Dial markers without colour being enclosed

[rfrazier]

There is a kind of filled dial marker that seems interesting to me, but also seems somehow vintage or dated. It is the kind that are often retangular, with color in the middle, but, unlike most modern filled markers, the color goes all the way to the end.

Here are two examples from the Friday thread.

I am wearing my Connie :)



...

Wish you all a great weekend

Cheers Jon

An old clunker on today:

I pick these two because they are both great watches which got me thinking about these markers. (I hope you don't mind Jon and DeusIrae -- I didn't steal your pictures directly, but quoted. -- which seems fair use.)

My question is twofold: i) what makes these markers seem of a time; and ii) what do you think of these markers themselves?

Best wishes,
Bob

[Tinker]

As you no doubt know, containers for lume,
like the bars on the samples you've given above
and the (gold) chatons on some Rolexes, were
manufacturers' attempts to stop early lume* from
collapsing. Under a loupe, pre-1980s' lume can look
like a failed Yorkshire pudding.

(*I'm not a lume aficionado and am not much
interested in differences in intensity et cetera.)

The polished surfaces of these applied lume supports
also have the possible advantage of making the indices
easier to read in daylight. However, I still find old
Submariners and GMTs easier to read without the
chatons in any light and, therefore, prefer to see
modern lume, which doesn't need support, without
any containment.

[DeusIrae]

I hope you don't mind Jon and DeusIrae -- I didn't steal your pictures directly, but quoted. -- which seems fair use.)

I don't mind at all. The whole point of hosting them is so they get viewed.

However, I think you'll find this image of more use:



The lume fills a shallow channel in the 3/6/9 indexes.

[KH2]

Isn't the filling on the Omega made from Onyx ?
Helps reading during daytime but probably put there mostly for cosmetic reason - works for me.

[magirus]

Hi. I think they are very attractive in a 1970's sort of way.

[Crusader]

So the Omega has really "colored" indices (with a different color insert from the index itself, but no lume), while the Rolex - apart from the lume - has multi-angled polished markers to reflect light?

I like the Omega solution a bit better ... mind you, I'd go for a bigger lume area to begin with rather than an unlumed contrasting color. I cannot imagine, e.g., how the small dots of lume on the 1,2, 4, 5 etc. markers of the Rolex would have been visible to begin with.

[xpatUSA]

I cannot imagine, e.g., how the small dots of lume on the 1,2, 4, 5 etc. markers of the Rolex would have been visible to begin with.

Martin,

I think the dots stand out because they are hemispheric in shape and thus have a good depth.

Your comment prompted me to look at my restored-for-sale vintage watches. Two had the small dots of lume, a Gruen Precision auto and a cheap Cimier clatterbox. Incidentally, the Gruen is marked "RA SWISS MADE RA" (radium :shock: ), I hadn't noticed that before. The Cimier lume was not marked on the dial.

Although the lume is shot on both watches, it will still glow after exposure to intense fluorescent light. So I did that on both watches and quickly did the "closet test". The dots were clearly visible, but the hands only barely. I attribute this unexpected result to the greater depth of lume in the dots compared to the hands. The hands have only a thin coating which is basically a dried meniscus film supported by a skeleton hand style.

Or the lume on the hands, being exposed to atmosphere on both sides, has deteriorated more than the dots.

These two watches are each 30-40 years old.

Ted.

[Crusader]

Sounds plausible, Ted!