The obsession with lume brightness
Anyone else feel the obsession with lume brightness is not only unrealistic, but also a little silly?
Firstly, folks will often compare the lume on, say, a field watch with a diver. A pointless comparison, as two totally different use cases. Does anyone really want a glowing beacon of light on their wrist, giving away their position, while being shot at?
Secondly, assessing lume brightness after a charge with a UV torch, when your eyes are still fully adjusted to daylight, is also folly.
For example, the Hamilton Khaki King is often criticized by the lume-obsessed because it's lume is a little dim in comparison to, say, a runway light. However, just before dawn, and having not charged the lume the night before, I have no problem reading the time, as my eyes are fully adjusted to dark. And it's these conditions that lume was really intended for.
Also re. Khaki King, the brightness on the hands compared to the lume used for the printed number indices is very different, with the hands being much brighter (dial on the right in the cover pic).
So did Hamilton cheap out on half the lume, thinking nobody would notice, or are parts of the dial intended to be dim?
And if it's intended to be dim, then is it remotely possible that maybe Hamilton, and the rest of the established watch industry, might know something that Mr YouTuber doesn't?
Vintage Seiko & Soviet, Hamilton, & few of my own builds.
I agree that some take it a bit too far with the lume comparisons.
Good points of contention regarding lume application on watches. I took my Hammy Khaki on a camping trip once, found the lume legibility useless at night and have opted for a Gshock for the same trip type since 🤙
My issue with lume comparison is how little it relates to real life where the transition from daylight to night goes through several steps and takes along time.
For me watching a watch glow when I step from a brightly illuminated area to a dark one is fun, but I don't find it very practical and the only watches that I own which manage to keep their visibility through the night are either helped with LED or EL illumination or have tritium tubes instead of lume.
For me lume is always key but what I expect from the lume is different depending the type of watch. This said not all outdoor-exploring-adventure watches have the same lume. Some are bright at the beginning and then fade, others not so bright but last a lot of time and so on and so forth.
This is my new lume standard, just from sunlight not even in a dark room. Edit : I completely missed that you had the same watch.
This is my new lume standard, just from sunlight not even in a dark room. Edit : I completely missed that you had the same watch.
So you won't consider any watch that doesn't light up like this?
I thought the same thing when I was wearing my Steeldive Willard in the dark parts of my garden during the summer. The lume is ridiculous for a military watch and guaranteed to get you spotted or shot.
Still, it's a diver before field though.
So you won't consider any watch that doesn't light up like this?
No I mean this has set the standard as the maximum amount of lume not the average.
Lume is fun. The lume on my Seiko Orange Monster was so bright it was seen by my kids going from outside to inside on Big Thunder Mountain in Disneyland. They loved the glow-in-the-dark watch. YMMV.
For me though, radioactive monkeys are a very close second 🤣
I can honestly say that I have never considered lume as a factor when deciding on whether I buy a watch or not. It's completely irrelevant to my lifestyle & work. I would also add that I don't know how to turn on the torch on my phone.
I get how people love a bit of lume though, even if at my age you gotta work a bit harder to impress.
It is always a little daft, yeah. Especially on YouTube. (where the quality of the camera comes in)
Even on a diver (a) is it ‘bad’ lume if it’s still better than what actual divers had on theirs when the watch was actually important? (b) is a desk with the lights off a decent comparison to fifty feet under the waves? (c) is a burst of artificial UV light even remotely comparable to half an hour sat in the sun, which is what you would usually expect a real world thing to be?
All of which isn’t even touching on your absolutely correct statement about eyes adjusting to the dark.
It’s all in the descriptions used too — while people may like a bit of a strong lume, it can be too much, and sometimes we would be better off describing it in just that way. Strong. Medium. Average. Reserve weak for lume that is new, but peters out like it’s fifty years old and spent it’s life being burned in a shop window.
I am often up before the sun, so I really like having lume which is not only bright, but more importantly, lasts a long time - into the early hours.
Both my Rolex Explorer and Tudor Pelagos glow all night (obviously more dimly later on, but to my dark adjusted cones, they're still clearly visible at 4am)
Fortunately, I'm not getting shot at in the dark too often, but if I were, I think my gshock would be the weapon of choice whilst on duty.
I'm a sucker for good lume, I won't even lie..
i'd like to add my opinion on this but i'm currently taking fire in the mekong delta
I find lume most useful during the day when I’m back and forth between very bright and dim environments. This is especially true with watches that aren’t the best when it comes to legibility.
I love lume!!!
While you make some painfully realistic arguments, you can't deny the fact that lume for, let's face it, most of us, is just fun. Not really whether we're diving in the twilight zone or being shot at at night.
While you make some painfully realistic arguments, you can't deny the fact that lume for, let's face it, most of us, is just fun. Not really whether we're diving in the twilight zone or being shot at at night.
There's that ubiquitous adjective for lume again - 'fun'.
You seem to be taking the post personally. I think I was pretty clear that the topic is unrealistic expectations and judgements, and not an attack on people who like the stuff.
This is my new lume standard, just from sunlight not even in a dark room. Edit : I completely missed that you had the same watch.
lovely Seiko and a smashing #lume shot 🙏
Great points. I enjoy the restrained constant illumination of my Marathon. The whole brighter than the two suns of Tatooine is just a bit over the top for me.
excellent #lume on the Marathon 👍
Interesting topic, when I get a new watch the lume is one of the things I judge unless I wear my Timex Expedition with its indiglo. I wear my watch to bed and like to be able to see what time especially having a sleepless night. A quick lume shot to me does not do justice as I notice when I watch reviews they do a quick lume shot and time it for 1 min or so... BGW9 is my favorite lume especially on my Steeldives 1953.
the #steeldive #lume is crazy for a £69 watch like the Willard Homage I have, only thing I'd complain about is the 2 different coloured lumes on the watch
wow sweet #lume shot, you'd be seen miles away! 😂
Exactly, there is no comparison between a Hamilton Khaki and a Diver for example, yes, as you said, a field watch did not need so much lume to avoid being an easy target for the enemy, but come on, the truth is that we all enjoy a good lume
There's that ubiquitous adjective for lume again - 'fun'.
You seem to be taking the post personally. I think I was pretty clear that the topic is unrealistic expectations and judgements, and not an attack on people who like the stuff.
On the contrary. I don't take it personally at all. Your arguments were indeed realistic.
As evidenced by this thread, many people who care about lume do seem to resonate with the fun part of it.
Kinda like that childhood moment when you stared at things that glow or sparkled for hours, like stars, diamonds, water ripples, and... lume.
Honestly lume is One of my 3 year old son's favorite part of my watches. That and winding the watches/listening to them.
It brings out the kid in me when I catch it glowing after being out under the sun and I tell my son to close the door and shut the lights off or we throw a blanket over us and just stare at it.
The only problem is that now if I'm on the toilet he will come in, shut the lights off and say and demand some lume during my #2 😂
Honestly lume is One of my 3 year old son's favorite part of my watches. That and winding the watches/listening to them.
It brings out the kid in me when I catch it glowing after being out under the sun and I tell my son to close the door and shut the lights off or we throw a blanket over us and just stare at it.
The only problem is that now if I'm on the toilet he will come in, shut the lights off and say and demand some lume during my #2 😂
Everyone seems to fall back on the same thing re. lume - the kids love it.
They sure do.
Everyone seems to fall back on the same thing re. lume - the kids love it.
They sure do.
Yep. But it's still useful especially on disks that aren't super legible or if it's just dark. When I'm camping or just walking at night without my phone, I rely on my lume. And if the sky is overcast and the moons not bright, it helps a lot.
But not every calls for a lightbulb on the wrist
I’ll always love lume. It’s not a requirement for me but it’s an extra bonus that I get to enjoy with a watch. In the real world however, it’s rarely useful. Im rarely in a pitch black room unless I’m going to bed. Otherwise I normally have a TV on with light that allows me to read the time off my watch. My Grand Seikos are especially good in the arena. Their highly faceted indices and hands bounce any available light through the dial into your eyes and it becomes highly legible. ESP with a dark dial like my Lake Suwa. That watch is almost more visible in a dark living room than my MistFlake with lume on its hands and indices.
I love Lume! Nothing better than walking out of the light outside and watching your watch light up