# Lume or re-lume hands and dial



## ittakestime (Jun 1, 2008)

Hi all,

I am interested in re-luming some vintage seikos and looking for any advice or tips when it comes to products to use and the actual application. Sorry if this topic has already been covered, I cant seem to find much help on it.

Products wise, I can get hold of Bergeon lume in the UK from Cousinsuk.com but like the look of the AF Super-Luminova from Ofrei.com, is the later a brighter and longer lasting lume, easy to work with?

Now to the art form in itself! I was wondering if it is best to remove as much of the old lume as you can, or do some people paint over? Also what do you use to apply the lume?

I wonder how such staight lines are acheived, maybe a stencil is used. 

Many thanks for your time


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## Eeeb (Jul 12, 2007)

It's all 'painting'. How good are you at painting miniature models? If that drives you nuts, don't try re-luming!

BTW, the old lume is best removed. But sometimes that's not easy.


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## JimH (Jan 15, 2007)

I would recommend Super-Luminova. The Bergeron product is quite inferior. Luminova is much brighter and longer lasting. Luminova can be obtained in several colors or white luminova is easily tinted.

The luminova is mixed with the "glue" that comes in the kit (a solvent is also included). A fine oiler is suppled with the kit but I find that a sharp round toothpick works well in applying the material to a dial. 

You will have to practice to find the proper consistency you need for the material and how to apply it properly. Steady hands and a loupe are required. Don't just start in on a dial without practice or you are likely to be unhappy with the results. Note that the "glue" supplied with the kit may dissolve the lacquer finish on dials so that you must be careful to only apply the material exactly where it needs to be. Note also that multiple applications may be required to get the proper thickness.

Presumably you are re-doing the hands as well?


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## ittakestime (Jun 1, 2008)

Thank you for your answers, I thought the super luminova looks the best product out there. Once you buy the kit in white, you can buy the other colours seperately which looks good.
To remove the old lume off the dial markers, would you use a sharp stanley blade to carefully scratch off?
Yes I would like to have a go at doing the hands too. The hands have a long oblong of lume with straight edges in polished metal. The lume section looks indented though which should help. Would an ultrasonic bath help remove the old lume off the hands?
Thank you.


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## JimH (Jan 15, 2007)

I would use sharpened pegwood or a toothpick to remove the old lume. If the lume is tritium or radium based be careful not to contaminate yourself with the powder. Don't use any metal tools on a dial - it's much too easy to scratch the surface.

An ultrasonic may remove the old lume from hands but you may have to help by scraping some off first. New lume on hands is best applied from the back with the hand held on a stick. If the consistency of your lume is correct it will flow into the slot and be held by surface tension.


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## bry1975 (Aug 28, 2006)

Acetone will easily remove lume from the hands. BUT don't use this on painted hands.

Regs

Bry


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## ittakestime (Jun 1, 2008)

Great, thanks for the advice, I will don some latex gloves and mask as Im sure 35 yr old lume probably does contain radium or something bad. thanks for the stick and toothpick tips. all the best


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## bry1975 (Aug 28, 2006)

A mask would also be advisable. Also get yaself a container that you put the old lume in marked, Toxic or something. If you're working on alot of watches it's amazing how the crud from old lume will build up.


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## Eric L. (Sep 29, 2006)

If you have radioactive lume, I recommend not working on it yourself. For the price of a professional relume, its not worth the risk. If you are reluming something with more modern but faded lume, its not that difficult if you are careful and work slowly. I've had good success using both the Bergeon and Noctilumina lume. They are not quite as good as SL, but its very hard to buy small SL kits (you usually have to buy them in bulk). Just make sure you have all the tools necessary to get to the dial (i.e. case opener, a good screwdriver set, long tweezers, movement holder, etc...).


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## ittakestime (Jun 1, 2008)

Great thanks, I am thinking of using AF Luminova seeing as you can choose different colours, there are small kits available for $33 ex postage. Im pretty certain this is a safe product to use.

I don't know what the old lume on the '69 seiko is but im guessing only modern products acheive luminousity without the use of radioactive materials so I will wear a mask and gloves to remove. I dont want to start glowing green in the night.


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## Eeeb (Jul 12, 2007)

ittakestime said:


> ...I dont want to start glowing green in the night.


The alpha radiation is harmless, unless ingested... then it causes you to rot from the inside out. Actually it just increases your chances to get cancer unless you ingest LOTS -- then you rot very quickly from internal burns.


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## ZedU54 (Sep 18, 2012)

...here I go again, reviving a very old thread. But I'm new to this whole thing and got directed to this thread when I asked a question. I have a 70s-vintage watch that needs reluming and I am looking into what and how to use to do it. From reading through this thread I have a better idea of the 'how', but Googling for the 'what' has been, well, less informative. I noted that this 'Super-Luminova' seems to be quite highly regarded, but a little problematic to find a source for it. I looked around the Ofrei site that was cited above but didn't see the product listed anywhere there. Have they stopped carrying it since 2008? Or did I just not know where to look? And if I can't get that, what is a good product that IS available?...
...I find it hard to believe that people were still using radium-based lume in the 70s, by which time the hazards of working with the stuff were well-known. But then again, tritium-based lumes have been used more recently than that, and those are radioactive, too...Seems to me those old lumes were usually greenish in color, but the lume on mine has faded (decayed?) to a sort of tan color and does not glow at all, even if exposed to sunlight. If that was a radium lume, it would have contained zinc sulfide, which would explain the greenish color, and it would respond to exposure to light. So what happens? Does the ZnS eventually decompose from the radiation and lose its luminous properties? And if I were to place some powdered zinc sulfide on, for example, the back of one of my watch hands where the lume was applied, would there still be enough radiation left to make the fresh ZnS start glowing?...
...Just wondering...


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## Triton9 (Sep 30, 2011)

Try ebay.. You search for superluminova or watch lume. I got mine from ebay 2 years ago. Still has half the tube left but the seller stop selling it anymore.

Here are some of my relume work.


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## Archer (Apr 23, 2009)

ZedU54 said:


> I looked around the Ofrei site that was cited above but didn't see the product listed anywhere there. Have they stopped carrying it since 2008? Or did I just not know where to look? And if I can't get that, what is a good product that IS available?...


Luminous Paste for Hands and Dials

Cheers, Al


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## ZedU54 (Sep 18, 2012)

Archer said:


> Luminous Paste for Hands and Dials
> 
> Cheers, Al


...ah. Thank you. I guess I really DIDN'T know where to look...(as face turns ten shades of red )

...btw: Triton9, nice work...


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## suparobg (Nov 2, 2009)

Hi AL, Is this what you would recommend for a Tudor dial and hand set? Is it easy to work with?



Archer said:


> Luminous Paste for Hands and Dials
> 
> Cheers, Al


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## teatimecrumpet (Mar 14, 2013)

suparobg said:


> Hi AL, Is this what you would recommend for a Tudor dial and hand set? Is it easy to work with?


Im new to watches and lume...but for a tudor? I think it should be left to the professionals or at least until you have a couple of lume jobs under your belt.

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk


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