Luminox

Luminox Men's A.1847 Field Chronograph Alarm Stainless Steel Watch

• Precise Swiss-quartz movement
• Sapphire glass, single anti-reflective coating
• 23 mm, dark brown leather strap, decorated with steel rivets, steel buckle

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Ready for adventure at every turn, the Luminox Men's Field Chronograph Alarm Stainless Steel Watch features a handsome, ivory dial and impressive deep-water capabilities. A brown leather band boasts white contrast-stitching and metal studs for a rugged look, while a stainless steel case is topped by a scratch-resistant sapphire-coated window that reveals an ivory dial. Black Arabic-numeral hour indicators, stick minute markers, three subdials, a date window, and luminescent hands define the dial. Two prominent push pieces and an alarm function round out this luxury timepiece. This Swiss-made watch is water resistant to an astounding 660 feet (200 m).

The Luminox Story

AN AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY

Like many other American success stories, LUMI•NOX came from a forward-thinking individual realizing a need in the market and meeting it. Barry Cohen had been in the fashion watch business for quite some time when he came across a Swiss self-powered illumination system and knew that it would make watches more visible and easier to read in low or no light situations. As a result, Cohen and a partner developed watches using this unique illumination system (called Luminox Light Technology) and LUMI•NOX was born back in 1989 (Lumi is Latin for light while Nox is Latin for night), driven by a commitment to offer cutting-edge luminescence and readability in its line of high-performance sports watches.

The Navy SEALs and More
The Luminox Navy SEAL watch is the timepiece that made Luminox famous. The officer in charge of procurement for the Navy SEALs, Nick North, was asked to seek a more dependable watch for night missions and found the solution at a trade show where he discovered Luminox. He worked with Barry Cohen to develop a watch specifically for them and the Navy SEAL watch was born.

"Luminox had exactly the watch we were looking for – we only added a few small things," Nick North, Senior Public Safety Engineer and Operations Specialist, remembered. "We arranged to test some and they worked great. We made a few changes, then the East Coast team started issuing them and the West Coast teams came on board."

After Luminox provided the watches to the SEALs, more elite units contacted them directly, while at the same time Luminox began marketing the watch across the country and the world. Luminox was then approached by US Air Force pilots flying the F-117 Nighthawk Stealth fighter jet. They were wearing the Navy SEAL timepieces, but chafed at the word "Navy" on the dial. Luminox then developed a watch for these pilots and approached Lockheed Martin, the makers of the F-117 Nighthawk for a picture of the plane to use in the catalogs that marketed the watches.

This initial contact turned into an exclusive arrangement to produce Lockheed Martin timepieces, including watches dedicated to the F-117 Nighthawk, F-16 Fighting Falcon, SR-111 Blackbird and the new F-22 Raptor.

The Rest of the Story
Throughout the following 20 years, Luminox has never strayed from its mission which has been confirmed and validated by the many elite military and law enforcement units that have adopted Luminox as standard equipment.

Luminox has expanded its collection to include a variety of styles, created for the active consumer, the sportsman, law enforcement and military groups, divers and more. Currently, Luminox is distributed in 40 countries around the world and supplies elite units all over the world. In addition, the man on the street has shown particular interest in Luminox, anxious to use the watches put to the test every single day – on the world’s most difficult jobs, figuring rightly that if they have been requested by, designed for and used by the Navy SEALs, they have to be able to stand up to every day use.

The Technology
The Luminox Light Technology makes Luminox watches Always Visible – in fact, the technology Luminox uses provides 24/7 luminosity, no matter the conditions, for more than 25 years.

Most other watches use luminescent paint that has to be charged by a light source and fades very quickly, or a "push to light" system, where you push a button for battery-driven illumination.

Luminox, however, uses proprietary technology, in the past reserved for the military, that makes Luminox watches stand out, literally. Each Luminox watch features tiny gas lights (borosilicate glass capsules), which are always lit, on the hands, hour markers and when necessary, bezels. As a result of this unique technology, Luminox watches are always readable at a glance, no matter the conditions.

The U.S. military has long recognized the advantages of micro gas light sources and their use is mandated in procurement specification MIL-W-46374F. Being able to read the watches in any conditions, even in total darkness, is an important requirement of many military and law enforcement agencies.

The U.S. Navy SEALs use the watches, as do U.S. Air Force pilots, FBI and ATF agents, Secret Service officers, Border Patrol units, Coast Guard officers, SWAT teams, as well as general law enforcement officers, helicopter search and rescue pilots, professional divers and other groups.

The Luminox Light Technology system is hand applied in each and every watch. Though more complicated, expensive and time consuming than normal luminescence, it is one of the things that makes Luminox watches special. This unique technology and the additional quality control steps Luminox mandates require extraordinary attention to detail and care in manufacturing.

The Benefits

The ultimate Swiss illumination system glows without the need to push a button or expose to light

Glows continuously for more than 25 years

Swiss Made with jeweled Swiss movements

Water resistant and shock resistant

Production
All Luminox watches are Swiss Made, produced by Luminox’s corporate partner, Mondaine Watch Company, one of the leaders in Swiss manufacturing. Located in Zurich with manufacturing facilities in Biberist, Switzerland, Mondaine recently won a Swiss Logistics Award for its "just in time" production. Mondaine applies its more than 50 years of experience when producing the complicated Luminox watches.

The Future
Luminox will continue to combine cutting edge technology, forward-thinking design and extreme performance. Luminox delivers, when and where it counts.

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001AU4X34
• Item model number: A.1847
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,665 in Watches (See Top 100 in Watches)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tritium in style, September 1, 2010

By 

Michael Jackson "-Mike" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Luminox Men's A.1847 Field Chronograph Alarm Stainless Steel Watch (Watch)

-My own measurements-
41.12mm - Bezel diameter
42.16mm - Case diameter
46.50mm - Case with crown
23.00mm - Lug/strap width
14.22mm - Case Thickness
2.05" - Case length w/lugs, tip to tip

-Backstory-
It's surprising how few (affordable) casual/dress styles tritium watches are available. Military and diving styles are abundant but just don't appeal to me for every day wear. Of the few tritium watch manufacturers out there - Marathon, Reactor, Smith & Wesson, Uzi, TAWATEC, Traser, Luminox, and Ball - only the latter three offer anything close to what I was looking for. Ball is out of my price range so it came down to Traser and Luminox's nearly identical cream-dial dress watches (Traser's Aviator Bucker Jungmesiter and Luminox's 1847), both with MB-Microtech vials and riveted, sewn brown leather straps. Though I liked the propeller inspired hands and exclusive white tritium vials of the Aviator better, the alarm, smaller case diameter, and better price of Luminox's 1847 finally won me over. And I couldn't be more satisfied!


PROS

TRITIUM ILLUMINATION
Tritium is, nearly by definition, the most consistent light source for watches on the market. I've heard people (read: Reactor) complain that tritium, without the aid of superluminova, is not bright enough to read with unadjusted eyes when going from full sunlight to complete darkness. From my own experience, this is simply not true. I've worn the 1847 almost daily for three months now and have ALWAYS been able to read the time with ease under all circumstances. Period.

NOTE: One reviewer of the Luminox 1842 (same watch but different color/strap) wrote "Beware: it's so luminescent, it will light up the bedroom at night." From my own experience, this is also not true. At most, in complete darkness, there's a feint green glow illuminating objects no further than two inches away from the source, and even then it's VERY subtle and certainly not enough to light up the room or bother anyone in a theater, etc.

FACE, CASE, BEZEL and STRAP
Luminox did an excellent job mixing classic with retro/military here. The face is a very light, desaturated cream, much lighter than the photos would have you believe (even mine - it's remarkably hard to capture the color). The strap is made of a beautiful, slightly reddish-brown, double-thick, stitched leather with brushed steel rivets that -absolutely- makes the look (a little stiff at first but wore in after a couple weeks). The complications, like the thin bezel, look clean and uncluttered, and while I don't generally like numbers on my watches, here the bold font fits the theme and aesthetic perfectly. The screw-down crown matches the upper and lower buttons, and as my friend points out, "synthetic sapphire is all the rage" - very resistant to scratches and shattering. It's perfect. I could go on, but pictures tell a thousand words, so I'll finish this section by updating the product gallery.

TRIPLE DATE APERTURE
Maybe you've seen this before, but it was new to me, and it's subtly awesome. At first I was wondering what aesthetic choice led to such a long date aperture, until I caught a glimpse of it 20 minutes past the hour. With analog watches, you kind of get used to not being able to check the date for a couple minutes every hour, depending on where your date aperture is. With a triple date aperture, you also see the dates adjacent to the current date, so even when the current date is obstructed by the hands, you can make out what day it is. Brilliant!

NOTE: Luminox's current version of the 1847 features a white-on-black date (as opposed to the black on white seen in old product shots). I was a little bumbed when I found out black on white wasn't available anymore, if only because that's how the picture was, but now that I own the white on black, I'm actually glad they made the change. Sitting in the 4 o'clock position, it matches the other numbers better, rather than introducing another color into the mix.

STOPWATCH
I've uploaded the included instruction manual, so that should take care of basic use questions. A couple things of note:
-The stopwatch hour and minute hands share a sub-dial, freeing up a sub-dial for the Alarm
-Once the stopwatch reaches it's limit of 12 hours, it doesn't stop - it keeps going. This is (obviously) useful for tracking more than 12 hours if you keep track of half-days passed, and for those who prefer a watch's main sub-dial always be running.
-The stopwatch minute hand revolves around its sub-dial TWICE in one hour, giving you higher resolution for reading minutes. Its hour hand works as you'd expect here, traveling half way between each hour tick for every one revolution of the minute hand.
-When the stopwatch is running, the lower button acts as lap/reset, blocking the ability to set/check the alarm until you reset the stopwatch.

ALARM (pros)
-Louder than any watch I've heard, even while on your wrist due to a sound box built into the back of the case!
-Usage: Hold the lower button (with the stopwatch reset) until the alarm hands move. hold or tap it until it reads the time you wish it to go off (within the next 12 hours) then wait 10 seconds. It'll beep twice to indicate it's on. Tap it during normal operation to turn the alarm on or off without changing the alarm time.


CONS

ALARM (cons)
-Alarm is non-repeating (you cannot "leave it on" to signal everyday)
-The alarm can only be set up to 12 hours before you want it to go off.
-The instructions mention the alarm won't work while the stopwatch is running, but that's not actually the case. The alarm will still sound if it was already set before starting the stopwatch, but you won't be able to set or change it while the stopwatch is running. This is because the alarm set/status button is temporarily a lap timer when the stopwatch is running. When it's stopped and reset, you can go back to using it to set the alarm or check its status.

RADIATION
Not a con because of potential leakage (none, and even during a catastrophe, the dose or radiation you would receive is nominal) but because it "only" lasts 10 usable years (or so reports indicate - I haven't owned it nearly long enough to tell). Sure, the vials can be replaced, but it's not cheap and 10 years is sooner than you think. :(

IMPRECISE MOVEMENT
The hands of two of the sub-dials on my watch do not line up perfectly with the tick-marks on their bezels. Unfortunately, this is common on most non fully mechanical watches, and will vary from watch to watch. Fortunately the chronograph second hand does match up well, and that may arguably be the most important hand ;)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Watch! The Photos don't do it justice, July 1, 2009

By 

Glenn Smooth (Palmdale, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Luminox Men's A.1847 Field Chronograph Alarm Stainless Steel Watch (Watch)

First off the watch looks much better in person than it does in the few (lousy) photos online. It's pretty beefy at 42mm. There is also a 48mm version of the same watch which is simply gigantic, but that seems to be the trend these days. It keeps accurate time. I just bought mine a week ago so I haven't slammed it around much but it feels really strong so far. One great feature is the tritium (always on radioactive glowing material encased in small glass tubes) that you're able to see in the dark. They're placed at each hour and on the hands. Yes, it's radioactive material on your wrist! Amazingly the stuff always glows - never gets dim and is guaranteed to last 25 years. It also makes cheap replicas difficult to produce since this material has to be approved by the government before entering the usa. Very few companies have permission. The only downside is the manual. It's worthless and doesn't explain anything about this model watch or what the 2 buttons do. One seems to reset the chrono while the other starts it... but that's all I can figure out so far. I normally go for automatic movement (no batteries needed) but this watch was so cool looking I had to get it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great watch terrible instructions, March 9, 2010

By 

Val D. Steed "Val D. Steed, CPA, MA, CITP" (Centerville, Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Luminox Men's A.1847 Field Chronograph Alarm Stainless Steel Watch (Watch)

I gave this watch a four becuase the instruction guide that came with the watch is completely useless. They waste pages in the guide on how the Navy Seals love this watch. I would also like to love this watch if I knew how to use it! All I could figure out from the instructions is how to set the proper current date and time. I have no idea what the other three dials can do. I have heard it has an alarm, chronograph, etc. but I have no idea how to work the other features. Swiss made, but some marketing idiot in the US wrote the terrible instruction guide. The Swiss would never have left such a poor guide on such a great watch.