The Luminox Watch Company is an American success story. It began in 1989 when the founder, Barry Cohen, who was already in the watch business, discovered a need and filled it. As has been said many times, “necessity is the mother of invention” and the Luminox story is a classic example. When the founder heard of a unique Swiss self-powered illumination system, he reasoned that this would be a very helpful addition to the watch business, making watches more visible and easier to read in low or no light situations. This seemed quite logical since one of life’s realities is degeneration of eyesight as one ages, and finding methods to see anything better (in this case—time) made sense. He contacted the owner of the illumination company, and acquired the rights to use the technology in a new brand of watches employing this unique illumination system, now called LLT (Luminox Light Technology), and a watch brand was born. The rest, as they say—is history. Today, Luminox can be found in more than 30 nations with more being added regularly. The line began with one very basic model and grew to include many more models over time. Noticing a trend toward watches aimed at the active sports market, Luminox created a dive model in 1993. This was the first time luck played a significant part in our development. A U.S. Navy SEAL procurement officer contacted Luminox and explained their need for this luminous technology for use on night missions and asked to have the new dive watch re-engineered to meet their rigorous specifications. After many months of redesigning, the revamped dive watch was offered to the SEAL teams in early 1994, and Luminox went out to the world to offer this same watch to consumers as the Original Navy SEAL dive watch. It became an instant success. With the enhanced readability having been requested by and supplied to U.S. Navy SEALs, consumers correctly reasoned that if it was good enough for one of the world’s most elite military forces, it surely was good enough for their recreational uses. From there, Luminox expanded the collection to include a variety of dial colors, as well as improved and upgraded versions of the Original Navy SEAL dive series, and ultimately an entire line of watches of many types and styles created for the active consumer, the sportsman, law enforcement and, of course, military groups.
The Technology
The Luminox Light Technology makes Luminox watches Always Visible – in fact, the technology Luminox uses provides 24/7 luminosity, no matter the conditions, for more than 25 years.
Most other watches use luminescent paint that has to be charged by a light source and fades very quickly, or a "push to light" system, where you push a button for battery-driven illumination.
Luminox, however, uses proprietary technology, in the past reserved for the military, that makes Luminox watches stand out, literally. Each Luminox watch features tiny gas lights (borosilicate glass capsules), which are always lit, on the hands, hour markers and when necessary, bezels. As a result of this unique technology, Luminox watches are always readable at a glance, no matter the conditions.
The tritium in a gaseous tritium light source undergoes beta decay, releasing electrons which cause the phosphor layer to fluoresce. During manufacture, a length of borosilicate glass tube which has had the inside surface coated with a phosphor-containing compound is filled with the radioactive tritium. The tube is then fused with a CO2 laser at the desired length. Borosilicate is used for its strength and resistance to breakage. In the tube, the tritium gives off a steady stream of electrons due to beta decay. These particles excite the phosphor, causing it to emit a low, steady glow. One could use any beta particle-emitting substance, but in practice tritium is preferred because it is not very hazardous.
Otherwords: Tritium does not glow. As it decays, tritium emits beta radiation, which is a bunch of excited electrons that in turns excite the electron in the phosphor atoms making them emit photons, or light, as they return to their ground (non-excited) state: the phosphor GLOWS. Phosphor can also be excited by UV light from the sun or other light sources. Thus, the tritium paint relies on tritium radioactivity to make the phosphor glow in the dark, not any charge from external light source.
Tritium, has a half life of 12.3 years, a half-life is simply the time it takes HALF of the tritium to decay. So, as long as you have enough tritium in your paint, the watch will glow in the dark for years, not hours or days, without any need of charging. The 12.3 years of half-life starts from the second the tritium is born (i.e. freshly produced), not from the time the paint is applied to your watch.
The U.S. military has long recognized the advantages of micro gas light sources and their use is mandated in procurement specification MIL-W-46374F. Being able to read the watches in any conditions, even in total darkness, is an important requirement of many military and law enforcement agencies.
The U.S. Navy SEALs use the watches, as do U.S. Air Force pilots, FBI and ATF agents, Secret Service officers, Border Patrol units, Coast Guard officers, SWAT teams, as well as general law enforcement officers, helicopter search and rescue pilots, professional divers and other groups.
The Luminox Light Technology system is hand applied in each and every watch. Though more complicated, expensive and time consuming than normal luminescence, it is one of the things that makes Luminox watches special. This unique technology and the additional quality control steps Luminox mandates require extraordinary attention to detail and care in manufacturing.
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