How do you 'Age' your lume?

[Tmuir]

I've got a watch I've been asked to restore mechanically which has a rather badly aged dial.

The owner is aware I cant do anything with the dial but the watch has brass hands and the lume is flaking out from the hands.

As the dial is really showing the age if I replace the lume I cant have it looking new and bright.

I bought one product which is meant to give the lume an aged look, but I'm not happy with it.

What do people use here to give the lume a more aged appearance when reluming an old watch?

[rogart63]

Sometimes i mixed the old lume with new lume. Have used Noctilumina aged pigment that has no glow. Even used some black marker pen to get the lume a little blackish. Or grey as they usually are if the have been around for many years. It's just how much black you use.  Take care if they are radium. So you use the radium lume again. Yellow marker pen work great to. But it takes very little to color in the lume. 

Edited April 15, 2018 by rogart63

[Tmuir]

Yes unsure if it is radium or not, so will treat it as is it is radium lume.

I'm guessing the watch was made around the time Radium was being phased out.

Thanks for the tip on Noctilumina, I wasn't aware of that brand and it will now require some further investigation

[Tudor]

Coffee. 

[Gary]

Coffee. 

I was thinking tea! It should work.


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[Tudor]

I was too initially. Someone mentioned that and it works better. 

Its a bit fiddly as lume can absorb at different rates, but dip-blow dry- check -repeat can usually get a perfect match. 

Use daylight only if possible for best match. 

[Tmuir]

So you dip your relumed and hand into the tea?

Obviously after the lume has dried.

I thought that water could damage the binder holding the lume.

[Tudor]

I paint on strong coffee. Let it sit and then blot. 

[Tmuir]

Looks like it might be time for me to raid some of the broken watches at my class to get some hands to have a practice on, although I'm sure my wife will think I'm madder than usual when I tell her I need to make some tea and coffee to paint my watch hands with......

[Tudor]

Strong black coffee. 

I tried tea as well and it didn’t work for me. Tea was my first instinct as the British forces in India used it to turn their white uniforms “kaki” tan.