I own dozens of Tritium watches from Android, Ball, Chase Durer, Deep Blue and Luminox. Some are well over a decade old and they still glow really good. Even when new they take a few seconds to get your eyes acclimated in the dark. I drive a big rig and they have always served me well for night trips.
As a graveyard shift worker I really relate to your love affair with lume and appreciate all the options you've given us. I'd really like to try a tritium option and am a cheapass as well so I might be giving this a shot. My current two best lumed watches are a Steeldive sub homage, which is about on part with the Steeldive 1970 so it's great, all BGW9, and a Seiko 5KX. But these both start to get a little dark after a couple hours in extreme low-light, and it's not uncommon I end up working on the exterior of an aircraft outdoors, always in the dark, so I'm really interested in seeing if a tritium option works better for me. Only thing is I am a little feller and I'm afraid this thing will wear me rather than vice versa!
You are kidding right. I spent my younger engineering days before becoming a German navy diver at Lufthansa in aircraft maintenance. Were there no floodlights where you worked? Full visibility is a basic safety requirement for aircraft repair and maintenance. It should be bright enough not to need lume to read your watch dial! There should be floodlighting in the hangover and mobile floods for working outside. Unless you were working for Broken Down Airlines in the Congo or somewhere like that. 😂
Seriously, you have to work in the bloody dark on aircraft doors? So that's why the door flew off an aircraft in flight in the US recently? 😮 That doesn't inspire confidence from the passengers! I must look into that before my next flight!
I had a watch with tritium, not tubes it used to run all night, its 30odd years old now it doesn't glow at all. It was interesting but I'm not really bothered that the lume gave out.
I own a Traser tactical watch. It is at least 20 years old and the trtium tubes are still very OK to read the time all night. Traser is Swiss made and very affordable. Please try one.
@@davidkemp8689 They're still big tho. They briefly sold the day/night at 41mm or something but I didn't buy one. They are all back to 45/44mm I think again. I just don't care about 1000m water resistance. Give me something that isn't the size of an invicta.
@@claytonberg721 you’re right they are a big chunk of metal, and you need large wrists to pull it off. I have 6 deep blue watches including the day/night and do enjoy wearing them.
I love tritium for all night legibility and I have 5 of them that I wear. 3 of mine were very affordable because I bought well used and beat up old Luminox models. I put aftermarket straps on them and still wear one of them every night. But for more interesting watches several years ago I bought a Deep Blue with the big flat tubes that are very bright at night. My first one is on a ZULU strap and is my travel and adventure watch. I bought a newer one recently on an oyster bracelet. They seem to be harder to find these days but they are a good combination of quality, style and low price. As a result of your previous videos I once had my eye on a Carnival field watch with tritium but never ended up buying one, that watch was a very good price. Even with a half life of 12 years, after 12 years it will be half as bright but your eyes don't view light that way so it will not look like it has lost all that much and it will go for another 12 years or more, and if you start with H100 it will still be usable well beyond the first 12 years.
Absolutely! Why not buy a Canadian/Swiss no fooling milspec watch? The Marathon GP in Quartz is slightly more expensive, but I’m not about to compare a Marathon to any Chinese watch. 😂
Hi Jody! The chrono has a preety hard to use Tachymeter Bezel, since the central hand is the permanent ticking second hand and not the chrono's. I didn't like either of the watches, but is a great video.
Nite, Nite, Nite. I have 2 Nite Alphas (their 300m diver) and have owned an Icon pilot watch. They're all bomb proof and the T100 is brilliant but, for reasons that escape me, some are put off by their use of a superior quartz movement (a Ronda 715). If you're dead set on clockwork 😊, they have a field watch coming out soon called the Atlas which has 400 year old tech inside it (I believe it's the Selita SW200-1).
@@JustOneMoreWatch If you were in the uk I'd send you mine at this point! 😁. You might prefer the MX10 or Atlas field watches - they're 40mm I believe. The Alpha is a 42/22 tank-like tool watch. The only downside to them imo is the straps - the rubber one I think is designed to be worn over a wetsuit (?) and the bracelet has male end links. I wear mine on handmade leather straps (gasp!!). The watch head of the Alpha is 14.5mm thick but its 300m wr and the handset has to clear the tubes on each hand. The icing on the cake is a tritium lume pip. Cheers.
@@velebitsko Hi - glad to be of help. All joking aside, if you do prefer a mechanical movement, nows a good time to check out the brand - the new field watches look great imo. Cheers.
Hi Jodi, have you tried one of the Luminox tritium watches? Maybe they are not your cup of tea but I think they would be one contender for the budget tritium watch you are looking for
I also ordered the crono one, in the same spec, yellow with yellow tritium, supposed to come in 5 days. One thing you missed about it tho. After the cronograph is stopped and reset, if you press the bottom button, the 6 o'clock dial becomes a power meter
I had a Marathon early in my military career and loved it, but now there's no lume left. So, I began to look for something that was less expensive as I am retired, but still wanted a tritium watch. I found the Yelang women's style watch that fits perfectly on my 7" wrist, just wish they had a solar version, but I do love it, it is way brighter than what Marathon was brand new. I'd love to see Yelang make the ladies into a field watch style with numeric indices and make it solar, it would probably become my favorite.
I can recommend these two tritium watches: Traser Pioneer P96 (big too, but light, tactical styled watch, no screw down, but due to special crown seal still swim/dive capable, as such works perfectly on a camouflage grey/black silicone band from aliexpress). For the dress option I have the Epoch 6026G-B which a white guilloche dial, an automatic watch that's 40x10x20 mm, of course on a smooth Hirsch leather band - perfectly sized (for my 18,5cm/7.25in wrist). Both are very comfortable to wear. Tritium seems disappointing at first, it will not shine like luminova does - even in bright daylight when fully charged on a good watch. But when it gets too dark to read a watch in the remaining environmental light, tritium will already be better after even half an hour (like shown by Dave from "Just the watch"). And after a number of hours, when you can - with some eye straining and educated and concentrated guesswork - "read" a super-luminova watch, there will not be an issue with a tritium tube one. Even if it will fade to half brightness in 25 years, it'll still be better then. I do have experience with good SL watches, and I do not need tritium on all of mine. With the advent of solar charging that isn't ugly (Cartier Tank, Junghans Max Bill, upcoming Seiko Astron SSJ models), I'm wonder when manufacturer's will begin to use something like Timex' Indiglo combined with a wrist-turning activator like Casio's Super Illuminator).
I like 44mm to 51mm watches on my 7.5" wrist and I like Seiko power. Both are winners to me in sizing and movements but with the errors on both watches especially the second hand misalignment they are a no go.
Jody, what about something from the tritium collection from Aquatico Watches? You can opt for less expensive NH35 movements or step up to ETA2824. The bronze case offerings are great. Maybe at 42mm or 43mm diameter too big for some, but honestly anything sub 40mm looks tiny on my 7.5 inch wrist.
I have a NITE MX-10, which cost me about $300 US… and I quite like it but you would rinse them for the daft integrated strap I’m sure. But ya I wanted tritium and I am happy with my purchase.
Total tritium fan here, and share the grief at what most of them cost. I went for a Marathon Navigator and love it -- especially when I get up in the middle of the night and see it toasting all the other lume in the watch box! It's kinda wonky with the case shape and fixed springbars, but the Ronda is reliable and it has sapphire over the composite case. (A Ball will be next, though!)
How about Luminox, Traser and KHS watches with Tritium? They all have a good variety of watches, some really affordable, and not all of them look tactical.
Note that Mb Microtec (the company that makes the tritium tubes) sell their own watches with a swiss quartz movement. They sell them under the Traser brand, they also made the luminox watches (contractor for watches production).
Interesting, they seem good value, if only the 3 hander was a sensible size I might have considered it, because I like the style and even the fish 😁 . Everyone needs a solar drive!
I picked up a Yelang V1213 Sea Overlord. Gang, I know it's not perfect- the bezel would be fine if it were grippier, and I just can't take off the steel bracelet for love nor money, BUT if you can tolerate a decent steel bracelet I'm very impressed. It is damn hard to go back to traditional lume. I got two other great watches with good lume the same day and they've barely gotten any wrist time. This watch is just so darned convenient. Solid, all-around daily wear.
I've always wanted to recommend the Aragon Hercules tritium watches or some other ones that make 45 mm I thought to not mention it because I didn't think you'd like a big watch like that but I don't know if he'll even read this comment Aragon has some really nice tritium watches they're all under $500.
I haven't ever thought of tritium and quartz as a combo. And solar tritium is way off the charts. Probably because I think of tritium as a vintage feature and solar quartz is a more modern movement. Despite the dissonance, the chrono is a pretty option. Too bad about the ginormous size.
I also enjoy tritium but I'm just not in agreement with your premise on lack of availability of quality for under a thousand. That's quite a statement there really are so many. Isobrite, Deep Blue, Marathon, Aragon automatic with T100, MWC automatic, Luminox, even LlBean if you want real low cost and still dependable quality. In fact most of these and others are well under a thousand.
If you're looking for affordable tritium have a look at Nite watches. My uncle seems to like his. For example their diver has sapphire crystal, ceramic bezel insert, 300m WR and Swiss Ronda quartz with 10 year battery life for £450.
I have the deep blue stealth ops version 2 carbon case, nh 35, sapphire. Awesome watch. Why havent we seen any bezel action or anything abt the operation of it???
the Marathon GP has a tritium option, as do CWC GPs. Both of them are pretty minimalist quartz models, similar to what's here although not solar. In the UK you can get either for 300-400gbp.
"How many watches older than 12 years" got me thinking - a TAG diver almost 30yrs despite a rough life, - thought it was close to major rebuild but turns out it was just a dodgy newish battery [Renata] working fine now on another Renata, I include my wife's Ebel at 16yrs since I bought it, crazy 1000m Enzo Mechana with no rotating bezel now 14 still worn every week, another TAG F1 about 13yrs old. I think my Seiko Monster is already 12+ but it was an Asian market only model "new without box" buy off EBAY in Malaysia and I can no longer find purchase details. Others are getting close including a ToughSolar GShock that is 10 this year as is an EcoDrive that works fine despite maybe a year of sensor deprivation in a dark cupboard. Mine tend to be keepers or sold on unworn immediately after I make the mistaken purchase
I have the 3 hander. Like it for the combo of solar & tritium, but it is HUGE. I believe that Yelang would own the watch world (ok, maybe a small niche part of the watch world) if it would do a solar/tritium 40mm diver. Oh, and please add a 2nd tritium tube at 12 for my old eyes.
I've only tried one Tritium , a vostok europe gaz 14 limousine with a white dial. Only had T25 tubes but , I thought they were pretty alright. I believe it was tri-color as well.
Nice watch, ex engineer and navy diver here! Tritium was definitely good for extended dives back in the day before dive computers and is still a good backup option though most recreational divers will find a well lumed dive watch to be a more practical back up.
I don’t know whether Jody or his viewers tend to look at comments months later but Yelang now makes a “women’s” solar tritium diver that they claim is 36 mm in diameter. It’s actually 37 which is on brand for Yelang but it fits well if you are somewhere between 6 1/2 and 7 1/4 inch wrist circumference.
I’d really like to add Tritium to the collection though my sight is set on a Marathon GSAR sometime in the future. If I’m gonna wear something massive on the wrist then better make it count.
Like Juan Pablo commented, the tachymeter is just about useless with the chronograph hand at the 6. I've had my Traser automatic since 2005. Still glowing, but your eyes have to be well adjusted. The only thing I wish it had was a screw down crown. Appreciate the review, Dr. Jody.
When I wanted a tritium watch I went with the safest bet, Marathon. Marathon is releasing a steel Navigator this Friday(21 Apr), that has an ETA quartz movement accurate to +/-10 seconds/year, and has 100m WR.
I know you had a less than great experience with the one Deep Blue you reviewed, but I'd still say that on sale they do make decent tritium watches, if you stick to the more traditional designs. Only downside is the size and the weight of most of their watches.
With a 15cm wrist, overhang is one of my main considerations when buying a new watch. Tend to avoid male end links like the plague or immediately swap to leather strap. Don't think that would help with either of these though 😂
Rewatching this video- I like the styling of that dive watch. I prefer slightly larger watches than you do but that 45mm x 15mm might even be too big for me. The chrono looks good but the gold part of the bezel bothers me a bit. Then I realized- it has a tachymetre bezel that you cannot use! It would require the main seconds hand to operate with the chrono in order to must that bezel properly. There is that saying... "what were they thinking?"
My favorite $500 Tritium and Lume monster is my Reactor Titan!! This watch is a beast and a proper dive watch with a rotating bezel and rotating inner bezel. It has multi color Tritium that is great!
Actually really like my Luminox. 38mm, the tritium isn't the strongest but you can see it, and it was nice and affordable. when i posted the pic on the r/watches subreddit the very 1st comment was "jesus christ it's jason bourne" and it's now my go to for the rare days when i want to channel my jason bourne vibe
I have to say I love time pieces that are larger then 42 mm. I mean 42 mm is the smallest watch size that I could maybe go for. These are perfect for me . I've been on the same mission on an Tritium tube watch and the size on these Oh My Yes Perfect. Thanks for the great reviews. Yelang great watches for Me. Id take one of them any day. Thanks
Just my size. I really like it. Case looks good and definitely looks better on rubber. Dial is great and ali bezel looks fabulous in green. I see myself buying one for sure as not only do I like it, but I don't have a tritium. The chrono monster looks too invicta for my liking and a very busy dial. Green tritium on the 3 hander is awesome.
Thanks for the review. I have looked at Yelang and wondered about their size. I like the titanium and tritium tubes. A bit big though. I have a Luminox with tritium tubes - I'll stick with that.
Hey Jodi, I have 2 tritium watches. My NITE alpha, was less than £300 and my Aragon T100 which with delivery and taxes to the UK was around £250 and I love them both. The NITE Alpha I think is discontinued, but they have loads more ranges. Please check out NITE and Aragon T100. NITE used to supply watches to NATO (not sure if they still do) and Aragon T100 are chunky large (50mm) all steel beasts that I know are not your thing, but there are people out there like me that love them :). The Aragon watch is very nice because its a Tritium watch and its automatic. (Seiko movement).
Why dont you try *TRASER* watches? Traser belongs to *mb-microtec* . This swiss company produces allmost all tritium tubes used in the world. They founded their own watch brand Traser few years ago. The prices are quite affordable considering, that they are made in switzerland from the mother of all tritium tubes. Interesting Models: P59 Aurora GMT P67 Officer Pro
I bought the dive Chronograph in the video and was really really pleased with it. It did have an odd second hand beat. Beat twice and pause once but kept good time. Sign of things to come and after only 2 month it stopped. New battery wasn’t cheap but hey ho still love it.
I have a Treser which I bought in the mid nineties and the tritium tubes have died,replacement quotation from Traser costs more then the original watch price..............
In the lume video, there was a definite misalignment of the bezel lume dots with the 12 O'clock tritium tubes. That and the second hand misalignment would drive my OCD bananas! Probably not a bad value for the price, but not the right watch for me 🤷♂
I used to have serveral Deep Blue divers and they were amazing apart from their size. I recently picked up a Yelang Pilot with Swiss quartz for $90 Canadian all in and I wear it everynight as the replacement for an alarm clock that used to sit on my bedside table.
15 years? I have a Timex Snoopy Red Baron watch that must somewhere in the region of 40 years old, probably more 😛 Still runs and has the original strap too!
Deep Blue makes a pretty good one -- DAYNIGHT PC TRITIUM AUTO 44MM. I got one with all different colored tubes. Only NH35 but I prefer that to quartz and also push pull crown. Probably last longer than these two though.
You may want to take a look at Aragon for budget tritium options. Thank you for the review! The DF-45 T100, for instance, has 31 T100 tubes and it sells for $250US with an NH35.
Hi Jody, still don't know why you haven't looked at Nite watches for tritium dials. Designed local to me in Dorset (UK) using a Ronda movement with a 10 year battery life. I have two, one used for my job in the dark evenings in the UK, the other with a SW200 movement.
It's true that tritium watches are fairly rare, but there are other options less expensive than a Ball. I hunted around last year and eBay'd a mil-issue Navigator model from Marathon. Yes, civilian Marathon's aren't notably affordable in general, but this is a version with acrylic vs sapphire and with some other beater-y tradeoffs. It screams functionality and is quite comfortable, for ~$250-$300US. And even the premium versions are still $500 or less.
When people ask me(Fellow watch nerds) What Mai Grail watch is…. I say, and affordable tritium watch! I, too, have been in search of… I even almost broke down and bought a Ball, But decided against the $1700 price tag. I think I may buy the second of these two that you just reviewed… Just because it’s sort of close! Thanks, Jody!
Yelang does make the three hander clicky rotating bezel solar Tritium in a “women’s” 36mm; but I’d guess it’s really 37.5mm. Tempted to buy one as a gift.
Hey Jody, if it’s Tritium you’re looking at, you should check out Aragon Watches based in the USA, they have just released Bioluminescence watches too. I have several of their watches including the tritium T-100 M50 with 71 tubes (they do have smaller models) and find them really enjoyable.
