Luminous Paint

[tamborine]

The hands of my watch are difficult to read. What luminous paint will improve them?

[Old_Geezer]

Only in the dark.

Try to get some of that radioactive paint stuff :-)

[gingejbee]

...and will you be able to get at the hands, paint them and re-assemble properly?
I think I'd just put the light on.

[Hopkirk]

Er... I think they stopped doing that in the 60s Old Geez, for obvious reasons.

http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/luminous.htm

[Hopkirk]

Sadly a lot of women suffered because of their jobs applying the paint

http://www.damninteresting.com/undark-and-the-radium-girls/

[stuey]

Tamborine, it's not just a matter of dabbing a little paint onto the hands. They have to be stripped of the existing coating, which may or may not include a lacquer, sanded with a very fine grade paper, prepared, and then painted. It's a job for a watch-maker (NOT a jeweler), and probably won't be very cheap. Unless the watch is expensive and/or has some sentimental value to you, It's best to buy a new one.

[stuey]

I should add that you also have to remove the movement from the case, which in most watches entails removing the stem, and then remove the hands, as gingejbee mentioned previously.

[stuey]

Yabut, they're no fun to take apart and put together again are they?:)

[tamborine]

Opened the watch, slipped paper under the hands & used a feather stem to paint hands with white glow nail polish - saved myself ££s ;)

[Tilly2]

Well done, you!

[tamborine]

Its only windup watch but am fed up with unreliable batteries.

[weecalf]

Mate of mine used to talk to his watch calling it big hand wee hand I told him to stop winding up that watch

[stuey]

Tambo, you have proven once again, despite my horological "advice", the adage "Where there's a will, there's a way". I'm interested: in order to get to the hands did you unscrew the crystal, or just pop it off?