CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

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Willf
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by Willf »

nauf wrote: Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:40 am
Willf wrote: Sun Dec 30, 2018 7:34 am I wonder what they think on mobile phone forums!?
Anyway Iooks as though we think in general the lume should be better than this, at least have a reasonable amount of usability.
As in my original review it’s otherwise a fantastic watch in build, style, looks and accuracy.
I’m waiting to see what CW say themselves re lume!
I could always get one of those 60/70’s re lumed Tissots/omegas/rados etc that were on eBay!! I wouldn’t have my front door painted whoever does those!
How long the lume on your Rolex Sub last? It would be good if you could make it as a benchmark in your conversation with CW support team for continual quality improvement purpose.

Sub is 15 years old now so lume not what it was but would just be visible but very hard to read at end of night.
It does however still charge extremely well from natural or artificial light and burns bright green if I were moving from light to dark spaces and therefore very useful especially this time of year.
I don’t expect Sub quality but would like and expect some decent usability and it just doesn’t have any from normal light sources.

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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by Bounce »

Willf wrote: Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:33 am
nauf wrote: Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:40 am
Willf wrote: Sun Dec 30, 2018 7:34 am I wonder what they think on mobile phone forums!?
Anyway Iooks as though we think in general the lume should be better than this, at least have a reasonable amount of usability.
As in my original review it’s otherwise a fantastic watch in build, style, looks and accuracy.
I’m waiting to see what CW say themselves re lume!
I could always get one of those 60/70’s re lumed Tissots/omegas/rados etc that were on eBay!! I wouldn’t have my front door painted whoever does those!
How long the lume on your Rolex Sub last? It would be good if you could make it as a benchmark in your conversation with CW support team for continual quality improvement purpose.

Sub is 15 years old now so lume not what it was but would just be visible but very hard to read at end of night.
It does however still charge extremely well from natural or artificial light and burns bright green if I were moving from light to dark spaces and therefore very useful especially this time of year.
I don’t expect Sub quality but would like and expect some decent usability and it just doesn’t have any from normal light sources.

Niz
My Sub is a 2011 model with the latest Chromalite dial & that is still fully legible all night as is my Tudor GMT, is it really that costly to have decent Lume?
Panerai Luminor GMT.
Omega Speedmaster Professional.
Tudor Pepsi GMT.
Tudor Harrods BB
Bremont ALT1 World Timer
C60 Trident MK3 GMT.
C60 Trident MK3 Tide.
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by r-macus »

Haven't read previous comments, sorry. Just want to input. Evry company could apply a heap of lume, it won't cost them much money (cheap chinese aside), the reason they don't is aesthetics. What you will have is a dial taken up mostly by indices with a lume blob. Zelos and helm seem to have the right lume to dial space ratio down quite well. But my seiko turtle is a joy in low light. Just something about seiko they seem to have their lume spot on. Of course stepping up i'm sure a rolex deepsea or submariner I would assume a better quality of lume is used?
STOC : Seiko sarb033 / Seiko srp775 / Christopher ward c60 trident pro vintage / Zelos swordfish / Certina ds podium / Yema 011-ba / Luminox seaturtle 0301 
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by Willf »

Disappointed to say the least to get this reply from customer services.
Clearly no knowledge. I will be contacting CW directly tomorrow.

“The lume does need to be charged up to work to the full potential, 30 seconds is not enough for a full charge it may need a few hours at this time of year with the light source not being as strong, this is powered by daylight, you can also power the lume up with the torch on your phone”
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

Willf wrote:Disappointed to say the least to get this reply from customer services.
Clearly no knowledge. I will be contacting CW directly tomorrow.

“The lume does need to be charged up to work to the full potential, 30 seconds is not enough for a full charge it may need a few hours at this time of year with the light source not being as strong, this is powered by daylight, you can also power the lume up with the torch on your phone”
In an ideal world, what sort of reply were you hoping for from CW?

Guy

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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by mvlow »

Willf wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 4:54 pm Disappointed to say the least to get this reply from customer services.
Clearly no knowledge. I will be contacting CW directly tomorrow.

“The lume does need to be charged up to work to the full potential, 30 seconds is not enough for a full charge it may need a few hours at this time of year with the light source not being as strong, this is powered by daylight, you can also power the lume up with the torch on your phone”
If you really want to get into the weeds on Lume, this is a pretty good video made by Marc from Long Island Watch The first half talks about radium and tritium. At about 14:45 he begins to talk about lumibrite and super luminova. Note where Marc discusses the fact your eyes need to be adjusted to see lume at night after a short period of time. Many people make the mistake of walking into a dark room from a light room and wondering why they can't see the lume on their watch after it has been sitting in the dark room for a couple of hours. I've started the video where he begins talking about modern lume.

https://youtu.be/2vr_-wyJW20?t=882
Malcolm


CW C60 Vintage Hamilton Khaki Field Sinn 104 CW C65 Vintage GMT Monta Oceanking Elliot Brown Holton
Willf
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by Willf »

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:06 pm
Willf wrote:Disappointed to say the least to get this reply from customer services.
Clearly no knowledge. I will be contacting CW directly tomorrow.

“The lume does need to be charged up to work to the full potential, 30 seconds is not enough for a full charge it may need a few hours at this time of year with the light source not being as strong, this is powered by daylight, you can also power the lume up with the torch on your phone”

In an ideal world, what sort of reply were you hoping for from CW?

Guy

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An acknowledgment that a watch at this price point and advertised as a diver watch has a least some usability in the dark. This watch has virtually none!
CW introduces there dive watches as such on their website;
Whether you’re serious about diving and insist on the highest specification or just appreciate the versatile good looks of the genre, you’ll find your perfect dive watch in this curated collection.
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by jkbarnes »

I'll agree with everyone that the vintage lume isn't great, but it works well enough for my needs. Anyone else find themselves not looking directly at their watch face at night, but slightly to the side, to get a better view of the lume? The rods along the periphery of our retinas are better with low light than the cones clustered in the center of our retinas. If you've never tried that little trick, give it a try. Still doesn't change the fact that the lume isn't stellar.
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by Bugster87 »

Willf wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:58 pm
Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:06 pm
Willf wrote:Disappointed to say the least to get this reply from customer services.
Clearly no knowledge. I will be contacting CW directly tomorrow.

“The lume does need to be charged up to work to the full potential, 30 seconds is not enough for a full charge it may need a few hours at this time of year with the light source not being as strong, this is powered by daylight, you can also power the lume up with the torch on your phone”

In an ideal world, what sort of reply were you hoping for from CW?

Guy

Sent from my Xperia XZ Premium using Tapatalk
An acknowledgment that a watch at this price point and advertised as a diver watch has a least some usability in the dark. This watch has virtually none!
CW introduces there dive watches as such on their website;
Whether you’re serious about diving and insist on the highest specification or just appreciate the versatile good looks of the genre, you’ll find your perfect dive watch in this curated collection.
I think it’s pretty obvious this isn’t the watch for you. Most find the lume adiquate for this vintage style watch (I certainly do). It’s not brilliant but adiquate with its narrow application. I’d rather have this colour and design than larger lume plots. I could still read mine in darkness after several hours. You’re probably better finding something that fits your needs.
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by Willf »

Bugster87 wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 8:07 pm
Willf wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:58 pm
Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:06 pm


In an ideal world, what sort of reply were you hoping for from CW?

Guy

Sent from my Xperia XZ Premium using Tapatalk
An acknowledgment that a watch at this price point and advertised as a diver watch has a least some usability in the dark. This watch has virtually none!
CW introduces there dive watches as such on their website;
Whether you’re serious about diving and insist on the highest specification or just appreciate the versatile good looks of the genre, you’ll find your perfect dive watch in this curated collection.
I think it’s pretty obvious this isn’t the watch for you. Most find the lume adiquate for this vintage style watch (I certainly do). It’s not brilliant but adiquate with its narrow application. I’d rather have this colour and design than larger lume plots. I could still read mine in darkness after several hours. You’re probably better finding something that fits your needs.
Maybe you haven’t read all of this thread and why I have an issue with this particular aspect of the watches function. I am grateful to you however to hear this and I’m amazed that your watches lume last thru the nite. Same watch, so, so should mine! It doesn’t so perhaps this points to QC issues!
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by nbg »

Ah the often discussed topic on the quality of CW lume! :)

Just read the thread from the start and Interesting to note the reaction to the OP’s post.

I think that CW lume has improved over the years. The lume on my previous version Tridents was completely and utterly useless, whereas the lume on my current version spec Tridents has improved to just being fairly useless!

Still pictures are often better than words, here is one I prepared earlier! :)

Lume experiment on a dull day thread:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=44174&p=645971&hilit=Lume#p645971
nbg wrote: Sat Jun 24, 2017 3:19 pm We have had no sunshine today. Completely overcast with a full blanket of cloud.

Thought I would check the level of lume on three dive watches by leaving them on a window sill in natural light for four hours, albeit in overcast conditions.

A quick photo from a darkened room.
Image

Should be easy enough to guess the watches.

Neil
nbg wrote: Sat Jun 24, 2017 4:16 pm 30 minutes later.
Image
An hour after starting all signs of lume had almost disappeared - no point posting a pic, it would be of less use than a pic of a black cat in a coal bunker!
The trio.
Image
The Pelagos was as I thought it would be - charged from bright sunlight, or a few minutes direct from a torch it lasts all night.

The SKX wasn't as bright as I thought - although it will last most of the night if fully charged.

The Trident Pro is better than the Mark 1 C60, but still lags behind the rest of my swimming watches.

Neil
No idea what the lume is like on a C65 Trident GMT as I don’t own one. Interesting that CW decided to use “Old Radium SuperLumiNova”, for a watch that bears more than a passing nod to the original Explorer II 1655. The 1655 was launched in 1971; I think that Radium was banned in 1968.

Neil
Other watch forums of interest:
TZ-UK
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by Bugster87 »

Willf wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 8:44 pm
Bugster87 wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 8:07 pm
Willf wrote: Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:58 pm
An acknowledgment that a watch at this price point and advertised as a diver watch has a least some usability in the dark. This watch has virtually none!
CW introduces there dive watches as such on their website;
Whether you’re serious about diving and insist on the highest specification or just appreciate the versatile good looks of the genre, you’ll find your perfect dive watch in this curated collection.
I think it’s pretty obvious this isn’t the watch for you. Most find the lume adiquate for this vintage style watch (I certainly do). It’s not brilliant but adiquate with its narrow application. I’d rather have this colour and design than larger lume plots. I could still read mine in darkness after several hours. You’re probably better finding something that fits your needs.
Maybe you haven’t read all of this thread and why I have an issue with this particular aspect of the watches function. I am grateful to you however to hear this and I’m amazed that your watches lume last thru the nite. Same watch, so, so should mine! It doesn’t so perhaps this points to QC issues!
Not “through the night”. For several hours. I will test at some point how many hours.
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by StrappedUp »

An update this morning on the lume.
Went to sleep 11:30 with faintly visible lume and when I woke at 5 this morning, the lume was still faintly visible, very faint but enough for me to check the time once my eyes adjusted.

I hadn't "torched" it before bed, but it did get a couple of hours of natural light yesterday.
Although it was out of sight under my sleeve most of the time.
Ryan
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by Bugster87 »

I tested my lume last night. Charged the watch at 12.20am under a good, strong desk light and went straight to bed. Unplugged my alarm clock for total darkness except for a little light pollution coming through the curtains. I’m a light sleeper and checked the time several times during the night. The lume was visible all night right through until 7.30am when I got up. I had no problem reading the time at all. Could see all markers and hands including the 24hr hand. Only the seconds hand (which has very small lume application) had disappeared. I don’t usually wear a watch in bed but this actually exceeded my expectations.
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Re: CW lume quality and C65 Trident GMT

Post by Willf »

Bugster87 wrote: Wed Jan 02, 2019 10:57 am I tested my lume last night. Charged the watch at 12.20am under a good, strong desk light and went straight to bed. Unplugged my alarm clock for total darkness except for a little light pollution coming through the curtains. I’m a light sleeper and checked the time several times during the night. The lume was visible all night right through until 7.30am when I got up. I had no problem reading the time at all. Could see all markers and hands including the 24hr hand. Only the seconds hand (which has very small lume application) had disappeared. I don’t usually wear a watch in bed but this actually exceeded my expectations.
You will see from the 3 photos I posted earlier in this thread that mine was nearly gone after 30 mins so I suppose this confirms a quality control issue?
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