The Three Kings Of Lume! Do You Know What They Are?
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- Опубліковано 15 лип 2024
- Today I'm talking about the best watches I've ever seen for lume. The Three Kings of Lume. Some of you may know the first, a few will know the second. Yet the third is brand new, and I only recently got it in. So check it out, and enjoy the light show.
Support the Channel:
Some of the links below are affiliate links that will earn me a small commission.
Amazon Store: www.amazon.com/shop/relativetime
Reviews of The Kings:
Orient Star Diver: • The Best Premium Diver...
Wise Adamascus AD8: Coming Soon
Phoibos Great Wall: • Monster of the Deep: P...
Also if you are interested in the Proxima: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_AnHAvZ
Note: Some of the watches in the video, Including the Phoibos Great Wall, and Wise Adamascus were given to the channel to do a review. Yet this particular video was never discussed with any person or brand before I put it out. They had no knowledge of it, or that I was ever going to make it.
In Addition, I'm also an affiliate with AVI-8, Armilla, Aliexpress, Spinnaker, eBay, Jomashop, Meranom, and Phoibos.
00:00 Intro
00:20 Story Time!
01:00 How it Stacks up
02:16 Why Is the King so Good
04:00 The Second King
05:16 Third King Cometh
07:03 On The LookOut - Навчання та стиль
Bought a great wall based on your review 2 years ago. I smile every time it hits its spot in the rotation. Gets more questions/compliments than any other watch I own.
Love the depth of the lume videos. Great work as always.
Wow, cool to see that Proxima pop up in here! Dig that Orient Star too.
Excellent video. Look forward to seeing your Proxima review. Cheers 👍🏻👍🏻
I've had the Pepsi Orient Star Diver (Yep, got it after watching your video!). I was the most beautiful watch I've ever owned. Problem was that it was too big, thick, and heavy for my 6.75 wrist. It also had the best "walking in from outside" lume I've had on my wrist. My hands down favorite in my collection is my 8 year old Citizen BN0151. It doesn't glow extremely bright but it beats any Seiko I've ever had. The stunning blue lume lasts ALL night long.
Lume is a big part of how I evaluate a good watch. So I really appreciate a lume dedicated video! The best lume I ever had on the watch came from the original Nodus Avalon. That thing would light up a room in the dark! Haven’t been able to find anything near it since.
Shane this is a great episode. Your channel and Dave at Just the Watch are my go to channels for lume. Keep up the great work!
Yah this was an unplanned fun one.
I so enjoy your videos. Nice lume comparo, Wise looks interesting, some nice designs.
Keep the lume videos coming!!! Great work!
When it comes to Lume, I'm a Lume Monster, Lume Nut or Lume Pig lol. Basically, I love lume. I have a Seiko SRP637K1 i.e Shrouded Monster which has good lume, My Zelos Abyss beats it out though. I also have the Lum-Tec 350M-4, which has excellent lume but being a fully lumed dial, it doesn't last the whole night. Same with my Zelos Blacktip fully lumed "frost" version. The best lume amongst all my watches though, is on my Dufrane Deep Eddy. It's the only one that shines bright and truly lasts all night. Great vid!
Very interesting video. I've been looking at a Phoibos quite a bit lately and it will probably be my next watch. I have two watches with outstanding "all night" lume. My Orient and to my surprise a Tactical Frog FXD I picked up not long a ago.
The world was not ready for the Great Wall
A new version is coming, but it's gonna be a little different.
I like the great wall I always have you’re one of the few reviewers that agree with me on that
I own so many victorinox, tissot, edox, oris and now starting a collection of luminox and luminox it’s amazing how it glows all night
I love your channel man MS stopped my watch collection before it started can’t earn like I used to. That being said when I can get a mechanical watch your channel has helped me in making the right choice . Maybe it has made it harder so many choices . Thanks for the content
Glad I could help. Sorry to hear about your MS. I've heard it can be tough.
@@RelativeTime yeah it’s a journey. 🤝
Great review! I think the Orient Star Diver looks best in the light vs the others. I liked the Star Diver so much after your initial review I not only bought the Pepsi bezel but eventually bought the Limited Edition Blue and Gold version. The movement is incredibly efficient. At maybe half power on the power reserve, the Watch rises to full 100% 50hr power reserve by the end of the day. The touch and feel on it is as smooth as a baby’s bottom except for the crown with no guards. Lume is fantastic. Your lume comparisons are awesome. I was surprised by both Proxima and Wise. I can’t really find any Phoibus Great Walls around currently. Keep up the strong work and cool videos!
I agree with every word regarding the Orient Star. AND, it's a true diver.
One of the best reviewers thank you 🙏
I have a Proxima Scuba Master watch a Marine Master homage watch and for a little over $200 I’m shocked at how outstanding this watch is and not just the lume but in every aspect. It’s an amazing 🤩 watch 👍🏻
Best lume I have seen was on the Borealis Cascais, which I no longer own. Great review mate
Love these lume comparison videos
Truly I hold My SKX as the bar if it is better than that it is good enough, but honestly I keep lining them up to test my brightest against my new watches as I get em.
My Wicked Watch pearl diver uses LumiCast like the new tudor pro and it is truly next level stuff it made my zelos swordfish look weak
Good to know. I came close to reviewing the Pearl Diver protoype a while ago. There were some delays, and schedule shifts, in the end just couldn't make it work. But maybe I should reach out to them again.
great vid. ill be curious to see what the chat suggests as contenders
What a Glowing Review! Love the camera work as always, it's great entertainment.
Glad you enjoyed it
@@RelativeTime That Phoibos Great Wall looks so good on camera. It makes me want one, though I am not sure it's my style, and of course they are pretty scarce. How does it wear, compared to the Nebula? I bought the Nebula and it's one of my favorites.
@@bonnland It's a little chunkier, so it wears a little more top-heavy. But otherwise, it's pretty comfortable.
Perhaps for Seiko, if you tried one of their premium divers, say like a legit Tuna, are said to have the best Lumibrite application/formula. I've owned 2 and I was always impressed. Still, many microbrands give even Seiko's best lume champion(s) a run for their money.
For microbrands, I don't recall if you've ever tested the Helson Shark Diver. .. their Shark Master, also, I know has excellent lume that is super reactive and long lasting.. and, looking at how flat the application is on the dial, you wouldn't think it would be..BUT, it is!
And, I think maybe from same factory, Armida are said to have excellent lume as well.
Depends on value for money, if we're talking same price point and such I don't know whether my choice would stand up but steeldive do some fantastic lume for the money, they're actually incredible watches,bang for buck. The Willard homage has really great lume.
Good video my friend 👏
Amazing that a BGW9 watch can match C3! 👍
You should take a look at the Wicked Watch Pearl Diver! The lumicast it uses is genuinely insane. Not even comparable to anything I have. Easily readable the next morning without using a UV flashlight to charge it the previous night!
Came to say the same
I thought my zelos was king of my box
The LumiCast is something else its not even fair
Great video Shane - hopefully you can test the Signum Cuda Titanium full lume dial soon and see if you agree with Jody from JOMW :) 🙏
It has been mentioned a few times, but the Wicked Watch Pearl Diver has phenomenal lume. If you are going to find a contender for best lume, I think that watch would be able to make it into the trinity.
I have a Wicked Watch Co. Bronze Pearl Diver that uses Lumicast and is like nothing I have ever experienced. I can use it to see my way around at nite when fully charged. Unfortunately, they had a struggle getting it produced and it took over a year to get mine after the initial glowing reviews. I love the watch and would like to see your take on it if you can get your hands on one.
I sent them an email. I was actually supposed to check out the prototype some time last year. But scheduling issues ultimately prevented it.
@@RelativeTime Based on the email updates and 13 months it took to get mine, I think they had their hands full!
@@crvols yah sounds like.
Graet job brother many blessings
Thanks!
Am a lume junkie. The Orient is the most bangs per buck I know of and a cracking watch too. The day function is messed up though, in a good way! As long as the 200m WR still works 😬
Great review! Fun for us lume junkies to watch. I have a suggestion: swc brown bunker. This dial color has 20 layers of C3X1, beats their BL10 variant 👍. Also beats any zelos I have had. It's sold out so lmk if you need to borrow LoL
Thanks... might take you up on that... I have to go back and see which prototype they sent me. I remember testing that one, and it was pretty impressive.
I have the brown Bunker and it is does have amazing lume which lasts all night. Another one to consider is Lume-Tec. I have their B44 Chronograph and it's lume is outstanding.
Just for fun, check out the Sam Martin SN012-G with the full-lume dial 🙂
I have both the Seiko turtle and a seiko tuna, specifically the SBBN031.
My suggestion for a new king would be the of Seiko tuna. It is easily 10 times brighter than my turtle,
and simply the best lume I have ever seen on any watch. It literally lights up my bedroom after turning out.
If you would be able to borrow one from somewhere, The SBBNO31 or SBBN033 Seiko tuna I think would most likely become the reigning champion.
I'll have to check one out sometime. I know multiple people have told me that Seiko's at that price are on a different level with lume. Although I recently got one of the new 42mm MM, and lume is actually a bit disapointing with it.
I have an Addiesdive Sumo homage that has crazy good lume.
You really need to get your hands on a Zelos Blacktip Frost. That is really an impressive lumed watch...
Shane, check out Armida Watches. The A1 model has really good lume.
Brilliant review! 👍🏻 Have you come across the Borealis Cascais? This one is like a torch!
I have not, but I'll look into it.
Great review, please do a lume review with GMTs.
That's a great idea.
Awesome episode have you ever got to see the SAR rescue timer by Muhle Glashutte?
Thanks. No I haven't. I'll have to look into it.
Helm Khuraburi with C3 would be a contender. I also have a Signum full lume dial on the way to me, you should give that one a go, too.
Haven't tried the Khuraburi, but the Komodo was almost as good as these. I also reviewed the Singum Fully lumed.. it's great. It's definitely a King of Lume. Not necessarily better than any of these, but just as good.
The SWC bunker has really great lume. Awesome watch 😎
Yah it is. The prototype was really impressive.
Mine is amazing
What amuses me is that besides Zelos and Phoibos watches constantly going head to head when it comes to lume wars, they're also two of the brands that eschewed going for fancy Italian names and instead went for Greek gods specifically, namely Zelus and Phobos respectively. In essence, Zeal vs. Fear.
Try Island pilot watches. They are lume monsters!
Great video! I own a Helm Vanuatu the lume on it is the strongest out of my collection. I think it would put up a decent fight with the three kings of lume.
Helm Vanuatu lume is most defiantly "BEAST MODE"
Any idea how it compares to the Komodo?
I own a white dial Komodo also, like the one you reviewed. I would say the Vanuatu is stronger, that being said I have never test them. Now you have got me interested to find out! I know what I will be doing at some point this weekend…… I will post my findings here.
@@RelativeTime I don't have a definitive answer but I've posted the question over on the Helm Owner's Facebook page just to see what type of response I get to that question.
@@RelativeTime I made a mistake with the model I own. It is the khuraburi not the Vanuatu! I test the khuraburi lume against the Komodo and the khuraburi came out on top in my test.
I’m on the waiting list for the titanium Vanuatu that’s where my Freudian slip occurred.
I'd be curious where a DuFrane Deep Eddy would stack up. It's the best lume I've ever experienced but I'm not long in the game. I tagged them on your IG to see if maybe you can get your hands on one!
Citizen Fugu NY 0118-11A (white dial) has insanely good lume.
I know the AliExpress brands like Steeldive aren’t respected by all watch enthusiasts, but their Lume is ridiculous.
I dont respect people buying watches from Ali Express
The Steeldive Captain Willard won 2 Lume wars on JOMW... Priced around $120
I'm surprised a San Martin hasn't made it here. Most of their models have great lume that will put Seikos to shame, but their MM300 is on a different level. Sadly it's no longer in production.
P.S. I also have a Proxima with a similar dial, but with a different lumed bezel. It's also excellent lume.
(7:19) The hour hand isn't aligned with the minute hand. That's very strange. Great review, Shane, thank you very much!
watch is rotated to the camera, its 2:02, not 5:17 😉
@@neilp6496 Ha! Thanks. I'm so stupid!
Yah the Watch is on it's side. 😉
Would love to see how one of the flat tube tritium watches from Deep Blue stacks up against the Great Wall and AD8.
They are reasonable from $200-350 depending on case material.
Well tritium is it's own sort of beast, and it really depends on the level of tritium in the tube. T25, T50, T100.
From what I've seen most tritium watches will actually be dimmer than something like the great wall at first. Then after about 30-40min tritium will be brighter and just stay that way.
Now tritium can be great, but it's important to note that it has a much shorter lifespan. One where every day it will be a little less brighter than the day before. So if you're actually using it it's great, but otherwise doesn't do much good if it's in a watch box most nights.
my personal lume king is the Vaer C5 Tactical...Wise just a step behind!
It's been a while since I looked at Vaer. I probably should again soon.
A couple notes for those that are interested in reviews or buying one of the three kings. May include spolers:
Phoibos Great Wall:
Unfortunately, Phoibos has discontinued the great wall. It was never a big seller and not much of a surprise. They don't even have it on their site anymore.
Review: ua-cam.com/video/yD78DZRQ9ag/v-deo.html
Orient Star Diver:
These are still available, but you may have to shop around to find the best price. This is often the case with Orient Stars.
Review: ua-cam.com/video/YSqXiJ2v5T4/v-deo.html
Wise Adamascus AD8
wisetimepiece.com/collections/adamascus
The review will be coming soon, but in the meantime, you can check out Dave's. @justthewatch
ua-cam.com/video/3-wrv_Lms-w/v-deo.html
If your also interested in checking out the Proxima: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_AnHAvZ
(Affiliate link)
You should try out the Micro Brand Farr Swit they have watch with a fully lumed Dial and is unlike anything I have seen before.
They were kind enough to let me barrow a couple to check out last fall.
ua-cam.com/video/p4ALzT1chYo/v-deo.html
Really cool design, and looks amazing when all lit up.
Seiko SCH063 known as SAWTOOTH has quite impressive lume...you should check it out if you can find one...they tend to be rare
I was going to say Wise, but you beat me to it
This is the first one I've seen. I'm pretty impressed with it.
My Glycine 48mm Bronze combat diver GL0243 has the brightest and longest lasting lume ive ever seen. Would like to see that compared to the above watches.
Interesting to compare it to as signum lume dial and a wicked watch co
Suposedly Wicked was going to send me something, but haven't heard from them in a while. I'll look into signum.
what do you think about Signum Cuda? Would be a great to see it in a comparison with others
Signum is great. I checked it out last year a few months after I did this video.
ua-cam.com/video/giuxoyGLNzM/v-deo.html
Then this year I finally found one that outright beat it.
ua-cam.com/video/xFYf8VbAvjg/v-deo.html
I am curious why lume is such a big concern for many watch enthuseists. I appreciate good lume, but my Casio Lineage and Pagani Design PD-1662 have served me very well.
Granted I am not scuba diving with these watches, though I am certified but I would use someting more modern than a mechanical watch. All I really need to is to be able to tell the time when I go into a dark room (IE when I am putting a baby to bed) or after I wake up before my alarm. These watches have served me very well however are usually panned as having terrible lume.
What is everyone else doing that they need brighter lume?
Need is a strong word. More like want, and there are a couple reasons people obsess over it. Although there are a few exceptions, those that work at night, or really want to feel either watch when they wake up in the middle of the night.
For some it's more the idea of the better the lume the more they are getting for their money. While for others they are just fascinated by it and think it's cool.
I know for me, because I have a science background, I love lume as it's the perfect real world application for the theory of phosphorescence.
Excellent review; I don’t know why I didn’t find your channel before I have the tissot sea start is good but no like the wise
Thanks and welcome!
I am a lume junkie and I have 2 recommendations for you Shane: the Cronos bronze 62mas homage (which you already reviewed) and Wicked watch Co. Pearl diver
I'll have to recheck my footage, but I think I tried the Chronos against the great. If not I'll have to try it.
As for wicked, I was actually set to check out the prototype a while ago. Unfortunatley there was a delay, then scheduling issues, and ultimately I just couldnt do it. Although since so many people have mentioned it, I might have to reach back out to them.
@@RelativeTime the Cronos is the lume champ in my 30-ish watch collection and the new Wicked goes toes to toes with it🤩
Signum Cuda GMT has to be there - that thing blows everything out of the water!
Not sure about the GMT but I checked out the regular ones later.
ua-cam.com/video/giuxoyGLNzM/v-deo.html
They are on par with these. So kings of lume as well.
Shane, awesome video as usual. I have a piece that I’ll be glad to send you for testing as I am confident that you will be pleasantly surprised. What is the best way to contact you to get this sent off to you?
You can always email me. shane@relative-time.com
How about testing the lume of the wicked watches pearl diver?
I've heard it's great. I've was talking to them about this right after I made this, but haven't heard back in a while. I guess I should check up on that.
Hi!i bought Wicked Watch a new swias microbrand ....maybe It Will be the best contender....
What brand and model is the watch on the left @ 1:54 . Why is the lume going dull @ 5:20
On the left is a Swiss Watch Company Bunker. Not sure what you mean about 5:20. It is an accelerated time lapse.
@@RelativeTime thanks. The lume goes dull over time is that normal? How long was the time lapse ? Not good if it needs to be charged with a light everyday
Shawn I try to buy the Great wall never find it I will pay twice as much for the brick one. Where can I find it?.
The original one has been discontinued for a while, so only option is used. However they did do a version 2 which has a slightly different style.
I got the new Great Wall about a month ago. It's a lume monster but I don't know if it's as good as the original.
It's close but not quite as good.
ua-cam.com/video/LBeJC-Pcsd4/v-deo.html
There is a lume comparison later in that video.
Laco-Atacama. Awesome.
I would suggest, try Helson. It's more or less at the same price range with lum and legibility that brands that start at 20k would envy. Zelos, Halios, Helm and many others offer similar product, Helson beats not only those, and the three brands in the vid, but brands x20 their value. Looking forward to a Helson review, not for me, but mostly for watch enthousiasts that want a tool-like diver's with lum that beats tritium when uv charged without rad risks.
Any particular model you would recomend?
@@RelativeTime Yes ! Shark Diver 500, any model, whether aluminum insert/applied markers, sapphire -ceramic insert/raised markers. Steel, forged carbon or titanium. 38mm to 45mm. Anyone, but the same applies to all their models. Given I've been collecting watches for over 45 years, a long journey that was blessed to own exceptional pieces, I've found that Helson makes great watches. I am in no way affiliated with Helson, and in all honesty, at first I bought one and within the next 6 months bought another 8. Especially the Shark Diver wears a bit large. I've got an 8" wrist and the 42mm has a lot of wrist presence, wears like a chunky 44mm. The Rolex sub, 5 digit series, the first ceramic and the 41mm wear small (on me) the Helson 40mm looks great, the 38mm in titanium while it has wrist appearance, it's so easy to wear, so comfortable that at times I need to check my wrist whether I've got a watch on me or not. The 45mm are quite chunky, titanium, is more or less fine for me but the steel is heavy. The bronze, and always on strap, is really a work of art. In short, you can't go wrong with Helson. Miyota is a workhorse but also the ETA they use, yes smoother, and yes another workhorse, easy and cheap to service. Something that I forgot to mention earlier, apologies for that, thank you for one more honest and we'll worded review. I truly enjoy the content, there is clarity an unbiased content, something that watch enthousiasts appreciate. Looking forward to the next, enjoy watches in good health.
My brother is a retired SEAL. He said to look up SHUMATE WATCHES. TRUST ME
Are these them:
nfwonline.com/collections/shumate
"We use 50 layers of SuperLuminova for outstanding viewing in darkness." ..... yah... I have to see one of these.
@@RelativeTime Yup. My Brother has one and when we went scuba diving at night off the West Maui Pali cliffs. His watch charged by a dive light for ten seconds lit our way down the path to the water.
I confess. I am a lume junky. 🤣 When I go to bed at night I ware a watch to lume till morning. Most of my seikos are good. They kind of very , depending on the watch. My best is the brown dial swc bunker. Off the chart lume...light weight... sapphire crystal...value.
So how about aftermarket lume upgrades?
I've seen a few videos on that. Basicly re-doing or adding lume. I might try it sometime, but I'm not sure I have the skills or hand eye coridnation to do it right.
Have you tried a Signum diver watch?
Just put out the review yesterday
ua-cam.com/video/giuxoyGLNzM/v-deo.html
Have you tested any Ball watches for lume?
I definitely have an interest in Ball, But I believe most of their watches are tritium based. Which is a whole other ball game
My Zelos swordfish has amazing lume aswell.
Zelos are usually pretty great. Which swordfish so you have?
@@RelativeTime I have three, midnight blue SS version 2, teal Titanium and blue swirl in titanium.
What about the grand seiko diver how does it stack up?
Haven't had the chance to test it, but id love to.
@@RelativeTime if an when you do I’d like to see it keep up the good work can’t imagine it be to much better than the standard seiko but you never know
Citizen is lume goat
Steel Dive 1970 will give all your watches a run for their money. If I am not wearing my Tritium watch at night I am wearing the 1970. The reviews on its lume have been really sensational.
I've had one. Don't get me wrong, it's really good, but these are even better.
Awesome review!! But why do not tell us how long the lume last? In minutes and hours? Please . Swatch Night Flight YVS444G I read it in a dark room after more than one hour after charging. Cheers
Well, there are a few reasons I don't do it that way, but what it really comes down to is I'm not sure how consistent a test like that can be, and therefore how accurate and applicable. I'm probably way overthinking this, but my background is as an Analytical Chemist. So I have years of doing quantitative and qualitative assays.
So when I think about how just doing a straight-time analysis, there are a lot of questions I have on how reproducible it is. You would have to be very consistent on what light source you use, as well temperature could vary the results as well. It seems silly, but lume is a real-world example of phosphorescence, and the science behind it is within the realm of quantum physics.
As well as the fact that not everyone's eyes are the same. Just because I can still see it at say 1.5 hrs, doesn't mean you would be able to ... Or vice versa. Or if I'm just using the camera... does that really translate into can my eyes actually being able to see it at a certain point? Hard to say... as your eyes to get more sensitive the longer you are in the dark.
Long story short, I just question the accuracy of doing that. Whereas with the tests I run, I always have the same Vostok on the left, and the same turtle on the right. They are the standards I use to judge how good other things are. It's more qualitative than quantitative, but it's simple and you can definitely say one is better than the other after one test.
Probably more of an answer then you wanted, but thats why I do it this way.
@@RelativeTime Fair enough, I guess it comes dow to how much lume should remain after a period of time. As an example when I am stargazing in pitch black for few hours I would rather have tritium tubes as they will glow all night but, if I am at home and need to glance at the time say during the night, this where a decent lume should last few hours though the night. I personally enjoy watches that can hold excellent lume when on a night flight regardless of the ambient light. Cheers
Fun video, Shane. I have to recommend the Seiko Sumo homage from Steeldive as a strong contender. The lume on that thing is mindblowingly bright and lasts forever. In fact, it's so good that I question whether or not the lume mix they're using is safe for human exposure. Be more than happy to loan it to the channel if you'd like to do a video.
Ares Diver-1!
Steel dive watches have great Lume and your talking £100-250 for their models which are all fantastic homages of past watch designs.
Try M-350
Lumibrite on $200-$1000K seikos are not the same on the high end seikos. I got that orient diver and the lume on a Seiko Marinemaster was brighter. It's basically a flashlight that iluminates anything close to it.
The Orient Star Diver, or the Orient Kamasu?
@@RelativeTime Orient star
Have you reviewed Draken for lume?
I've never had the chance. Any model in paticualr?
I have a Draken Tugela and it has amazing lume
Lum Tec watch for Lume A+
Maybe... I've only reviewed one of their watches, so maybe the others are better. But the one I got was a little disappointing for lume.
I mean it was still Seiko good, but not more than that.
Heard of Lum-TEC ?
Maybe you must test "Lum Tec " watch...
I've reviewed one.
ua-cam.com/video/MDynp5TEq60/v-deo.html
It might have been an off model, but wasn't impressed with its lume.
How come you don't seem to have heard of "Tritumin Tube"? My Deep Blue, Daynight Recon, diver watch - has it in spades, is highly visable all night, (in fact, if you read the specs, should be easely readable after a year at the bottom of a coal mine!) Is truely "self illuminating" (Needs no light charging,) and just blows away any standard lume.
My background is a scientist, so I w.ell aware of Tritum. It's just that it's a completely different beast, and doesn't have really mesh when you are talking about or comparing regular (phosphorescent) lume.
My personal opinion is that Tritium is great and amazing for specific people and applications. Yet because of the cost, and shortened life span (relatively speaking). Most people would be better served with traditional lume. For the majority of collectors out there a tritum based watch isn't going to do much good sitting in a watch box all night long 25 days out of the month.
Where as if you in the military or a police officer, or your job has you working overnight, that's a different story.
Now I haven't compared these directly to Tritium based setup, but if you were to compare it to a good (and relatively new) T100 watch. I'm betting the kings of lume would be far brighter for about the first 20-30 min. After that, the tritium should stay consistent (again relatively speaking) all night long.
@@RelativeTime Fair enough! I spend a lot of time cruising and if I wake up in a completely dark cabin, I like to know what the time is, without having to risk the wrath of my beloved, by switching on a light. So for me, it's a matter of life or death, so it has to be Tritium lume.
@@stupitdog9686 that would be a great example too. I went on a cruise last fall, so I know exactly what you mean.
Signum cuda full lume dial is the best lume ever
I have some semi-expensive watches but the best lume I own is in my $80 Sharkey (SKX clone). Far superior to my SKX and Phoibos for that matter.
I hope they are not slipping radium in their lume.
I doubt it, but a geiger counter would tell you for sure.
lume? lume!!!!!
I have a limited to 99 pieces Cronos 1000m water resist homage to the 44mm Deep Sea big brother to the Submariner. I can zap it and still be able to see it in pitch dark 7 or 8 hours later.
I didn't know Cronos was making limited editions. Cool.
@@RelativeTime The first homage with 1000m water resist is the only one I know of. Mine is no. 2 of 99 engraved on the back. The second edition is 2000m water resistant and not limited. Amazon has it with three different dials $259 each. I don't have one but expect the lime is similar to mine. It is large at 17mm thick with 44mm diameter case and comes with a helium release valve. My only other limited is a black Seiko 40th anniversary Arnie reissue limited to 4000 pieces. I always enjoy your reviews but mostly collect the Chinese homages with quartz and automatic Seiko movements now that I am retired. I don't have the funds for more expensive watches but was glad to pay $500 for the Arnie.
Lume is important for someone that wakes up occassionally in the middle of the night. Good quality watches are almost always well lumed. So there is another reason not to buy a badly lumed watch, as the lume may not be the only place where the manufacturer tries to save cost.
Instead of using the Seiko turtle why don’t you use the tuna? Theyre the best Seiko for lume aren’t they ?
Supposedly the Tunas are the best, but I haven't seen one to say for sure... The reason I say that is because I've also had people constantly tell me the "real prospecs" (anything $800+) is so much better, and I've shown that not to be universally true. The newer MMR and Slim turtles are actually a bit disappointing when it comes to lume.
Anyway, back to your real question, and it's something I have been asked and thought about a lot before. it basically boils down to availability and consistency. The tuna is a more expensive watch, one many collectors never buy. Whereas most have an entry-level seiko diver at some point. The Turltels, Monsters, Samurais, they all seem to have about the same good level and lume. So it's something I think more people can understand and relate to. They could be considered the average for a seiko diver.
The key word there is also "good"... my background is actually in analytical chemistry, and whenever you set up a test you should be using consistent standards as a reference. So when I started doing this I wanted to have something for just OK lume (the vostok) and something for really good lume (the Turtle). They are what I had at the time. Which I've kept up with so that tests actually mean something over time. If you go watch an earlier video and see how one watch performs against that turtle, then watch a newer video with a newer watch... you have an idea how they may fare against each other.
Over the years I've only changed things slightly, like if something does show to be a lot better than the turtle then I do another test where I put it up against one of my "Kings of Lume". And more recently I have started using a Monster instead of a Turtle, but only after I was sure it was on par with that Turtle. The main reason for that switch is because I'm thinking of selling the Turtle. I just haven't been wearing it, and didn't make sense to keep it around only for lume tests.
Because at the same time, I'm still just an average collector. The channel helps, but it still doesn't make that much money.