IS H3 the same as Luminox and Traser?

Sorry if that is a daft question.

Daz

[swanbourne]

My understanding is that H3 is not the same as the tritum in glass vials used in Traser & Luminox. H3 is just normal tritium compound (and also the chemical symbol for tritium). The Heuer Bundeswehr from 30 years ago had the H3 symbol on the dial.

Eddie

[JP (Europe)]

...those "H3 Military" -labelled watches then those are same than Traser/Luminox except "sterile dial".

All made by mbmicrotech.

JP

[Crusader]

My understanding is that H3 is not the same as the tritum in glass vials used in Traser & Luminox. H3 is just normal tritium compound (and also the chemical symbol for tritium). The Heuer Bundeswehr from 30 years ago had the H3 symbol on the dial.

Eddie

We may possibly have a misunderstanding here. The line of Traser watches which have recently been discussed on BMW are sometimes, if misleadingly, called "H3 watches" (from the printing on the dial) by vendors. I do not know if Daz in his original question referred to them or the technology itself.

If you referred to the technology, then the answer is that gas-tube-luminescence technology is indeed, as Eddie has pointed out, different from conventional tritium lume. US military watches, too, have the "H3" symbol regardless of whether they have conventional tritium lume or gas-tube luminescence. "H3" on the dial just denotes the presence of tritium in the watch, either directly on the dial or in glass vials, just as the "circle T" would on British military watches.

You can read the details of tritium gas tube luminescence e.g. at http://www.traser-watches.com/DesktopDe ... e&tabId=72 (sorry, couldn't find an English version quickly). There is alss a very comprehensive article on the various luminous compounds at http://www.timezone.com/article.aspx?id ... 1017665598.

But if your question referred to the line of watches instead of the luminous compound, the H3-line of watches is indeed made by Traser which is owned by MB-Microtech. Sometimes Traser and the H3-watches are treated as separate collections (there are, e.g. separate Swiss websites for them), sometimes they constitute a single collection (as in the case of Traser UK). I do not know what is the story behind this. Perhaps just a transitional phase?

Apparently MB-Microtech purchased the patent for tritium gas tubes from Texas Instruments and has been the sole supplier since. They also supply Marathon, and they made the gas-tube watches for Stocker and Yale. The relationship with Luminox is notoriously difficult to establish. In any case, Luminox has exclusive rights for at least the U.S., so anything with Traser on it cannot be publicly sold there. (E-Bay and private commerce undercut that cozy arrangement, of course.) But for practical purposes, I assume that all three watches, the Luminox 3001, Traser 3001 and Traser P 6500 come from the same factory.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Crusader

Thanks, I did mean the watches rather than the tech side, but both lots of info have been very helpfull, thank you.

Daz