Are Traser, Luminox Diver, and Smith Wesson watches all made in the same factory?

L

LongDistance

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May 24, 2004
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I'm interested in purchasing a Traser navigator watch. However, I noticed Trasers' watches are very similar to Luminox's and Smith and Wessons' watches.

Traser Navigator

h36500m.jpg


http://www.watchmann.com/prodimages/h36500m.jpg

Luminox Navy Seal

63951_blk.jpg


http://www.campmor.com/images/watches/63951/63951_blk.jpg

Smith and Wesson

fc_1_sbol.JPG


http://i16.ebayimg.com/03/i/08/44/93/fc_1_sbol.JPG

Any differences in quality between these three watches? It seems Traser is the most expensive, followed by Luminox, than Smith and Wesson.
 
Traser is the original manufacturer of their own watches and of the Luminox brand. I don't know about the S&W. They do seem to be the same.
 
I'm pretty sure the Uzi watches are also made in the same place.

It's also my understanding that every tritium vial on the planet is made in the same place.
 
@Planterz:
That´s not correct.

Currently there a different companies which are manufacturing tritium lights.

ONE of them is MB Microtec AG (Switzerland) for TRASER & Luminox.

And the S&W and UZI watches are not manufactured by MB Microtec AG.
 
Micha said:
@Planterz:
That´s not correct.

Currently there a different companies which are manufacturing tritium lights.

ONE of them is MB Microtec AG (Switzerland) for TRASER & Luminox.

And the S&W and UZI watches are not manufactured by MB Microtec AG.
Click to expand...

Heh, if this is true, it looks like S&W is *gasp* knocking off another manufacturer's design.

Again.

NO! You don't say!

-j
 
Notice, please, that the Traser and Luminox products are both made in Switzerland. The Smith and Wesson is not; one site I googled says that S&W's watches are made in Rhonda using Swiss movements. Therefore, we know that there are at least two sources.

The Swiss watch industry (with a few notable exceptions) is really a collection of small companies that each made specialty parts. Most Swiss watches are not made by any one company (again, there are a few exceptions), but are assembled by their named "manufacturer" from parts purchased from these other specialty companies. So, it would not surprise me if the Traser and Luminox products have substantial commonality of parts. While I can't find the proof with less than ten seconds of googling, it would not surprise me at all of the Traser and Luminox watches have the same movement (which would not be made by either Traser or Luminox).
 
I can't speak to the sourcing of the vials but I can say the Luminox brand is certainly durable. I'm almost eight years into a Luminox with no real degradation in the visibility. Cracked a crystal once but they're a standard size so they're inexpensive to replace.
 
ditto durable. used a Luminox for a long time... still have it. worked out well. found i had to cover it when in very dark situations if i didn't want to be seen. could almost read by it some nights after vision adjusted.
 
Additional notes: Luminox/Traser (UK) pays Stocker and Yale a royalty for every case they make. That was the deal struck that made a commercial version called the "Navy Seals Watch" possible. Stocker and Yale for its part makes only 500 "surplus" watches yearly. The rest go to the Government contract. Those 500 cannot be sold in the USA due to licensing agreements and must be exported. In order to enhance the watch for the civilian market, Luminox added a date, made the bezel a 60 minute timer vs. GMT, and added a tritium vial to the seconds hand. Of course they added the splashy "Navy Seals" name on the dial and omitted all the ordinance markings - Bob
Click to expand...

Taken from Hyunsuk's Military Watch Page...

Very interesting- all boils down to the SandY p650- So S&W copied Traser/ Luminox- who pays royalties to SandY to make a hyped up P650! :D
 
Gollnick said:
one site I googled says that S&W's watches are made in Rhonda using Swiss movements.
Click to expand...

I've since had time to do a bit more research and I've come up with sites claiming that S&W's watches are made in China, Japan, Argentina, Thailand... generally Asian sources are creditted. Certainly not Swiss (or other European) or US sources. It's likely that several -- if not all -- of these theories is correct. Depending on model, the S&W watches are made in various countries. But what is clear is that they are not the same as the Traser or Luminox products.

Some S&W watches do seem to have Swiss-made movements. But, this doesn't necessarily say much.
 
Apparently the luminescence of the S&W watches is vastly inferior to the others, read into that what you will!
 
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