How to make your watch glow better? If you’re the one who is looking to glow his watch, then this post is for you.
Many peoples like me love their watches to glow brighter and brighter in the dark. But, in most watches, the glow keeps on fading as the watch gets older and older.
So, To make your watch glow better, I have spent days experimenting on making the watch glow better. After two weeks of constant research and experiment, I have found a very efficient and easy way to make my watch glow better.
How To Make Your Watch Glow Better?
How to make your watch glow better? The easiest and most efficient way to make your glow better is to direct exposure of your watch to sunlight or UV light rays torch for 1-2 minutes.
Now, If you wonder about the science behind how your watch glow and why direct sunlight or UV light rays can make it glow better. Then this blog post has great information about it.
What Makes Your Watch Glow Brighter?
What makes your watch glow? Lume (also known as a luminous phosphorescent glowing solution) makes your watch glow at dark or anything applied to.
How Do Your Watches Glow?
Lume makes your watch glow, and as I have mentioned above that lume is a phosphorescence solution. Phosphorescence is a particular instance of photoluminescence., When exposed to light, produce light. In light, photons are energy packets (the photon is the quantum particle of the electromagnetic field).
If we dig into the science behind it, An electron circling an atom in a particular substance absorbs a photon and is stimulated to a higher energy level. When the electron “relaxes” to its ground state, it emits a photon we perceive as visible light.
Fluorescent materials emit absorbed energy exceptionally quickly — they glow as long as a light source is present to excite them (usually with a “neon” color). Still, they become dark as soon as the light source is withdrawn.
But fluorescent materials aren’t suitable for watch dials; phosphorescent materials are. The luminous paint used on watch dials, for example, absorbs photons from a light source and re-emits them as light, albeit extremely slowly.
Due to the excited electron’s energy state in phosphorescent materials, re-emission of a photon requires a “forbidden” energy transition. Because these transitions are rare, the trapped light seeps out considerably slower than in fluorescent materials.
However, some watches mix radioactive elements like radium tritium, which make rays spontaneously, making the lume glow consistently without getting dull or fade over time.
Why Does Your Watch’s Glow Getting Fade Over Time?
The simple lume watch without having a radioactive element combined with it on the watch requires an energy source and a “phosphor” — a substance that absorbs and re-emits light.
So eventually, when your watch stops getting enough light source and having chemical issues of phosphor. That’s why Its glow fades away over time.
How To Stop Your Watch Glow From Fading Over Time?
Now, I have done a lot of research and experiment on this and made the glow of the watch better. So, I have found three possible ways to stop the glow of your watch from fading away over time.
#1 Sunlight
The number one and most straightforward solution to prevent the glow of your watch from getting faded in the sunlight. Just keep your watch with direct exposure to sunlight for 1-2 minutes minimum.
So that, the phosphor of the phosphorescence material on your watch, generally known as lime, absorbs light and re-emits it when it comes to the dark. This helped me a lot in making the glow of the watch better.
#2 UV Light Rays Torch
If you are not satisfied with the earlier solution of sunlight or sunlight that may potentially damage your watch material, don’t worry; we have another solution to this.
UV light rays torch is a torch that emits UV light, and when your torch is on your watch, it will make the glow of your watch better. UV light is Ultraviolet light that can store for a longer time in phosphor.
Thus, not only making the watch glow better but also for a longer time.
#3 Lume Treatment
If none of the above methods works out for you, This method will 100% work for you because of LUME TREATMENT. In lume treatment, the volume of your watch is re-coat by the newer lume, and As we all know, new things glow better.
So, The New Lume Coating can be the solution to bring back the glow of your watch or make it better.
However, Lume treatment is not recommended for me because, in this method, your watch would be open, and parts will be separate and combined again. Thus, the originals of your watch may not be prolonged the same.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
If your watch lume material is mixed with radioactive elements such as radium or tritium, there is a meager chance of fading its glow. But if it started fading away then, I would recommend you visit a nearby watch repair shop.
Because radioactive elements can potentially harm you and safety should be our number one priority.
Types of Radioactive Lume Watches
Radium Watches
So coming up to the most famous and well-known type of radium lume watches is radium watches. As with radium, a radioactive element is mixed with lime to make the lume glow without being dependent upon charging.
As we know, dealing with radioactive elements is very not so easy, so you would not regret knowing the history of radium watches.
History of Radium Watches
For the first time, William Hammer combined radium, zinc sulfide, and glue. Dr. Sabin Arnold Von Sochocky created the first brilliant paint. This ‘Undark’ paint included zinc sulfide and radioactive radium in varying concentrations.
A primary user of radium-lit goods was the army. The conclusion of WW1 produced a total of four million military timepieces with lighted dials. The civilian market followed shortly. After the war, a slew of new products hit the market.
Circulating clocks and watches with radium-lit displays reached 10 million by 1970. 90% of all timepieces now feature luminous hands or dials. Aside from watches and other devices, uses include fishing bait, crucifixes, light switches, etc.
How long do radium watches glow?
Radium watches can glow for a minimum of 4 5 years to a maximum of over a decade depend upon the brand you are wearing.
Tritium Watches
Tritium watches are also radioactive watches but less radioactive than radium. However, it is not as preferable as radium watches are.
History of Tritium Watches
From the 1960s, a new chemical was utilized — tritium. Tritium contains radioactive beta emitters, although they are considerably smaller than radium. Tritium replaced radium-containing luminous masses until the 1990s.
GTLS Tritium H₃: glass tubes filled with tritium gas, significantly reducing tritium permeability. The small gas-filled tubes were coated with phosphorous to make them shine. Various color effects may be achieved with phosphor coatings.
The GTLS technology (Gaseous Tritium Light Source), also known as “trigalight” and “Betalight,” is deemed safe due to the non-toxicity and low radioactivity of the tritium gas and its decay product.
The dial identifies tritium watch marks H₃, T, and T25. The tritium-filled borosilicate glass tubes are hermetically sealed and show as dish-shaped indices or other marks on the dial.
How long does tritium watch glow?
Tritium watch can glow the lume of your watch for a minimum of 5 years to over the decades.
DISCLAIMER: The radioactive watches, once they start fading to glow, can not be repaired on your own, and you should not try it because the radioactive elements can potentially harm you.
I recommend you consult with the nearby watch repair shop instead of harming yourself or your precious watch.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Coming up to the final thoughts on, “How can you glow your watch better?” If your watch is non-radioactive, then direct exposure to UV light rays of sunlight will make it glow better.
And if your watch is radioactive, then don’t do experiments on its own as radioactive is potentially harmful and dangerous. So, take your watch to the nearest or finest watch repairer shop.
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