The Breitling Watch Source Forums

In the manual for my Colt II SQ, the 12 o'clock luminous dot on the bezel is described as "tritium" encased behind sapphire.

I couldn't find any letters or symbols denoting radioactivity on the dial or caseback, so I was perplexed. A web search resulted in a few forums discussing this topic, but none had any conclusive answers.

So I decided to try a little experiment. I covered the watch face for a few hours, then took the watch into a dark closet. The bezel dot, like the luminous elements of the dial, did not glow. Then I charged the watch face under a bright light for perhaps thirty seconds, took it back in the closet... And both the dot and dial elements glowed brightly.

As far as I know, tritium cannot be charged by light, correct? I was under the impression it glows constantly due to it's radioactive properties (although the glowing effect is only readily apparent in the dark)... And if it is not glowing, then it has lost it's luminosity due to age, and you need to have your watch re-lumed.

Therefore, my experiment indicates that the 12 o'clock bezel dot, like the luminous elements of the dial, is in fact Luminova, or some other material which draws it's luminosity from a light charge... Not tritium, as stated in the manual, correct?

Is there any other explanation? Thanks!

It's SuperLuminova.

Breitling hasn't used tritium since the late 90s when the US imposed import restrictions on tritium requiring licenses for radioactive materials. No idea why the manual hasn't been updated.

Superluminova . They probably never thought that enthusiast would worry about a tiny dot. But they never dealt with WIS.

Cheers

That's what I said - you edited the quote in order to misquote me - not really sure why

Sorry Roff. I was actually aggreeing with you and must have had a typo. Just finished a long night shift.

Cheers