There are three main modern advanced watch luminous technologies
- One is Super-LumiNova
- One is Tritium
- The other is Trasers
1. The most common one is Super-LumiNova. Strontium aluminate is a paint that absorbs and emits light. It absorbs the gamma particles in the light and stores them, and then emits light. This is a long-lasting luminescent material. It will not have the problem of yellowing, aging and fading like tritium watches. Watches using Super-LumiNova will generally be marked with “L-Swiss Made-L” on the dial
2. Tritium, namely triple hydrogen, tritium element, the Tritium on the watch is a coating of zinc sulfide or copper sulfide containing tritium element. Tritium is a radioactive material, but in the luminous coating of the watch, the content of tritium is actually negligible. The role of tritium in zinc sulfide coatings containing tritium is an stimulant, so it does not need an external light source, it can emit light on its own, and it will not become very bright after absorbing enough light like Super LumiNova, and then it will quickly fade away. Tritium It can always maintain a relatively constant brightness. However, since the half-life of tritium is twelve years, and the use of tritium in the luminous paint of the watch is not quite stable, factors such as humidity will also affect it. Watches using Tritium lose their luminosity every year until they no longer emit light. Watches using Tritium will generally be marked with “T-Swiss Made-T” on the dial
3. TRASER, tritium tube luminous, was invented in 1980 by the Swiss TRASER company, commonly known as “TRASER” luminous. Since the invention of TRASER luminous, it was immediately adopted by the U.S. military. By 1990, more than 100,000 TRASER (tritium tubes) had been used. The luminous military surface is equipped with troops. This accelerates the promotion and application of TRASER (tritium tube) luminous. TRASER technology is to rush into gaseous tritium in a mineral glass tube coated with phosphorescent material on the inner wall, and the tritium reacts with the phosphorescent material. Produce cold light source, this kind of light source has no dazzling light and heat dissipation, and will not burn and explode. It is not affected by water, oil and a variety of corrosive agents, does not require external energy or reflection from external light sources, and can maintain stable and long-lasting light for 10-20 years. On the logo, you can see the BALL watch that most likes to use the gas light luminous, and the words such as T25 Swiss Made will be marked on the dial. T stands for element tritium, and 25 means that the content of radioactive material is less than 25 millicuries.
Comparison of Super-LumiNova and Tritium
In the above figure, the horizontal axis is time, the vertical axis is brightness, and the green line represents the luminosity of Tritium. It can be found that the luminescence reaction of Tritium has nothing to do with the external light source. The red line represents the luminosity of Super-LumiNova. In the initial period of time, Super-LumiNova has the strongest luminosity, which is also known as “Brightness” on Super-LumiNova. The intersection of the red line and the green line represents the point in time when the luminosity emitted by the two different paints is the same. In this example, the time of the same luminosity is 14.2 hours. So with this example, it means that the Super-LumiNova watch will emit a higher luminosity in the previous 14.2 hours than the Tritium watch. After 14.2 hours, the brightness of Tritium will always be higher than that of Super-LumiNova, and the time will approach infinite, until Super-LumiNova absorbs light again.
