BALL Watch BMW Owner's Manual - page 6
8
9
Swiss Night Reading Technology
How to read time from watches in dark
environments has been a topic of much
research in the watch industry. Applying
luminous paints to dial and hands - activated
first by radium, then by tritium - has been
standard practice since the First World War
but did not really satisfy the manufacturers.
After a quarter-century in research and development work, BALL
Watch Company is proud to present an innovative Swiss laser
technology that is considered the best alternative available today.
It is the self-powered micro gas tube known as (
3
H) that gives the
watch its excellent dark reading capability in any conditions.
They provide superior night reading capability that is 100 times
brighter than the current tritium-based luminous paints.
3
H gas tubes
do not require batteries, recharging by an outside light source and
glow continuously for up to 25 years.
You can read off time from the watch quickly and safely in brightest
daylight or deepest night without adapting your eyes to the ambient
light.
The Swiss technology,
3
H, captures tritium safely in a very stable
form, as a pure gas sealed in a hollow body of mineral glass. Its
exterior walls are coated with a luminescent material, which gives
off cold light when activated by electrons emitted by the tritium. Light
production is the same as in a TV tube, when the electrons of the
cathode ray beam hit the screen.
Please note that brightness of the
3
H gas lights will gradually decline
over time, but can be restored by replacing the complete dial with
a new one.
Diagram of gas tube attachment to hands and dial
Gas Tube
Gas Tube
ENGLISH