Rolex Explroer II 1993

[syata]

I just bought a Rolex Explorer II. Watch was originally purchased in 1993.

I noticed the hands and hour dots do not glow in the dark. Was this normal for that year or year range?

[Adam K.]

The indices and hands on your Explorer are tritium, and ONCE glowed very nicely!

However, being (mildly) radioactive tritium based, the markers and hands eventually lose their ability to glow...as time goes on the tritium, which has a half life of just over 12 years, is less and less able to "excite" the glowing compounds on the markers and hands, hence why such indices/hands are dim to nonexistent in terms of lume after a couple decades.

Entirely normal, and if you have the watch serviced---unless you request to keep the existing dial---a Rolex Service Center will replace it with a superluminova dial. This material is different than tritium, has no "expiration" that we know of, and will glow brightly after being simply exposed to a light source.