyway! Hope this helps.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Yeah, I doubt that it really is tritium - need to do some more research (and check my Cockpit manual). Breitling actually got into a lot of trouble with the US Government a few years back over tritium - lawsuits were threatened.

As Driver8 says the practical risk is minimal, but Tritium is a regulated substance and requires specific import licensing / controls. Additionally, watches with tritium usually require all of the radioactive warning notices (Ball for example).

If I remember rightly, Marathon watches that also use tritium actually have a radioactivity symbol on the dial! Possibly a little over-kill, but that's how seriously the US takes it.

As a related point, I remember reading somewhere years ago, that when Radium was used to lume wrist and pocket watches back in the '20s, loads of the guys and girls who used to paint the lume ended up dying of various types of cancer. Apparently they used to LICK the paintbrush inbetween applications to get the brush into a fine point!! (Incidentally, for those without a passing interest in physics, Radium is highly radioactive).

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Driver8

Site Moderator