Every once in a while a question comes up regarding the luminescence of watch dials. I wrote a little FYI on another board a few months ago and thought it might be of interest here. As this is EXTREMELY long and boring, I’ll sum it up for the Weekly Reader crowd.
-Luminova ok, but why bother
-Superluminova super-duper, get it if you can
-Tritium super-de-duper, but tough to find and not for the home lumer.
Anyways, here goes;
Luminova is the material used in today’s more common watches. It is a phosphorescent (glow-in-the-dark) pigment which is based on Strontium Oxide Aluminate. It is different from conventional phosphorescent pigments which are either based on Zinc Sulfide or on radioisotopes for their self-luminous properties. It does, however, require an outside light source to obtain a “chargeâ€
-Luminova ok, but why bother
-Superluminova super-duper, get it if you can
-Tritium super-de-duper, but tough to find and not for the home lumer.
Anyways, here goes;
Luminova is the material used in today’s more common watches. It is a phosphorescent (glow-in-the-dark) pigment which is based on Strontium Oxide Aluminate. It is different from conventional phosphorescent pigments which are either based on Zinc Sulfide or on radioisotopes for their self-luminous properties. It does, however, require an outside light source to obtain a “chargeâ€