Luminox is a Swiss-made watch brand owned by Mondaine and based in

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city in and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of th ...

, United States. Luminox watches contain

tritium Tritium () or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of ~12.33 years. The tritium nucleus (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of the ...

inserts, providing long-term

luminescence Luminescence is a spontaneous emission of radiation from an electronically or vibrationally excited species not in thermal equilibrium with its environment. A luminescent object emits ''cold light'' in contrast to incandescence, where an obje ...

Luminox history

Luminox Watch Company is a U.S. company founded in 1989 and headquartered in Pfaffikon, Switzerland. Luminox also makes branded watches for various

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

groups with custom insignias and designs. Among these are the

Heliswiss Heliswiss AG is a Switzerland, Swiss helicopter company with headquarters on the property of Bern Airport in Belp, Switzerland, near Bern. History Heliswiss - the oldest helicopter company in Switzerland - was founded as „Heliswiss Schweizer ...

team,

US Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, mi ...

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, and a variety of other

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

and

EMS Ems or EMS may refer to: Places and rivers * Domat/Ems, a Swiss municipality in the canton of Grisons * Ems (river) (Eems), a river in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands that discharges in the Dollart Bay * Ems (Eder), a river o ...

teams worldwide. The brand has since expanded into over 30 countries. Among the more popular watch models are those designed using visual elements of the fighter jets made by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

. To date, Luminox has designed watches taking cues from the

SR-71 Blackbird The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a retired long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. Its nicknames include " Blackbird" and ...

, the

F-117 Nighthawk The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is an officially retired American single-seat, subsonic, twin-engined, stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was ...

, the

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...

, and the

F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is an American twin-engine, jet-powered, all-weather, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft. As a product of the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, the aircraft was de ...

. In 2006, a fifty-percent stake in the Luminox company was purchased by the Swiss brand Mondaine, giving Mondaine increased access to the American market, and Luminox increased access to the European and Asian markets. In 2016, Mondaine Watch Ltd. took over the remaining half of Luminox to become sole owner.''About us.''
mondaine-group.com. Retrieved 2020-12-27.

Notable technology

Luminox watches are advertised to possess "always visible technology." The watch hands and markers contain

inserts which provide long-term luminescence, as opposed to phosphorescent markers used in other watches, which must be charged by a light source. The tritium in a gaseous tritium light source undergoes beta decay, releasing electrons which cause the phosphor layer to fluoresce. During manufacture, a length of borosilicate glass tube which has had the inside surface coated with a phosphor-containing compound is filled with the radioactive tritium. The tube is then fused with a CO₂ laser at the desired length. Borosilicate glass is used for its strength and resistance to breakage. In the tube, the tritium gives off a steady stream of electrons due to beta decay. These particles excite the phosphor, causing it to emit a low, steady glow.

Products

Luminox offers four lines of water resistant watches, labeled "Sea", "Air", "Land" and "Space". There are reported cases of

counterfeit watch A counterfeit watch (or replica watch) is an unauthorised copy of an authentic watch. High-end luxury watches such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Richard Mille are frequently counterfeited and sold on city streets and online. With technological a ...

es in circulation for the Luminox brand. The fake Luminox watches are reported to be shinier than originals and have wrong font numbers on the dial.

References

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External links

Official website
Privately held companies based in California Manufacturing companies established in 1989 American brands Watch manufacturing companies of Switzerland Watch manufacturing companies of the United States Swiss watch brands