Are these hands tritium or luminova?

[Cloitus]

Hello, I'm looking to buy a rolex submariner from 1991.
It is a pre ceramic sub and looking to get an extra set of eyes on the hands to see if they are original or luminova service replacements.

I am aware that the hands aged lighter than the dial on ones from this period however is it possible to know from the photos if they are tritium but have aged lighter than dial or if they are replacement hands.

Kind regards,

Cloitus



https://ibb.co/QYHcZsR
https://ibb.co/Y70hb1g
https://ibb.co/0K80Fg4

[Dave O]

I could be mistaken, but I believe they are tritium as at the bottom of the dial it says Swiss - T, the T meaning tritium. Again, I could be totally wrong but I believe this is how they distinguished them.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Cloitus

Hello, I'm looking to buy a rolex submariner from 1991.
It is a pre ceramic sub and looking to get an extra set of eyes on the hands to see if they are original or luminova service replacements.

I am aware that the hands aged lighter than the dial on ones from this period however is it possible to know from the photos if they are tritium but have aged lighter than dial or if they are replacement hands.

Kind regards,

Cloitus



https://ibb.co/QYHcZsR
https://ibb.co/Y70hb1g
https://ibb.co/0K80Fg4

Well should be Tritium from that time frame and Tritium has a half life of around 12 years so doubt if they would glow.So if a bright light shined on hands make them glow, then hands a Luminover but now big deal if they have.

[Tools]

You can't really tell just by looking.

Tritium hands will not glow in the dark any more, but Luminova replacements will glow like a torch after a light source charges them.

It would be odd for somebody to replace the hands and not the dial too unless the hands had begun to deteriorate.

[stevestil]

Originally Posted by Dave O

I could be mistaken, but I believe they are tritium as at the bottom of the dial it says Swiss - T, the T meaning tritium. Again, I could be totally wrong but I believe this is how they distinguished them.

i believe youre correct...but i could be wrong too

[KatGirl]

[QUOTE=stevestil;13185129]

Originally Posted by Dave O

I could be mistaken, but I believe they are tritium as at the bottom of the dial it says Swiss - T, the T meaning tritium. Again, I could be totally wrong but I believe this is how they distinguished them.[/QUOT

i believe youre correct...but i could be wrong too

T does indeed stand for tritium.

Kat


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[watchnwine]

The dial is indeed tritium as indicated on the dial. The question is since the hands have a noticeably different patina, have they been replaced with luminova/super luminova service hands. I'm not sure if Rolex would have done that but it's possible an independent did. They look different enough that I'd bet they were a different material.

[Tools]

Originally Posted by Dave O

I could be mistaken, but I believe they are tritium as at the bottom of the dial it says Swiss - T, the T meaning tritium. Again, I could be totally wrong but I believe this is how they distinguished them.

That would tell you that they were originally Tritium, as is the dial. Since hands are not marked you have no way to know if they are the ones that came on the watch or not.

[HiDive]

Either way the hands have a phosphorescent material (typically strontium aluminate) on them and should glow to some degree if exposed to an intense light source. When new, the Tritium beta radiation is what excites the phosphorescent material causing it to glow. When the Tritium passes it's half life and beyond the beta radiation level becomes low and will no longer excite the electrons of the phosphorescent material enough to produce the required photon light. But, 'charging' it in the sun or under high intensity light should produce some glow for a limited period of time.