Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/840553
A history of Luminox, probably the most popular watch brand among soldiers of the US special operations forces (and not only) begins in 1989, when Barry Cohen discovered a Swiss technology that used a phenomenon of long-term illumination without an external power supply and he hit upon an idea to implement it in the watches thanks to that a read-out of time when lighting is poor, or there is no lighting, would be quick and problem-free. Nowadays, Luminox brand watches can be found on the wrists of the soldiers, policemen, officers of law enforcement services, pilots of F-117 Stealth fighters and all enthusiasts of shooting and extreme sports, all who need a reliable timepiece, which works in any weather and terrain conditions and does not break apart due to an accidental impact. The Original Navy SEAL 3000, the most famous and most popular model of the Luminox brand was launched after 1994, after conducting one-year works under a commission of the US Navy SEALs frogmen who had been looking for a watch which ensures an easy read-out of time in any lighting conditions, during a day and at night and under the water. The only one watch which survived a tough test procedure and still worked was the Original Navy SEALs 3000. Its key feature was case made of the highly impact-resistant composite of carbon fi- bers and polycarbonate which quickly became the flagship material used in the design of the Luminox. FRAG OUT! Crew got their dirty hands on the Luminox 3050 and 8800 watches. The first ones are a direct ancestors of SEALs watches and represent the Colormark line up. The others are from the Black Ops series what also draws upon the special operations and special forces. We have been using them for a dozen or so of months (one was actually used for few years) so we can say few words about them. DESIGN The heart of Luminox 3050 & 8800 responsible for precise time measurements is Swiss-made Rhonda 515 HH6 quartz watch movement. These are the budget line watches of the Luminox. The mecha- nism allows for the time (hour, minute, second) and a date. The user has to remember about the manual date changing depending on the month because the watch movement automatically accounts for www.fragoutmag.com