Modified Luminox 3005 Diver
My watch today is a Luminox 3005 that I have modifed with a new dial from Mk II. Luminox is known for making a variety of military-style watches with Luminox Light Technology, their name for a night illumination system using tritium-filled glass vials. While the luminous paint on most watches needs to be "charged" to glow in the dark, this system will produce light for something like 20 years. Originally, this watch had a yellow dial like this. I like to call this my "Super Stealth" since it has black hands on a black dial. It's still quite legible thanks to the tritium tubes in the hands. Swapping the dial wasn't incredibly difficult, but I did need to get a hand remover (#RM 590345, the cheap one) and a tool to set the hands back in place, not to mention some rubber gloves so I didn't leave fingerprints all over the new dial. I was careful when re-setting the seconds hand to make sure it lined up perfectly with the marks on the chapter ring. A second hand that stops in between the marks is always an annoyance on a quartz watch. Newer versions of this watch have a chapter ring that is the same color as the dial, so I'm happy I had an older model with the black chapter ring. This dial replacement is really only possible because the tritium tubes are in the chapter ring and not on the dial itself. The watch is made from carbon reinforced polymer which seems to be very durable and much harder than other "plastic" watches, like most G-Shocks. It has a 60-click one-way diving bezel with another tritium "pip" at the zero/12 o'clock position. The Ronda movement is very accurate and reliable. I usually store this watch with the crown pulled out as if I was setting the time. This seems to "turn off" the movement and keep it from draining the batteries. I have it on a black NATO at the moment, but I think I'll change back to the stock Luminox strap as I think it will look "stealthier". A black date wheel would also be a nice addition, but I don't know if they're available and it's probably not worth the effort.
My watch today is a Luminox 3005 that I have modifed with a new dial from Mk II. Luminox is known for making a variety of military-style watches with Luminox Light Technology, their name for a night illumination system using tritium-filled glass vials. While the luminous paint on most watches needs to be "charged" to glow in the dark, this system will produce light for something like 20 years. Originally, this watch had a yellow dial like this. I like to call this my "Super Stealth" since it has black hands on a black dial. It's still quite legible thanks to the tritium tubes in the hands. Swapping the dial wasn't incredibly difficult, but I did need to get a hand remover (#RM 590345, the cheap one) and a tool to set the hands back in place, not to mention some rubber gloves so I didn't leave fingerprints all over the new dial. I was careful when re-setting the seconds hand to make sure it lined up perfectly with the marks on the chapter ring. A second hand that stops in between the marks is always an annoyance on a quartz watch. Newer versions of this watch have a chapter ring that is the same color as the dial, so I'm happy I had an older model with the black chapter ring. This dial replacement is really only possible because the tritium tubes are in the chapter ring and not on the dial itself. The watch is made from carbon reinforced polymer which seems to be very durable and much harder than other "plastic" watches, like most G-Shocks. It has a 60-click one-way diving bezel with another tritium "pip" at the zero/12 o'clock position. The Ronda movement is very accurate and reliable. I usually store this watch with the crown pulled out as if I was setting the time. This seems to "turn off" the movement and keep it from draining the batteries. I have it on a black NATO at the moment, but I think I'll change back to the stock Luminox strap as I think it will look "stealthier". A black date wheel would also be a nice addition, but I don't know if they're available and it's probably not worth the effort.
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