Stabilize hands on this 5513 or not?

[swish77]

Originally Posted by Vincent65

I can usually spot re-lumed/colour-matched hands immediately anyway, so, for me at least, that kills it. The texture and colour is never the same as the original Tritium, however hard they try. Some sellers seem to like doing it to a great many of their wares, and I always think... "Oh, but why?" Why not at least let prospective buyers see them in their original state first, and then decide, before just going ahead with it and spoiling the original integrity of the watch? Of course, some are likely very necessary to 'repair' before any presentation, but my guess is a good few get done when they needn't have been.

There's also - again IMHO - an irrational fear of 'what if particles of loose lume fall in the movement?' OMG! Alert the media! I doubt it will destroy the movement, in the short term. It wouldn't be long before the offending missing chunks of lume made their absence known to the passionately enthusiastic - 'obsessed'? and I speak for myself, too - owner, noticed. It would survive a crumb or two of ancient Tritium, before being sped away to the nearest emergency watch-doctor. They're largely made of Swiss steel, not Swiss chocolate... or cheese...

x2. There's are a couple of things that bug me on vintage Rolexes, but near the top of the list is mismatched patina on the dial and hands. Stabilizing hands, even when done very well, will often change their color/patina, from slightly to a lot.

And as for crumbling tritium from hands ... People often write about their fears of movement damage, but I've always wondered how the tritium actually gets from the hands/dial, and into the movement. There are no gaping holes or gaps that allow that, right? Surely any loose tritium would just sit on the dial surface, and would be noticed before being taken care of (as noted above).

In a worst-case scenario, I'd rather just try to track down an original set of tritium hands and swap 'em out. (Easier said than done, of course.)