Luminox replacement? Or tritium replacement?

I just joined this group to thank Wilfred Valtakis, and to update and supplement the information he provided earlier about tritium tube watch repair.

Over the years, I have purchased five Luminox tritium watches (2 scuba, 3 field). As of the beginning of this year, all of them had faded to a point where the tritium was no longer very effective, or completely faded out. I contacted Luminox several times and was basically told they no longer carry the parts to repair my watches, and could be of no further help whatsoever. They couldn’t (or wouldn’t) even refer me to a repair facility. I am totally disgusted with Luminox for not standing behind their own products, and refusing to provide customer service. On top of that, I do not like any of the new Luminox watches. They have all gotten too big and too gaudy for my taste. It is unlikely that I will ever buy another Luminox product.

But the 38 mm, black dial, protected stem, Captains Field watch that I purchased some time after the millennium has been my favorite watch for years. I have been unable to find any other watch that I like any more, at any price. So I began searching the Internet for someone who could replace the tritium tubes in my watch, and provide other repairs. After searching for several years, I ran across this bulletin board containing a message from Wilfred Valtakis who had his watch repaired by a Mr. Raymond Li at Bonding Company, Ltd, in Hong Kong.

Needless to say, I was concerned about sending my watch to a company I had never heard of, on the other side of the planet. So I unsuccessfully searched for several more years, trying to locate a company in the United States that could repair my watch. But I finally contacted Mr. Li, send him my watch, and the rest is history. I am once again wearing my watch, the tritium is glowing, and the repairs were perfect. I could not be any more pleased. When a minor problem arose that was entirely my fault, Mr. Li helped me out, and basically made sure that my watch was properly repaired and returned to me in 100% working order. Mr. Li was both polite and professional in all of our interactions. Bonding Company, Ltd. also has a detailed and impressive website, which provides additional information about the company, and tritium in general. http://www.bonding.com.hk/

I totally recommend Mr. Li and the Bonding Company, Ltd., to anyone with a tritium watch that needs the tritium tubes replaced, and any other repair. In my case, I also had the movement replaced. The total cost was approximately $250 (May 2019), but that may vary with other models. Mr. Li will provide an estimate before performing any work. Payment was easily made through PayPal without the need for providing credit card information over the Internet. I DO intend to do further business with Mr. Li.

Mr. Raymond Li
Bonding Co. Ltd.
4A Kut Shing Building
8 Kut Shing Street
Chai Wan
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2305 1068

Thanks again, Wilfred.
 
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I suspect Luminox considers their watches to be past their lifetime when the Tritium exceeds it's half life.

I'm kinda over quartz watches, watches with plastic cases and stuff like non-screw down crowns.

If someone was issuing me a Luminox watch I'd be pretty happy with it.

If I was shopping for a watch I'd pay for out of pocket Luminox would be a hard pass.

My super lume watches will stay visible long into the night. They are easily as visible as tritium.
 
Thanks for posting about this! I've had my Luminox for ~ 18 years, and it's held up very well. It's very dim, but I still like the watch. I'll probably do this the next time I need a battery.
 
os1kne said:
Thanks for posting about this! I've had my Luminox for ~ 18 years, and it's held up very well. It's very dim, but I still like the watch. I'll probably do this the next time I need a battery.
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I have no idea how long Raymond will be able to offer this service for us, so you may want to jump on it while available. Anyone can replace a battery for you but finding someone to replace tritium is almost impossible.
 
I was asked by Raymond to update this post as he has been contacted by a number of people who seemed unaware of the cost regarding tritium replacement. The current cost is $190 plus return shipping from Hong Kong, which is still a great deal considering the labor and difficulty involved. He also asked me to emphasize that Bonding Co. Ltd. is a Hong Kong company, NOT Chinese.

Once again, if you're looking for tritium replacement on a watch Bonding Co. And Mr. Raymond Li will take excellent care of you:)
 
I just came across this thread. Luminox makes finding parts very difficult. I recently restored a Luminox Colormark, that had it's Ronda movement transformed into a rusted lump, after it ingested saltwater shortly after being returned from Luminox, where it had been sent for a battery change. If they did a proper pressure test, that never should have happened. The crown of the watch would not even pull out, the stem being internally seized. This is the second water damaged Luminox I've encountered.

(where the pics would have gone if I could figure out how to upload them.)

If anybody is looking for a spare movement, they are hard to locate, due to the requirement for space between the hands, due to the tritium tubes. A variant of the Harley Ronda 515 movement, the HQ515.6L Extra HCP (high canon pinion) is required. I found some at esslinger.com. They have them for $20, and probably wont have them for long. I also grabbed a replacement crystal, as Luminox uses mineral glass, on the 3050, not the harder sapphire, or Hardlex and they scratch easily. The size is 32.5 X 3mm, and it cost $2.95. both the movement, and crystal fit perfectly.

I also replaced the Tritium tube on the minute hand, it wasn't that hard, but being newer, it was noticeably brighter, which an application of opaque epoxy fixed.

I hope this helps anybody who is frustrated about the lack of support for their watches, and might provide some options to keep them going longer.

Luminox makes some good watches, but the 3 series are a lot of money, for a very average, low spec quartz watch. For the same money, you could get a Tritium MWC with a much higher depth rating, screw on case back and crown, with a Seiko automatic movement. For about half, Aragon, a US watch company makes some killer Tritium watches, some using the T100 Tritium tubes, a very good value for the dollar. For less than a quarter of the price of a Luminox Seal watch, Carnival sells a watch with a steel case, a screw on back, sapphire lens, and a better quality Swiss Ronda quartz movement than the Luminox uses, with Tritium gas tubes just as good as Luminox, 24 hour military field style dial, but no rotating bezel. No Navy SEAL emblem on the case back on any of those 3 though. One of the previous posters mentioned that its all about the Tritium, and I agree.

However, Superluminova, Noctilumina and recently another company, are making lume that will last 12-16 hours. they say 24, but 12-16 for practical purposes. No need for high canon pinions, so they can be made thinner as well, and a older watch can probably be re-lumed .

Wearing my Aragon Dive Master 3, and carrying my 2nd gen fully serrated Spyderco Police C07, with ATS-55 blade, grip tape on the scales, and DIY Boye dent. Should be a good day.


(where pics of them together would have gone if I could figure out how to upload them.)
 
Glad I ran across this thread. I’ve often looked longingly at Luminox watches, but no more. I’ll stick with watches with superliminova, or Seikos. I’ve never awakened in the middle of the night and not been able to see the glow.
 
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