Projects
We build watches to a customer’s own specification and branding, with self-powered dial illumination from sealed tritium light sources. The dial is readable in complete darkness without being charged by light first, without a battery for the illumination, and without the wearer doing anything. That is the difference between tritium and a luminous paint dial, which needs light before it gives light and fades within hours.
Typical programmes are unit issue, presentation and commemorative pieces, and branded editions for organisations that want something more durable than a promotional item. Quantities, dial layout, betalight colours, case finish, engraving and numbering are all specified by the customer.
Key Features
- Self-powered illumination: Betalight tritium sources on the dial, continuously lit with no battery and no charging.
- Customer-specified betalights: Colour and placement chosen per programme, not a fixed configuration.
- Swiss movement: Ronda 515 quartz with a power saving mechanism that cuts consumption by around 70%.
- Composite case: Carbon fibre and polycarbonate, with a stainless steel caseback and PVD-coated crown.
- Hardened glass: K1 extra-hardened mineral, 600 to 800 Vickers.
- 10 ATM water resistance: Suitable for swimming and surface water work.
- Shock rated: Tested to NIHS 91-10.
- Engraving and numbering: Insignia, unit markings and sequential numbering to the customer’s scheme.
Why Tritium on a Watch Dial
A dial has to be readable at the moment it is looked at, which is usually the moment there is no time to hunt for a light. Photoluminescent markings only work if they have been charged recently, so a watch pulled out from under a sleeve after hours in the dark shows very little. A backlight needs a free hand and announces itself.
Tritium removes both problems. The sources glow continuously from the day they are sealed, at the same level whether the watch has been in daylight, in a pocket or in a pack for a week. Brightness falls gradually over years rather than fading over minutes, and there is nothing to switch, charge or replace. See how long tritium lasts and what tritium is.
Specifications
The table below describes a representative build. Dial layout, betalight colours, case finish and engraving are specified per programme.
| Movement | Ronda 515, Swiss made, 3 hands, date |
| Functions | Hour, minute, centre second, date with quick change, seconds stop on crown pull |
| Power saving | Consumption reduced by approximately 70%, battery no. 371 |
| Magnetic resistance | 18.8 Oe |
| Shock resistance | NIHS 91-10 |
| Operating temperature | 0 to 50 °C |
| Dimensions | 52.6 x 47.0 x 13.5 mm (L x W x H) |
| Weight | 58 g |
| Illumination | 16 betalights on the dial (14 blue, 2 red) on this build; colour and count specified per programme |
| Case material | Carbon fibre and polycarbonate composite, stainless steel caseback, black PVD-coated crown |
| Bezel | Left turning, carbon fibre with grooves |
| Watch glass | K1 extra hardened mineral, 600 to 800 Vickers |
| Water resistance | 10 ATM |
| Dial | Matt black with Arabic numerals and date window |
| Hands | Hour, minute and second, with grey second hand |
| Engraving | Customer insignia with sequential numbering, from #001 |
How a Programme Runs
- Specification: Dial layout, betalight colours and placement, case finish, strap, engraving and numbering, agreed against your quantity.
- Approval: Artwork and configuration signed off before anything is built, so what arrives is what was agreed.
- Manufacture: Swiss movement, sealed tritium sources fitted to the dial, assembled and tested.
- Delivery: Supplied numbered and ready for issue or presentation.
The same approach applies across our range. See OEM and custom development for lighting built to specification, or the full tritium product range.
Who It Is For
- Armed forces and defence organisations issuing to a unit or commemorating a deployment
- Law enforcement and specialist teams wanting a dial that is readable without a light source
- Organisations and brands producing a branded edition that will still work in fifteen years
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Standalone tritium vials are available in ten standard sizes and a range of colours, plus custom dimensions, for watch modification and for integration into other products.
Tritium has a half-life of 12.3 years, so the dial retains roughly half its original brightness after twelve years and a quarter after twenty-five. It does not switch off at a given point, it simply becomes dimmer, so how long a watch stays useful depends on how dark the conditions are when you need to read it. See how long tritium lasts.
Yes. The tritium is sealed inside borosilicate glass tubes, and the beta radiation it emits cannot pass through that glass, so none of it reaches the wearer. This is the same technology used in aircraft instrument markings and gun sights. Our tritium safety article covers it in full.
It depends on how much of the watch is being changed. A different dial, betalight colour scheme and engraving on an existing case is viable at modest quantities. Changes to the case, bezel or movement carry tooling and are a different conversation. Tell us the quantity and what you want changed when you enquire and we will say plainly which route fits.
Yes. Colour and placement are specified per programme. Green is the brightest to the human eye and is usual where readability matters most, while other colours are dimmer to varying degrees and are generally chosen for the look or to distinguish markings from one another. We will advise on which combinations stay legible together in the dark.
