Luminox 3005 Diver

Today I wore my Luminox 3005. Specifically, I put it on to take the wrist shot below then put it back in its case. But it was the only watch I had on my wrist today. It's the stock version of my "Super Stealth" Luminox. I specifically bought more than one of these so I could modify some and keep some stock, but since I have enough other yellow watches I've never worn this one. Everything about this one is the same as the one linked above, except the dial. It's Swiss made, has a Ronda quartz movement, 43mm carbon reinforced resin case, one-way rotating bezel, resin strap, stainless back, 200m water resistance and tritium illumination. I actually just noticed that the current 3005 has a yellow chapter ring instead of the black, so this would be a much better model to start with if you wanted to add a MKII dial. I guess some people like the "Navy Seals" text on the dial and some don't, it never bothered me. The "night" photo below was taken with my usual point-and-shoot camera at my office today. Not bad for having very poor light control and no tripod. The resin strap on this is actually pretty nice; decent width and thickness with a nice brushed stainless Luminox buckle. I'll probably put the standard strap back on my other one soon. Since it's still brand new, I'm going to sell it soon before I get the itch to actually wear it. I have my eye on a few other (much pricier) watches, so I think I'll try to clear out the watches that I have never worn before I decide to get rid of anything from my "active" collection.

LumiSport Quartz Diver

My watch today is a LumiSport quartz diver's watch. I've only ever seen a few watches branded LumiSport and I've heard they were once sold by Sears. As you might guess from its looks and the tritium vial night illumination, this was made by mb-microtec who also makes Luminox and Traser watches. Here's a very similar LumiSport that was for sale on the WUS forum (I paid much less for mine and it was brand new.) This watch is in some ways nicer than my Luminox 3005, namely, its stainless steel case, screw-down back and screw-down crown. It has the same Ronda Swiss quartz movement (which means I could also swap this dial for a MKII dial, which was my intention when I bought it,) same hands and illumination system, but the bezel is more low-profile on the LumiSport. I guess if you're actually using the bezel the chunkier one on the Luminox would be better, especially underwater or when wearing gloves. They both have a 200m water resistance rating, and I'm sure both are very durable, but the stainless case and back on the LumiSport just seems like it will last forever while the plastic case on the Luminox seems lighter and more fragile. Really, I like them both, and they're different enough that I don't feel the need to get rid of one. While I still my swap out the dial on this watch (I could even use my old yellow Luminox dial if I wanted to) the blue dial is kind of growing on me, so maybe I'll keep it like this for a while longer. (The photo below that seems at first to be all black is actually a photo of the illumination of the watch is near darkness. It was the best I could do at work with poor light control and my point-and-shoot camera. In complete darkness, when your eyes are adjusted it really does look very bright, like this. Image from here.)

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.