Do all tritium markers and hands patina?

[khalifam]

Hi all,

16710 owner here - just come back from service and Rolex state that my hands and markers are "marked"

Do you reckon they treat the hands which stop ant deterioration?

Is it true that all hands/markers start to patina? 20210606_132456.jpg

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[stmoore]

I have no idea what you mean by “marked” …. Maybe they saw some small change.

They do not “treat” the hands. They either re install or replace.

Not all tritium dials / hands will develop patina. It’s likely that yours, at this point, will never change color.

[MorningTundra]

If you can keep your tritium in climate controlled, museum conditions it likely won’t corrode (patina).

[stevedssd]

Quite a few of the later year Tritium dials can keep a white or whiter appearance. Here are two photo's of my 89 5513. The first looks completely white the second shows at an angle that the markers are matt and with a slight tone.

[R.W.T.]

Not always. They played with different mixtures and possibly binders...they don't all act the same.

[77T]

I also can’t imagine the meaning of RSC’s “marked” notation. Since that is now a part of their service database, it is worth asking for a clarification.

As RWT noted there were many paint combinations. Remember the Tritium era lasted about 35 years. And a patina palette includes words like ivory, pumpkin and other sobriquets.

During that entire period, Rolex used dials by Singer, Beyeler, and a few others. So there could have been different suppliers of paint to those dial makers. Some degraded differently due to quantities and qualities of phosphorus, titanium and pigments used in the paint plus the other components meant to thwart discoloration over time.


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[zapokee]

Originally Posted by stmoore

I have no idea what you mean by “marked”

It's likely just an individual Rolex staff member's expression for "displaying some deterioration," rather than being an official Rolex term.

[R.W.T.]

I have this end of production 2.6 mil m first dial, II-70. Hands are white...markers are white. No yellowing at all. This is totally dead non glow stuff unlike the early m-first that was the same as the gilt tritium. Another odd variant unlike the ones in between that turn yellow and brown. I've seen a few like this from this period. Stark white almost.

[R.W.T.]

Originally Posted by zapokee

It's likely just an individual Rolex staff member's expression for "displaying some deterioration," rather than being an official Rolex term.

In the USA they say SCRATCHED. The British have a more subtle way of expressing....

[Swearengen]

Mk3 1675, no patina here

[Tavli3]

Patina is a strange and mysterious thing. It’s amazing how no one knows exactly why it does or doesn’t happen on certain watches. Or if it starts does it keep going or can it stop and start again. Or if it doesn’t start by a certain time does it mean it won’t ever.


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