Tritium flaking off hands, IWC wants to replace hands on 2000 Mark XV

I have a circa 2000 Mark XV. I guess it was one of the last to come with
tritium hands. Obviously the tritium is mostly faded away, but it's cool to
have the original hands. I took it in for service and they want to replace the
hands. They say that the tritium is flaking off and is putting the movement at
risk if it gets in there. Is there some way to stabilize the tritium, or
should I just let them do it and get new hands on this? I realize it's not a
collectible watch, it was made in large numbers and mine is very much in
"worn" condition. What do you think?

I guess it comes down to how much you like the original hands and how much you
would miss them. Whatever damage that may occur to the movement that may be
caused by flaking tritium falling through the date window into the movement
likely would be minimal and repairable. It may just need a clean and lube. If
you like the way it is and won't mind too much if at some point you do need to
get some tritium cleaned out of your movement, I would keep the original
hands.

Thanks Ben. One thing is that it has somehow started getting very slow and
then stop working within a few years after service, the last couple of times I
had it serviced. Could that be because of tritium flakes? It seems like it's
less reliable than I would expect, even for a 20 year old watch, because it is
an IWC and it should keep working. Could tritium flakes be the explanation of
the problem?

There are watchmakers out there who can 'stabilize' the tritium from the
underside of the hands. You may try to find someone who has experience doing
this. Good luck with your choice.

Nelson

That could be very well be the problem. Even little tiny fragments can get
into the workings and impeed performance. Another option may replacing the
hands and reserving the originals - you may be able to have them re-fitted at
a later date.

Just an example handling your tritium issue.
During a complete service at my local watchmaker, the hands of this watch from
the 70s were polished, new painted and the crumbled tritium were replaced to
SL.

Great work for an fair price.

If the Mark XV is from around 2000, I would be surprised that there is Tritium
as Luminescent material.

I would expect Superluminova which is in use for more than 2 decades.

Regards,

Adrian,

(alwaysiwc)

Thanks to everyone for the replies. First, these are definitely tritium. The
dial says T-Swiss. I believe that the year I bought it was the year they
changed from tritium to SL, and mine was among the last that were tritium.
That's cool and partly why I want to keep it original. I realize this watch is
never going to be a collectors piece because they were entry-level and made in
the thousands, but it's still cool to me.

Thanks for the information. Yes, tritium flaking does explain the mystery of
why this watch hasn't been running well for the past few years. Even tiny dust
particles would have a big impact on friction. I'm going to get them to
replace the hands and keep the old hands. Maybe I can send them out to someone
to be stabilized and have them put on later. Or maybe not, it's just a watch,
not a historical artwork. I'll probably buy a new watch soon.

I got my Mark XV back a week ago. They really did a beautiful job. The new
hands look exactly like the originals, except new and not flaking off. It's
running with perfect timing, a few seconds fast per day, which is ideal. I
asked them not to polish the case, but they did it anyway, and actually the
result is great. In short, this 20 year old watch looks basically new. They
also extended the warranty by 2 years so if anything happens it will be fixed.

Overall the experience is exactly what I would expect from IWC!

I think I traumatized the dealer a little bit because I didn't want a new IWC
box or bag to carry it out. I just wore it. They are very formal about it.
Which is cool, I get it, especially because their watches are mostly in the
10k and up price range, so they should have a little ceremony about delivering
a watch. Anyway, they are great and it was a good experience and makes me
think of getting another IWC... someday.

Fantastic - I love a good ending. Or new beginning...

I actually like this watch with its ETA movement, which is no longer used by
IWC. The ETA should be a great movement because they have produced so many
millions of them, and IWC did their own improvements to it. I expect it to be
extremely rugged and long-lasting. I'm happy to be an IWC customer so far and
I think this watch will last many more decades.

I bought a Mk XV one week ago, which is also my 1st IWC, and my holy grail
since at least 15 years... My XV is also a Tritium dial one (T Swiss Made T),
with original purcahse date 11/99. I suspect that during a service by the
previous owner, some of the markers and/or hands have been replaced with SL;
the only marker with more patina is at 3 and has zero lume vs. the rest that
have a moderate lume. Oddly both hands seem to have an ever so slightly creamy
patina but only the hour hand has lost its lume, while the minute hand lume
matches the whiter markers.

Anyway congrats on your Tritium Mk XV (which I think is the more rare XV dial
hence might have slightly more collectible value even if you didn't care about
such things).

I was wondering, since I too have a nicely worn look on my not polished case,
1) what did your overhaul with polish cost at IWC, and 2) do you have regrets
about them polishing it vs. leaving it original?