REACTOR

REACTOR Men's 59501 Trident Never Dark Black Dial Black Nitride-Plated Sport Watch

• Quality Japanese-quartz movement
• Exclusive Never Dark® illumination system for perfect visibility in any light
• Solid Screw bar case-to-Band Attachment

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

In a sleek black nitride, the Trident from Reactor is hip enough for contemporary dress and durable enough for daily wear. The 40-millimeter case frames the unidirectional bezel, and attaches to the linked bracelet with a sturdy screw bar. In combination with constant illumination from innovative Never Dark technology, the black dial also features Superluminova hands and indexes, large Arabic numbers and a day/date display at three o'clock. Water resistant to 660 feet, the stylish Trident helps casual wear look smart and trendy.

Reactor Never Dark™ - the World's Most Advanced Watch Lighting System
Throughout the history of the wristwatch, designers have struggled with the best method to illuminate the watch face for easy viewing at night. Originally, radium paint was applied, but the radioactive side effects to the workers quickly made this unacceptable. Various phosphourescent compounds have been tried, but most remain visible only a short while in the dark. Electroluminescence was introduced in the '80s, but has the disadvantages of reducing battery life and requiring a button press to activate. Tritium-filled luminous tubes entered the market in the '90s, and while their multi-year illumination makes them a good choice, their relatively low brightness can be difficult to see in partially lit conditions, or immediately after moving from a brightly lit to a dark environment.

Starting in 2003, Reactor developed a proprietary method of applying a unique Swiss material called Superluminova that makes our watches the brightest and longest-lasting phosphourescent watches in the world (as verified by independent testing). However, while Superluminova is at least five times brighter than tritium after being charged in the light, that brightness fades to below that of tritium over several hours. As part of our quest to build the best watch possible, we saw a better solution.



Never Dark™ is the first technology to combine the intense brightness of Superluminova with the multi-year longevity of tritium, providing optimal illumination under all lighting conditions. Because it can take up to 30 minutes for the human eye to fully adjust to the dark, Superluminova's intense peak brightness makes a Never Dark™ watch easily visible during that initial period. This can be even more important when moving repeatedly from light to dark (such as when going below deck on a boat during the day), as the Superluminova will continually recharge and the eye will not have time to adjust. In situations where the watch will remain in the dark for many hours, the tritium will remain visible for years, even if the watch is never returned to the light.



This graph illustrates the performance of each illumination source over time. While tritium remains at a constant level, Superluminova gets extremely bright then fades over several hours, but recharges very quickly when re-exposed to light. Never Dark™ is the only watch illumination to "self-adjust" to conditions, with a response curve similar to that of the human eye. At its peak, the glow of Superluminova is easily visible, even at dusk or in difficult, partially lit conditions. With a full charge, it produces five to ten times the light output of tritium. But, as that brightness fades, the tritium will continue to glow for at least ten years.

Tritium is radioactive. Should You be worried?
Unlike radioactive isotopes that have been used on watches in the past, tritium poses no health risk to the wearer or to the workers who assemble the watches. Tritium's radioactive decay produces only weak beta particles that are contained completely within the sealed glass tubes. Even if exposed, the beta particles do not posess enough energy to penetrate the outer layer of human skin.

The REACTOR Story

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000UU8DT0
• Item model number: 59501
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,480 in Watches (See Top 100 in Watches)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Gorgeous!, November 12, 2009

By 

Peter Tan (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: REACTOR Men's 59501 Trident Never Dark Black Dial Black Nitride-Plated Sport Watch (Watch)

I have all but sworn off quartz watches that needed battery replacements. Thus, I only buy solar powered or kinetic quartz watches.

Until now, that is.

Before I purchased this watch, I did some research. I was impressed by the Reactor philosophy and their Reactor DNA, and hence decided to purchase this non-solar, non-kinetic quartz watch. Since it has a 10 year battery life, I figure that's almost as good as a solar/kinetic powered one.

First off, the watch I received is slightly different in looks to the one shown here in the picture. The minute and hour hands are silver metallic, not black or grey as depicted in the pictures here. Secondly, the minute markings around the rim do not have the "tachymeter" etc words. They are just plain minute markings with 24-hour hours marked on them.

However, I am slightly disappointed with the watch I received. The luminous glow on the hands and numbers don't seem to last as long as my other watches, such as my Pulsar Men's Solar Powered Tech Gear Dive Watch #PUA111. Reactor watches are famed to have glows lasting for 8 hours or more, but so far in my experience with this watch, they last at most 3-4 hours. After that, the tritium tubes take over and light up the 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock marks, plus the hands of course. I guess that somehow compensates for the glow fading off so quickly.

The date doesn't "flip" over exactly at 12 midnight too... it's slightly "late", and will only show the next day's date at 12.05 or 12.10am. The day of week takes longer - it will only show the correct day around 5am. I guess the reason is because it has another language for the day-of-week too (sorry I can't recognise the language - probably Spanish), so the day-of-week will take until 5am to flip twice to show in the language of your choice.

One thing that people might want to know - this watch is HEAVY. If you look at the reviews of the Pulsar watch I linked above, people are already commenting it is a heavy watch (180 grams). This Reactor Trident watch is 190 grams, so it's actually heavier! Yes, I actually weighed both watches on a scale.

The black nitride finish on this watch is beautiful, to say the least. Pictures can't really do it much justice.

I'd say overall I'm rather pleased with the watch, and will recommend it to friends if they ever ask for a rugged watch that ISN'T a G-Shock :)

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars almost there!, March 15, 2010

By 

Dylan C. Martin "Zomm-B Fanatic" (Dallas, tx) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: REACTOR Men's 59501 Trident Never Dark Black Dial Black Nitride-Plated Sport Watch (Watch)

Ok, here is the skinny on the reactor trident. I bought this watch because after careful research, I found that this watch was widely regarded as one of the toughest watches made. I had been wearing a citizen ecodrive with the green cargo type strap. I live and work in Afghanistan and need a rugged watch to go with the harsh conditions here. After cracking the face of my citizen on a generator door, I decided to buy the Trident. Now bear in mind, that I own several luxury watches such as the Omega Planet Ocean and the Breitling Emergency among others, so this watch has some big shoes to fill. Well fill them it does, its weight is immediately noticeable when you take it out of it's nifty cylinder reactor container. The face is plenty big, so that the numbers and date are clearly visable. I have been wearing it now for almost 4 months and have subjected it to multiple smacks, bumps, contusions, various chemicals such as diesel, antifreeze, and oil..etc. So far it has not had one single scrape or dent appear after all the abuse I've put it through. It keeps excellent time and maintains its dark and mysterious demeanor. Now for the negative attributes. First off, the date is almost ALWAYS wrong, no matter how often I change it, what time of day I set it etc...it is always about a day off. Maybe it has something to do with the bilingual day of the week, why this is appropriate makes no sense to me, this is an american watch, not a south american one, so the day of the week should have come in English and only English in my opinion. Also the "never dark" system, is quite misleading. If I wake up in the middle of the night and look at my wrist to see what time it is. I have to look very closely to see the actual hands. The never dark system does not work that well after about 45 minutes. Sure it's bright as the sun for the first 10 minutes or so after lights out, but after that it fades fast and is difficult to see in total darkness. They should have put something like the indiglo watches use, so the wearer can push a button and see the time no matter what the lighting conditions.
However overall I would have to give it a 4 out of 5 stars, it's a nice rugged and dependable watch and has met my needs quite well. I hope this review has helped.
DM

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Watch, September 25, 2011

By 

D. Copp - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: REACTOR Men's 59501 Trident Never Dark Black Dial Black Nitride-Plated Sport Watch (Watch)

I've never spent this much for a watch before, but I've very glad I did. The Reactor Trident is a heavy watch, but feels good on the wrist. It's durable, easy to use and the Never Dark system works like a charm. I can't recommend this watch highly enough. I'm really happy I spent the money.