my c1 moonglow

[dazzer]

I purchased a c1 moonglow watch and i am happy with the watch apart from one thing , I don't know if this is normal for this type of watch but the glow seems to wear off before it turns dark out , i cant see the time in the dark the glow is dim, i can just about see the moon cant see the dial hands to read the time , just wondering what people think about it ?

[Amor Vincit Omnia]

Forgive the presumption if you already know this, but general daylight is not necessarily the best thing for activating lume on most watches. If you’ve been out in the sun and you come indoors it will look very bright and rather pretty for a while, but will probably fade by bedtime.

To get the maximum effect from most luminescence, you need a period of exposure to STRONG, DIRECT light; often when you are out and about the light from the sun is not catching your watch directly most of the time.

A few minutes under a strong white light (I use a multi LED torch or lamp) should allow your watch to become very bright. Again, most ordinary domestic room lighting isn’t powerful enough. It will fade during the night, of course, and the rate at which this happens depends very much on the kind of luminous paint used. CW watches have never had a great reputation for long lasting lume, though modern iterations are much better in that respect. Seiko lume is legendary.

Try a LED torch or lamp and see if you notice the difference.

[Fat-Sam]

I don’t have a moonglow but on my Dartmouth (with its unremarkable lume), I use a cheap UV/black light torch bought from eBay for a few seconds before bed and this usually leaves it fully charged for a good portion of the night.

[jkbarnes]

I don’t have a moonglow but on my Dartmouth (with its unremarkable lume), I use a cheap UV/black light torch bought from eBay for a few seconds before bed and this usually leaves it fully charged for a good portion of the night.

That’s a good tip. Do you know what it is specifically about UV/black light that makes it effective?

[rkovars]

It is my understanding that it is the wavelength. Shorter wavelengths will charge the lume faster because they carry more energy per photon. I think that you can only charge lume up to a certain point. Once it is there you can't get additional charge. The only thing you can do is change the speed of getting it to the max charge. From what I gather it goes: direct sun, UV, florescent and then incandescent.

[Toph]

It’s very simple, Stick it under/close to a light bulb for 1 minute. Should last hours