Affordable Lume
I have something of a fear that I'm underestimating the efficacy of excellent lume because I've simply never owned a watch with better than "okay enough" phosphorescent lume. It concerns me because I don't want to eventually buy a $1000+ watch with good lume and still be dissapointed by it. This brings me to my question:
What's a very affordable watch that you would say has lume up there with the best of them? I'm anticipating the answer to be something like a quartz seiko or citizen diver, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. I just want to invest as little money as possible in testing out high quality lume to better inform my future watch purchasing decisions. Once I have some candidates, I can start thinking through if I genuinely want to own one or just use it for this test, or even find a used one I can send back out the door for minimal cost.
Spent years and years wearing watches without really getting into them. Fell into the deep end looking for a new watch a couple years ago, and there's no going back now. Mostly into utilitarian design...
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Zelos…pick any one
My Seiko Turtle is not new and still is as bright as my Tudor, more so than my CW or Oris. The Seiko diver lume is pretty good.
Hmm, Zelos is going to be out of my intended price range for a test like this. The turtle is possible, as I like them enough I might be able to convince myself to keep it. I might also be able to find a used one, but I don't need an automatic for this. Does anyone know if seiko has a quartz diver with comparable lume to the turtle?
Even on higher end watches the lume differs as there are different grades of super luminova.
I would also look at lume differently than you see in YouTube videos where they put it under a uv torch and wait for it to go dark. Take the watch you have and in the middle of the night when your eyes have adjusted to the dark is the lume still bright?
On my Tudor FXD and Ranger for example if I forget to take the watch off and I wake up in the night it is really bright all the way through the night. However if I hit it with a torch in day light it looks like the lume only lasts for a few minutes
Hmm, Zelos is going to be out of my intended price range for a test like this. The turtle is possible, as I like them enough I might be able to convince myself to keep it. I might also be able to find a used one, but I don't need an automatic for this. Does anyone know if seiko has a quartz diver with comparable lume to the turtle?
If you want a truly affordable lume champion, get a steeldive. They are automatic but cost less then a quartz Seiko, and even if you dont like homages they are great for experiencing good lume at a small price and you could use the components of the watch if you want to mod later.
I used to have a Steeldive 1953, when charged with a crappy table lamp for a minute or two, the lume lasted the night and I could still tell the time when I woke up after 7-8 hours.
You get a lumed bezel as well.😉
Less then a 100 bucks.
Even on higher end watches the lume differs as there are different grades of super luminova.
I would also look at lume differently than you see in YouTube videos where they put it under a uv torch and wait for it to go dark. Take the watch you have and in the middle of the night when your eyes have adjusted to the dark is the lume still bright?
On my Tudor FXD and Ranger for example if I forget to take the watch off and I wake up in the night it is really bright all the way through the night. However if I hit it with a torch in day light it looks like the lume only lasts for a few minutes
I know videos are nearly useless, which is why I want to get one in the hands as a general example of quite good lume, the kind I could expect from brands that are said to do it well at higher price points. I am just looking for a fairly cheap option to get my hands on and test for myself, to see what phosphorescent lume is capable of. I think I might be leaning toward an ecodrive citizen promaster at the moment. Tritium, for example, does horribly in videos, but I've never had trouble reading my tritium watches whatsoever, even sitting across the room.
You could also try the Vaer C5 which uses C3 Super Luminova which should give you an idea
Or the Victorinox FieldForce that also uses super luminova and is quite bright
My seiko 5 sports and my rotary seamatic
If the vaer field watches have good lume, that's especially impressive.
If you want a truly affordable lume champion, get a steeldive. They are automatic but cost less then a quartz Seiko, and even if you dont like homages they are great for experiencing good lume at a small price and you could use the components of the watch if you want to mod later.
I used to have a Steeldive 1953, when charged with a crappy table lamp for a minute or two, the lume lasted the night and I could still tell the time when I woke up after 7-8 hours.
You get a lumed bezel as well.😉
Less then a 100 bucks.
Personally don't want to buy it, but that was a good suggestion and impressive they even appear in this discussion at that price. Thanks.
I have watches north of your budget with poor lume and watches south of your budget with really good lume.
There's a number of factors that contribute to brightness and longevity - the grade of the compound (as others have said), the colour (any tint can affect it as well as the colour of the compound itself) how much is applied, how it's applied etc., etc.
If lume is really important to you I'd check it out in person. Going solely from reviews / internet law / personal testimonials may lead to disappointment. What's average lume to you may be excellent to someone else and there's a lot of 'Chinese whispers' on the net when it comes to watches.
And in that spirit, it doesn't get a lot better than Seiko lume within your budget in my experience - that may be a good place to start?
Good luck.
Zelos and Seiko win lume battle sub 1k
Anything by Orient 😎 it's up there with some of the best Seiko has to offer.
There's a lorus field watch with an entire dial full of Seiko's lumibrite which I think is under $50. lorus rj655ax9 I think
Zelos for sure
And apparently Signum makes some crazy lume. There are a couple just One More Watch Lune Wars videos with the Signum.
More expensive I find Oris Aquis divers do well.
TBH I don’t find that lume improves that much the more you spend. I actually would be prepared to be disappointed.
I'll 2nd the Steeldive suggestion.
The 1970 is a lume monster for less than $100.
This was after being in a brightly lit kitchen for a while.
& it does last for quite a while.
Zelos for sure
And apparently Signum makes some crazy lume. There are a couple just One More Watch Lune Wars videos with the Signum.
More expensive I find Oris Aquis divers do well.
TBH I don’t find that lume improves that much the more you spend. I actually would be prepared to be disappointed.
I never really meant to imply lume gets better the more expensive the watch. I just have never had a watch with solid lume before, and when people say a watch has good/great lume, I want to have a reference for the capability of good/great lume. I'm basically trying to be impressed by nice lume now to break my bias toward tritium and learn what to expect of a top tier lume experience before paying premium prices. I don't want to be dissapointed by even the best phosphorescent lume and discover that only after spending thousands of dollars on a watch.
Helm
Nodus
Elliot Brown
Seiko
Citizen
Oddly enough Watchdives x San Martin
Lorier
This Marloe has top notch lume
There's a lumed ring inside minute track
I can post a lumed shot later if you like the look of the watch
https://www.marloewatchcompany.com/collections/coniston-automatic
Seiko and Rolex are the best at lume. Still you can't beat the lights in Casio G's or Lumibrite in Times.
My skx 009 is like a nightlight and it charges up immediately
Islander watches have really good lume in my experience. Also most Seiko's I own have really good lume.