To lume or not to lume...

[rehajm]

..that is my question. I have not begun to investigate too deeply- the hands appear in very good shape while the fill is looking quite ragged. They don't appear to be rubbing. I'm reluctant to make any changes to anything with Rolex in the name but this one I'm not so sure. What do you think? 

[tomh207]

They look so far gone I would be worried about it flaking and getting into the movement. You can age new lime applications, DIY watch club have an interesting YouTube video on doing this.

 

Tom

[praezis]

Don't worry, that lume is not original, applied by a butcher.

You can remove it in water with a few caustic soda pearls dissolved in it.

Frank

[rehajm]

4 minutes ago, praezis said:

Don't worry, that lume is not original, applied by a butcher.

You can remove it in water with a few caustic soda pearls dissolved in it.

Frank

There appears to be something applied to the topside, like clear lacquer or nail polish. The 'tropical' dial has seen quite a bit of exposure and I wasn't certain if it was damage UV could do, then someone made an attempt to stabilize the lume...

..this would be more pleasing...

 

[mikepilk]

Maybe the radium was flaking off the hands and someone plastered the lume on top? 

I've seen people use lacquer to stabilize radium and prevent flaking.

[RichardHarris123]

In this case, I agree.  Re-luming is the best option. 

[LittleWatchShop]

Hey, when I was a kid at my Dads watch shop...I relumed some hands of my watch.  It looked like crap.  I have since replaced the hands with NOS ones (cha ching!!).

[RichardHarris123]

Hehe.