Tritium Lumes - Opinions on deteriorated lume dots and hand markers

[Holnave]

I've seen vintage watches where the lume dots have dried up and "fallen off" leaving some residue. It's even more common to see the tritium affecting corroding the hands and sometimes the dials.

How much does lume deterioration affect the overall value of a vintage watch?

What are your opinions on getting a dial and/or hands relumed vs leaving it in its original state? I know some would want to preserve the originality of the watch and doing so would reduce the value.

[southtexas]

Reluming a dial will cause a huge negative hit to value. If you have a nice dial and crap hands, reluming them isn’t so bad, in my opinion, and sometimes necessary for aesthetics. Naturally, you’d need to disclose it at sale time, or you could just search for an original handset with matching patina.


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[Dan S]

It's hard to answer these questions hypothetically since it really depends how bad the dial is. If you have a specific dial in mind, please post photos.

[ROLLiWORKS]

photos!

[Holnave]

Post count is still below 10 so I'll have to attach an image instead of linking it from imgur.

Not sure if I should leave the hands for that rustic look or get them serviced.

I'd like to think the matte black dial is in decent condition except for some of the lume markers disintegrating/falling off. What do you guys think of lume dots that have come off?

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[Holnave]

Tried to attach an image to my reply as I can't post a link (post count less than 10) but the reply is being moderated. Photos coming soon I guess!

[southtexas]

Relume all you want! A date dial is common (albeit a black one is one of the more rare varietals) and can be replaced on eBay. I personally would have no problem with it (so long as a future buyer is made aware).


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[linesiders]

Or just watch Ebay for a set of service hands in Trit - probably out there.

[Holnave]

Is there a way to identify legitimacy of hands via eBay? I mean I guess go through reputable vendors recommended in this forum.

I’m hesitant to relume much less to replace the hands as I’d like to keep it as “untouched” as possible. But was wondering if doing it would devalue the watch. It has a bit of charm to it being aged like that but I do love the clean, shiny hands!

[southtexas]

Originally Posted by Holnave

Is there a way to identify legitimacy of hands via eBay? I mean I guess go through reputable vendors recommended in this forum.

I’m hesitant to relume much less to replace the hands as I’d like to keep it as “untouched” as possible. But was wondering if doing it would devalue the watch. It has a bit of charm to it being aged like that but I do love the clean, shiny hands!

Buy from a reputable eBay vendor or put up a want to buy ad here. I have piles of nos Rolex dress hands but unfortunately I have no idea what models/movements they belong to so I’m no help!

I don’t think replacing the hands with original Rolex hands would affect value at all. The dial will take a little hit but it’s not a big deal from resell standpoint. If it was a relumed vintage sport model, it would be a different story on both dial and hands.


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