Luminox

Luminox Men's 3101 Navy SEAL Steel-Carbon Dive Watch

• Precise Swiss-quartz movement
• Mineral crystal
• Case diameter: 43 mm

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

This Luminox Men's Navy SEAL Steel-Carbon Dive Watch features a unique illumination system that glows 100 times brighter than other luminous watches, making it the perfect choice for low-light or non-light situations. This versatile timepiece is constructed with a stainless-steel, 43-millimeter case. The durable polyurethane band is accompanied by a buckle clasp with safety mechanism. Stand-out Arabic numerals adorn the dramatic black dial face. For further time-keeping practicality a handy date calendar rests at the three o'clock position. Powered by analog-quartz movement and water resistant up to a depth of 660 feet, this watch is preferred by US Navy SEALs and US Air Force Pilots.

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

• Item Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000WYAYZ0
• Item model number: 3101
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,855 in Watches (See Top 100 in Watches)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stylish, Rugged, and Dependable, February 1, 2005

By 

A. Edwards "Big Papa" (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

As a person who literally destroyed two Casio G-Shock watches and also from someone who refused to pay more than $100.00 for a wrist watch, let me be the first to say that my Luminox 3101 more than fit both bills. My wife bought the watch for my birthday 5 years ago. I beat it, bang it and generally treat it with malice. I can honestly tell you that it continues to maintain its stylish looks and continues to run flawlessly. The only real complaint I have is that whenever I bump a corner or knock into something like furniture, the watch usually ends up gashing whatever I bump. The 3101 has got to be more careful!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tritium is the high point. Durability & reliability a bit lacking., April 20, 2008

By 

A. Thomas (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Luminox Men's 3101 Navy SEAL Steel-Carbon Dive Watch (Watch)

I own two of the 3101s. One I bought used in 2003, and the other new in 2005. I also bought a new womans plastic case version for my girl in 2007.

Pros:

I just love the tritium dials. No mater what the lighting condition, you can see what time it is without having to touch your watch. Do that a few times a night, for a few years and you really begin to appreciate the tritium feature. None of the tritium vials on any of my watches have abnormally dimmed, cracked or fallen off (unlike some of my pistol sights!) so they are obviously using good tritium.

The rotating bezel is a great way to keep track of elapsed time; simple, sure and quick. No buttons to push... just turn to the current minute or hour hand position and your done. This feature is just as valuable and just as used as the tritium visibility feature for me.

I've tried using the newer G-Shocks as a replacement for the Luminoxs, but I keep putting them away because I'm just way too addicted to the tritium and the chrono-bezels!

Cons:
The crystal is highly subject to scratches and cracking. I don't care about the scratches, but if you crack the crystal (which I've done twice in two years) you might as well throw away the watch, since it costs $150 to replace (ouch!) and stands a reasonable chance of losing reliability once the service shop gets a-hold of it. BTW, one of the cracks resulted from it falling from the bathroom sink to the tile floor below and the other from the impact of the buckle of a dog collar on one of my dogs (wtf?). The heavy weight of the stainless steel body might have lent to the damage from the fall (the plastic cased version may have survived).

The second issue is reliability. Though my first used 3101 was very reliable (regardless of me cracking the crystal twice), the new 3101 I purchased has stopped three times for unknown reasons, resulting in the warranty shop replacing the entire movement twice so far, only having it stop again soon after getting it back a few months ago. That gets old after the second time...I'm getting ready to send it back for a third time now (still under warranty... otherwise I'd buy the cheaper plastic case version and put my SS band on it since I now feel these are semi-disposable watches with must-have features... the SS case just weighs it down and matches the bracelet... two things I can live without for saving $50)

Note on straps: The nylon straps starts smelling of mildew in short order after getting wet, and there in no way to get the smell to stay out of it. The rubber strap is pretty darn uncomfortable and difficult to keep the heavy case from rotating too far off the wrist into a less then ideal location for easy viewing (having to rotate it back all the time). A plastic strap like on the G-Shocks would have been better, but not as macho. That leads me to the logical conclusion that the stainless steel strap/bracelet is really the only practical way to go with the SS case version, since it doesn't get nasty, feels good, stays put, and as a side note, looks better in business dress then the rest of the options (and it's just as durable). I also tried going to the Martac nylon straps (since they were nautical/military based). I was hoping they used some mildew preventive chemicals in their build process...no luck...they started smelling of mildew as well...too bad because those are really cool watch bands!)

Doing it over from scratch, I'd probably go with the plastic case and rubber band and hope the case stayed put on my wrist. If at that point it started moving around too much, or wasn't comfortable, I'd look into buying a black SS OEM bracelet for it, from either Luminox or Traser, which go for around $50 once you factor-in the shipping costs. I am still more than happy to replace my Luminox every couple of years if required in order to get those tritium and chrono-bezel features!

Hope This helps!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome watch, March 24, 2005

A Kid's Review

This watch is awesome! It is rugged and can pretty much stand up to abuse that would wreck most other watches. The glowing hands and number markers work perfectly, and need no exposure to light to "charge." I would however like to mention that this company "watchzone" does not offer a warrantly from Luminox, they instead provide and warranty for service from their own factory.