Customer Reviews

Luminox Men's 3001 Original Navy SEAL Dive Watch

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

The basic Luminox watch is a superb day watch. Although I am on my second one in eight years, this may be a record, as I am not gentle with watchs. The first one's crystal cracked, but the second one is driving on like a champ.

Pro's-
The luminous stuff on the hands and face (tritium vials) is bright. I mean really, REALLY bright. None of this hold it under a light" silliness, but wake up at three thirty in the morning and have no trouble reading it.
The twelve o'clock tritium vial is orange not green, acting as an index point even in complete darkness. See remark about 0330 hrs.
The bezel can be turned reasonably easily, but won't turn by itself when you are not looking.
Accuracy is good.
Shock resistance, overall durability is very good (damage to my first watch was purely my fault and exceeded any reasonable expectation of survival).

Con's
The Navy SEAL propaganda can be mildly annoying.
The bezel is synthetic (plastic), and after two or three years of use starts to go smooth and the numbers start to wear off.
The luminous stuff on the hands and face (tritium vials) is bright. I mean really, REALLY bright. This con is a special case. If a service member wants to wear this watch in the field, one of those watchbands with the flap to cover the face is a REALLY good idea.
The synthetic strap isn't so good. I replace the watch band with a nylon/velcro one on the first day.
The little compass that comes with it is a wasted effort, get a Suunto watchband compass. Same size, superior in every way.

On the whole, a tremendous value for money, and when I abuse my current one beyond usefulness, I will certainly get another one.

I've owned two of these Luminox Original Navy Seal watches, purchased from the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) and Amazon. My thinking was that if they were good enough for Navy Seals, they were good enough for me, a retired military man of mystery and now active civilian desk jocky. I was attracted by the Luminox Light Technology, so-called mil specs and supposed durability & ruggedness. The first watch worked great until its first ever visit to the Virginia Beach surf! I played in the surf with my kids (never over my head) and water had gotten inside the crystal:-( It was out of warranty so I continued to use it as is (out of water). I contacted the manufacturer hoping that my defective out of warranty watch would be replaced but no dice;-) Even so, when it came time for replacement, I bought another exactly like it, this time from Amazon. I figured I probably somehow contributed to the first watch's untimely demise and I really liked the watch otherwise! The second watch lasted a little over a year before the same thing happened, again the first time it was exposed to the Va. Beach surf! Now, I'm slow but I eventually catch on. In hindsight, I don't believe the U.S. Navy Seals actually use these watches under operational (or even training) conditions. The water resistance (or lack thereof) issue would be a serious limiting factor. Maybe they use them when they trek to the Base movie theaters. The Luminox Light Technology works great for illuminating passageways for the pogie bait runs and emergency head calls:-) If you're looking for rugged mil-spec commercial hardware that the military actually uses, buy a Force Protection Industries CAT II Cougar MRAP vehicle or a Polaris MV7 ATV, but forget the Luminox movie theater watches:-)

Please do yourself a favor and avoid Luminox watches at all cost.
I am a firefighter and assumed that a watch good enough for Navy Seals would meet my on the job needs as well. How wrong I was.
After less than a year I cracked the crystal by setting the watch on a plastic countertop. Apparently they are not made to handle impact of any kind. Navy Seals must be a fragile bunch.
After considerable hassle, the Luminox service center repaired the watch, but charged me an outragous $120 dollars - and it took them all of 16 weeks.
Several months later the glow-in-the-dark paint fell off of the second hand and now sits inside the watch housing, getting pushed around by the hands.
I like the look of this watch, but the quality is terrible. Even worse, it costs more to fix the frequently broken parts than it costs to buy a better watch.
Give your money to a watchmaker with a quality product who cares about its customers - Luminox is not that company.

Have a Luminox model 211- water res 5 atmosphere(165ft/50m) - When the watch was one month old, went surface swimming in the ocean and the watch leaked and quit. Sent it back for warranty and they would not repair under warranty. They said the stem must have been out even though I checked and know it was in. Still fighting with Luminox. Might make a good fishing weight. Do not buy for Armed Forces, they deserve better. Luminescence is great, but not much good if it won't work.

The tritium is nice but the case is flimsy; leaked after battery change. Recently one of the four pins securing the band broke off. Keeps good time. Save your money; buy a Casio G Shock!

Update - After ten years the tritium vials have lost most of their brightness making it difficult to see in the dark.

I bought this exact model in 2002 for boot camp. i thought i should get the best quality watch for something like that and since it is the navy seal watch i figured it would be pretty good. for daily use it looks cool and lights up insanely bright at night. you would have no trouble telling the time in the dark. now the bad part... on the way to boot camp, the light strip on the second hand fell off! it just rattled around inside. then i got to boot camp and i cracked the face without even abusing the freaking thing. it made me sick knowing how much this stupid watch cost me. i ended up having to go to the store so i could buy a [...] timex ironman watch. i used it through boot camp and still wear it today after 7 years of abuse. i had to change the battery for the first time about a month ago. i say dont waste your money. this watch isnt all that luminox claims it to be. its absolute crap.

I read up on this watch and decided to buy it, thinking if it's good enough for a navyseal it's good enough for me. 1 month later the wristband spring that connects the belt to the watch popped off during a basketball game. Ever since it keeps happening when small amount of force is applied. The luminox glow in the dark thing works great but it fell off on one of the hands inside the case. I feel bad for our military.

Loved this watch when I first got it - has great styling and was a great backup to my dive computer. Used it for diving here in Alaska. Unfortunately quit working within a year. Quality for the price is pretty questionable. No response from company on fixing it....

I bought this watch a few years ago. I like the luminous dial, and it has proven to be an accurate and rugged watch. I am disappointed that after a few years the plastic watch band cracked and was no longer usable. Given the price of this watch, and all the military specifications Luminox claims to meet, I did not expect this to happen. I assumed this must have been a defective watch band. When I contacted Luminox to point this out, and asked if they would replace it, they sent me a very curt and direct message in which they stated:

"The warranty does not apply to the band, crystal, crown, bezel or battery."

In looking for a replacement band, I discovered that authorized Luminox distributors sell them for $39.00. I think this is bit ridiculous for a watch band that only lasted a few years. I've bought complete Timex digital watches for less than the price of this band, and never had the watch band break. In shopping around, I found a Timex watch band made for Casio watches that looked like the original Luminox watch band. I bought it for $8.87 at Wal-Mart.

While I still like the Luminox watch itself, I'm very unhappy with it coming with either a defective or very cheap watch band. I'm also very unimpressed with Luminox's customer service. Given my experience, I've come to the conclusion that Luminox watches are overpriced, and their service is poor. If I could do it all over, I wouldn't buy this watch again.

I was incredibly excited to find this watch for this price. I had already tried one on and knew the product would be of excellent quality, if it arrived in the condition it was supposed to. I first noticed a large green tag on the product which stated that the watch could not be returned if it was removed. Obviously this raised suspicion as it implied that the company anticipated a lot of returns. Watching the action of the watch, it continuously stalled and would not keep accurate time, indicating a near-dead battery. In examining the back of the watch, there was a large dent in the carbon casing in the back of the watch body. I am immediately sending this back and buying from a better retailer.