Ball Watches

[sushisummo]

Ok guys I need a little lesson from you experts.

I know that Ball watch uses some kind of gas tubes on their lume. My question is that gas lume can be turn on and off anytime or does it still need light to charge it just like any other lume watches?

If its like a Rolex it need a light source to charge the lume then how long does the Ball watch lume last? How many hours?

Thanks guys in advance!

[Andad]

The ball gas tubes are not charged by light. They glow 24/7 as part of the tritium reaction. The half life of the reaction is 12.5 years.

[The GMT Master]

As Eddie says, the Tritium is always working. It's a radioactive substance which used to be used for pretty much all luminescence between the early 1960s and 1998. Legislation was brought in to restrict it's use in paint form then, but tritium gas tubes have been gaining popularity. Not many brands use them, but Ball is probably the best known

[sushisummo]

Thanks guys for the info.........now i understand how it works.

[nortonski]

I have the Ball World Time that was launched last year, love it, glows like a beacon in 3 colours.

As has been mentioned, they don't need charging, with life expectancy of 25 years (or so the AD's will tell you...)

Nice watches & great value for money...but can be rather expensive if you have to buy in the UK...

[onryo]

Luminox has also been doing this for years with their watches. They make great "beater" quartz watches.

[stockae92]

here's what you should know about tritium: http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/tritium.htm

[Aivas47a]

Thanks for the link! Sounds like 12.3 years (tritium half life) is the point at which the watch glow should start to dim noticeably.

It's also nice to confirm that tritium in watches is perfectly safe, as the radiation emitted does not penetrate through the skin. Only risk would seem to be if you open the crystal, scrape off a light module, and swallow it. I think I can avoid that.

[sushisummo]

Thanks for all the replies.

Now I got another question. Does Ball watches bezel also use gas tubes or they are regular lume like other watches.

[lorsban]

Originally Posted by sushisummo

Thanks for all the replies.

Now I got another question. Does Ball watches bezel also use gas tubes or they are regular lume like other watches.

I believe all Ball illumination is done by tritium. I'm just not sure which watches have them on the bezels though. Mine's a diver's model but the rotating bezel is internal but it is indeed tritium.

[stockae92]

Originally Posted by sushisummo

Thanks for all the replies.

Now I got another question. Does Ball watches bezel also use gas tubes or they are regular lume like other watches.

there are four kinds of uni-directional timing bezel on hydrocarbon

(1) with the triangle @ 12, that's all glow in the dark plastic
(2) with round dot @ 12 and bushed bezel insert, the 12 o'clock dot is tritium tube, and the rest of glow in the dark plastic
(3) with round dot @ 12 and black anodize bezel insert, the 12 o'clock dot is tritium tube, and the rest are SL filled
(4) with round dot @ 12 and ceramic bezel insert, the 12 o'clock dot is tritium tube, and the rest are SL filled