Post by mamas on Nov 7, 2005 12:27:30 GMT -6
Guys,
read a great article by Jean Michel of WUS on luminova and tritium which i felt would be illuminating to members here ;D ;D
here is link of thread:
forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=23677
here is full article by permission of JM.:
the first luminous compound to have been used in watches was a radium based compound : a mixture of phosphor, glue and radioactive radium : the result was a spontaneous emission of light by the phosphor exited byu the radioactivity of the material
following a number of accidents and cancers with the people handelling radium , the use of this material have been forbidden in the 50s , radium is also very dagerous because its half life (period for the radium to loose half of its radioactivity) is very long and desintegration of radium produce a radioactive gas : the radon
the radium was replaced by a gas : the tritium this gas mixed with phosphor powder and glue made a good replacement alternative for radium even if the half life of tritium is a lot shorter (12 years) so tritium based luminous compound glow unfortunatly for a short period
in both cases theses are COMPOUND and NOT pure materials ! tritium or radium are less than 0,01% of the mass of the compound which is based on phosphor and glue
in the 80s new glowing material was discovered by the Japanese to use in toys (radioactive materials have always been totally forbiden in toys) based on this material : the luminova , it have been possible to make luminous compound comparable to the old tritium and radium : here again this is not a pure material but a compound made of phosphor and a light activated reactor the luminova which makes the phosphor to glow in the dark
in the end of the 90s Europe have DEFINTLY forbidden the use of tritium for ANY consumers good including watches (at the exception of the "vial" system which hermetically seal tritium based compound in a glass capsule) : this w<as not to protect the user of the watch (because the amount of radioactivity of a tritium based watch is nearly not measurable) but to protect the workers using large quantity of coumpound : so totay the importation , use , manufacturing of tritium for consumers good is illegal in Europe
due to this change in law all the swiss manufacturers where obliged to switch from Tritium to lumonova with NO exception , restaurers of vintage watches do NOT have access to tritium based compound as they are now forbidden by law (they might in some case use it from existing stock but this is even illegal)
as a reminder a tritium compound are very comparable the only difference between the two materials is for less of a percent of their mass !!! both are luminous compound made out of phospor and glue ....
but the luminosity the produce is indeed very different : the tritium based compound is self activated as the radioactivity of the compound permanently exite the phosphor coumpound and makes it glow without any energy ... the luminova NEED to be charged with light to glow
now what about color ?
Tritium and luminova where BOTH available in a choice of color : tritium compounds where white, green or yellow , luminova offers even a larger choice of color and radium was mainly green
Color when glowing ? : Tritium compound where green luminova is available in a choice of glowing color from orange to blue and green
so why my restaurer is telling me he is STILL using radium or tritium ?
because you can find on the market "tritium" or "radium" STYLE compound : this mean they LOOK like tritium or radium compound but in fact they are NOT
look the following expemple : a bottle of luminous compound comming from Bergeon : the larger spare suplier for watchmaker :
you can clearly see that the package states radium !
but you can also see that it is saying "non radioactive" ! :
this is OF COURSE NOT a radium compound but a compound which simulate radium .....
here is the bottle where you can clearly see the nice greenish color of the product :
luminous compound are also available as powder where you can make your own mix of glue/powder : this is the AP kit :
left bottle is a solvant , central bottle the luminous powder and right bottle the glue
and before you asdk the question : yes I relume myself some of my watches : that is a very delicate but interesting thing to do
to summerize this article :
blaming any restaurer using luminova is a non-sense because he is NOT allowed to use ANYTHING else than luminova by LAW (in Europe)
saying that a restaurer is using tritium for restauration is either a false information (because of the label info I show you) or because he is using a remaining stock of radioactive compound ... in this last case this is also forbidden by law
saying that a restauration using luminova is not legit is as ridiculous as stating that a car restauration is not legit because the restaurer is using a modern syntesis oil in the engine and not castor oil like in the old days
both luminous compound have a 99,99% common base , you could not see ANY difference between either color or aspect , neither in the day or by night , the only difference will be that "fresh" tritium will glow spontaneously , where luminova will need to be light charged
stating that you can spot a watch using luminova or tritium just looking at it is also wrong even for older watches : luminova is now available in "shaded" colors which simulate the aged tritium or radium (for the one interested in thoses : Jurgen do sell this compound : see the sales corner)
read a great article by Jean Michel of WUS on luminova and tritium which i felt would be illuminating to members here ;D ;D
here is link of thread:
forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=23677
here is full article by permission of JM.:
the first luminous compound to have been used in watches was a radium based compound : a mixture of phosphor, glue and radioactive radium : the result was a spontaneous emission of light by the phosphor exited byu the radioactivity of the material
following a number of accidents and cancers with the people handelling radium , the use of this material have been forbidden in the 50s , radium is also very dagerous because its half life (period for the radium to loose half of its radioactivity) is very long and desintegration of radium produce a radioactive gas : the radon
the radium was replaced by a gas : the tritium this gas mixed with phosphor powder and glue made a good replacement alternative for radium even if the half life of tritium is a lot shorter (12 years) so tritium based luminous compound glow unfortunatly for a short period
in both cases theses are COMPOUND and NOT pure materials ! tritium or radium are less than 0,01% of the mass of the compound which is based on phosphor and glue
in the 80s new glowing material was discovered by the Japanese to use in toys (radioactive materials have always been totally forbiden in toys) based on this material : the luminova , it have been possible to make luminous compound comparable to the old tritium and radium : here again this is not a pure material but a compound made of phosphor and a light activated reactor the luminova which makes the phosphor to glow in the dark
in the end of the 90s Europe have DEFINTLY forbidden the use of tritium for ANY consumers good including watches (at the exception of the "vial" system which hermetically seal tritium based compound in a glass capsule) : this w<as not to protect the user of the watch (because the amount of radioactivity of a tritium based watch is nearly not measurable) but to protect the workers using large quantity of coumpound : so totay the importation , use , manufacturing of tritium for consumers good is illegal in Europe
due to this change in law all the swiss manufacturers where obliged to switch from Tritium to lumonova with NO exception , restaurers of vintage watches do NOT have access to tritium based compound as they are now forbidden by law (they might in some case use it from existing stock but this is even illegal)
as a reminder a tritium compound are very comparable the only difference between the two materials is for less of a percent of their mass !!! both are luminous compound made out of phospor and glue ....
but the luminosity the produce is indeed very different : the tritium based compound is self activated as the radioactivity of the compound permanently exite the phosphor coumpound and makes it glow without any energy ... the luminova NEED to be charged with light to glow
now what about color ?
Tritium and luminova where BOTH available in a choice of color : tritium compounds where white, green or yellow , luminova offers even a larger choice of color and radium was mainly green
Color when glowing ? : Tritium compound where green luminova is available in a choice of glowing color from orange to blue and green
so why my restaurer is telling me he is STILL using radium or tritium ?
because you can find on the market "tritium" or "radium" STYLE compound : this mean they LOOK like tritium or radium compound but in fact they are NOT
look the following expemple : a bottle of luminous compound comming from Bergeon : the larger spare suplier for watchmaker :
you can clearly see that the package states radium !
but you can also see that it is saying "non radioactive" ! :
this is OF COURSE NOT a radium compound but a compound which simulate radium .....
here is the bottle where you can clearly see the nice greenish color of the product :
luminous compound are also available as powder where you can make your own mix of glue/powder : this is the AP kit :
left bottle is a solvant , central bottle the luminous powder and right bottle the glue
and before you asdk the question : yes I relume myself some of my watches : that is a very delicate but interesting thing to do
to summerize this article :
blaming any restaurer using luminova is a non-sense because he is NOT allowed to use ANYTHING else than luminova by LAW (in Europe)
saying that a restaurer is using tritium for restauration is either a false information (because of the label info I show you) or because he is using a remaining stock of radioactive compound ... in this last case this is also forbidden by law
saying that a restauration using luminova is not legit is as ridiculous as stating that a car restauration is not legit because the restaurer is using a modern syntesis oil in the engine and not castor oil like in the old days
both luminous compound have a 99,99% common base , you could not see ANY difference between either color or aspect , neither in the day or by night , the only difference will be that "fresh" tritium will glow spontaneously , where luminova will need to be light charged
stating that you can spot a watch using luminova or tritium just looking at it is also wrong even for older watches : luminova is now available in "shaded" colors which simulate the aged tritium or radium (for the one interested in thoses : Jurgen do sell this compound : see the sales corner)
