watch hands

[nhsmoker]

Hi there. Looking for some advice, my father in law recently purchased a seiko watch that he is less than thrilled with the glow of the hands. We are looking to brighten the glow on the hands so I am trying to find the best way to do that. I had considered gluing tritium vials on the hands but the hands are too small for me to feel comfortable with the vials fitting properly. I am thinking a glow paint or powder will be the best bet. I do not want the hands to look grainy on a nice watch and that has me concerned. Any advice on the product I should use, obviously it needs to be relatively bright but I think length of glow is even more important.

Thanks for any input.

 

[archimedes]

There are watchmakers who specialize in these jobs, like International Watch Works and Motor City Watch Works ....

 

[Monocrom]

Hi there. Looking for some advice, my father in law recently purchased a seiko watch that he is less than thrilled with the glow of the hands. We are looking to brighten the glow on the hands so I am trying to find the best way to do that. I had considered gluing tritium vials on the hands but the hands are too small for me to feel comfortable with the vials fitting properly. I am thinking a glow paint or powder will be the best bet. I do not want the hands to look grainy on a nice watch and that has me concerned. Any advice on the product I should use, obviously it needs to be relatively bright but I think length of glow is even more important.

Thanks for any input.

That's rather surprising to hear. Seiko is known for having the best lume in the industry. I'm guessing your father-in-law purchased a vintage model?

Basically though, archimedes beat me to it. Watch hands are incredibly delicate. Professional watchmakers (both independent ones and the ones who work for watch brands) never actually touch the hands with their fingers. There's special tools for fitting them onto a watch. Trying a DIY job of any kind will be a great way to damage the hands. If you can't find an indepent watchmaker in your area willing to re-lume the hands, contact Seiko and see what they'll charge for the job.

 

[nhsmoker]

That's rather surprising to hear. Seiko is known for having the best lume in the industry. I'm guessing your father-in-law purchased a vintage model?

/QUOTE]

It is not a vintage model it is a brand new watch he actually bought 3 different ones because each has some things he likes and some he doesn't The one in question he loves everything except the lume. The lume in my citizen is far superior to his seiko
I will look for specialist in the area but he will probably just ending up buying another watch if he doesn't do it himself.

 

[nhsmoker]

After checking out the companys listed above, I think I am going to encourage my father in law to purchase different hands from moter city and have them placed on his watch. I believe the problem is the particular model he purchased has very thin hands and I think there is so little luminous material that it is hard to get the glow he wants. I think even if we used a brighter glow material it still would not be enough due to the amount of glow media we could get on there. With hands that had a wider deeper area for the glow paint. I think a different set of hands is the perfect answer.
Thanks for the help

 

[sunny_nites]

I believe you are on the right track; the wider the hands, the more GID material they can support.

That being said, I have had a lot of watches with GID hands and markers, some with very expensive custom applications and have never been satisfied with the performance.

About a year or so back, I bought a watch with tritium on the hands and markers and have never looked back. This has been the only watch that I can count on being able to read the dial and know the time in the dark.

Hopefully, your father in law will be pleased with the hands you recommended but if not, give some thought to tritium hands and markers.

 

[sunny_nites]

I've had reason to rethink my above statement about being able to count on GID hands/markers to read the time in the dark.

I have seen watches with the "right" type of GID applied that do provide enough light to read the time on a watch pretty much all night.

Not sure of some of the extremely pricey lume formulas specifically marketed for watches but using around a 20 micron particle size powder from some place like Glowinc (can't really recommend these guys anymore since their prices have shot through the roof), Technoglow, GlowmaniaUSA, etc with a clear lacquer or urethane binder, hands with a large area for the GID (picture the hands on a submariner style) application and enough exposure to light to charge the GID up, the results are adequate to be able to read time from a watch.

 

[derfyled]

If you want to do it yourself, here's the right stuff: http://www.watchlume.com/index.html

If you want it professionally done, this guy does incredible work: http://relume.watcheswithnolimits.com/

 

[sunny_nites]

Your right, his work is very impressive!Do you know if he is still in business? I sent him a note a couple of weeks ago but so far have not heard back. Also, the last up date I could find on the site was from 2012.

 

[derfyled]

Last time I've asked for a price was in mid 2013. He replied within a day...