For most of the big watch brands that are now part of even bigger watch groups, 35 years may not seem like a big deal, but for relatively new watch companies like Luminox, surviving the harsh landscape that is the horology industry for this amount of time is a definite cause for celebration. And celebrate they have, as this year they launched three new Luminox watches, one for the realms of air, land and sea, each drawing inspiration from a model from the brand’s storied past.
The brand, founded in 1989, was the brainchild of Barry Cohen who built Luminox based on two simple premises, luminescence and readability. Even the name Luminox was created from the Latin words ‘lumi’ which means light and ‘nox’ which means night. Thus, it makes perfect sense then that the signature element of most, if not all of their watches stems from their Luminox Light Technology which basically uses a completely sealed tube filled with tritium gas. This gas promises self-illumination without needing to recharge for at least 25 years.
As you would imagine, with a product built specifically on legibility in the absence of light, the watch would attract the attention of specialised industries. Over the last three and a half decades, Luminox has partnered with numerous military, police and rescue organisations around the world, outfitting their personnel with these reliable and precise timekeepers. For the most part, Luminox has not yet crumbled to the pressures of the modern watch industry, choosing to still power a majority of their watches with quartz movements rather than mechanically driven ones. This makes total sense if, as a brand, robustness is the unique selling point because quartz movements tend to fare a lot better when subjected to all sorts of extreme situations as compared to their mechanical counterparts.
That is not to say that Luminox has not kept up with current watchmaking tastes. In recent years they have started to add mechanical self-winding movements to their collection and even offer in-trend materials like a carbon composite (Carbonox) for their watch cases. Today, they have the full might of a Swiss watchmaking group behind them as well after being fully acquired by the Mondaine group back in 2016. And in case you were wondering, this is the same Mondaine that makes those watches inspired by the recognisable clocks found in Swiss Railway stations.
Sea
To celebrate its 35th anniversary, Luminox revives its Original 3001 Heritage model which is inspired by the very first 3001 from 30 years ago in 1994. For this piece, the design has been tweaked slightly but the biggest change comes in the form of the Carbonox material for the case. What we also liked about this model is the choice of stainless steel for the unidirectional bezel, the signature element of a dive watch. The core reason for this is to aid the reliability of the bezel rotation but as a side effect, the clicks feel extremely satisfying as it rotates. Other subtle touches include the number 30 on the bezel in red to signify the number of years since its origin story.
Air
Taking to the skies, Luminox looks to the Nighthawk model launched in 2007 to create its new F-117 Nighthawk x Skunk Works 6440 Heritage. Fans of military aviation will undoubtedly recognise the Skunk Works logo subtly hidden on the dial. This logo will blend into the black dial during the day but in the absence of light, it glows and comes alive. This is because the original watch was inspired by the F-117 jet which was built as a stealth fighter. Its iconic facets and black colour are reflected perfectly on the watch and because the watch was inspired by the skies, its bezel has a 12-hour scale so the wearer will be able to keep track of a second timezone without the need for additional mechanical complications. Additionally, where the original watch comes with a rubber strap, the new model comes with a strap in Kevlar, the same used on bullet-proof vests.
Land
On land, Luminox offers the RECON Point Man 8820 Heritage which references a model in the same collection from 2011. What is interesting about this piece is the inclusion of a tachymeter but not the kind most watch enthusiasts are familiar with. Where most tachymeters on watches today can be found on chronographs and can be used to measure the speed of motorsport vehicles, the one on this RECON Point Man offers a scale suited to measure walking speed instead. This is perfect for those going on hikes or maybe a long march and want to measure their pace. Although the dial is a little busier on this model, the watch is the largest of the three at 45mm in diameter giving it enough room to still be legible.
Each of these three models is, thankfully, not a limited-edition model but that is no guarantee that they won’t run out at specific Luminox retail outlets. They will each come with the 35th Anniversary insignia inscribed on the back and even a 35th-anniversary challenge coin included as a token of membership to the Luminox community.
