Luminox 3051 Blackout Watch - Review

Navy SEAL COLORMARK 3050 Series: BLACKOUT: All Black Case, Dial, Hands, and Dive Strap Design Multi-Jeweled, Highly Accurate, Swiss Quartz Movement TRITIUM GAS TUBE Illumination - All Hands and Hour Markers BLUE TRITIUM and HANDS and Number Markers 1 through 11 ORANGE TRITIUM on Number Marker for 12 All New Carbon Reinforced Polymer Injection Molded Case Unidirectional Polymer Minute Timing Bezel Bezel has TRITIUM ILLUMINATION DOT at the "0" Position Hardened Mineral Glass, Scratch Resistant Crystal Double "O" Ring Gasket Push-In Crown Shock Resistant Design Features Water Resistant to 200 meters (660 feet) Manufactured to MIL SPEC # W-4637 4F Date Window 4 Year Battery Life DIMENSIONS: Diameter: 45 mm (with Setting Crown 48 mm) Depth (Thickness): 14 mm Lug Width: 23mm Weight: Ultra Light: 51 grams (1.87 ounces)

How Luminox Watches Became Famous From Their Military Watches

Luminox watches are a brand of watch that illuminate the watch face to show the time. So when you are sitting in the dark and you need to know whether or not it is time to get up for work you can press a button which actives a back light and shows the exact time.

The word luminox comes from Latin meaning light night, which is the exact description of what it does. It was first invented by two business partners in Switzerland looking for a way to break through into the market. It became a popular idea and perhaps surprising an idea that they managed to sell to the Navy SEALS. It's usefulness to the SEALS is obvious and became important to them when diving. A diver could set their time for how long they wanted to be under then know that the time was up precisely because they could illuminate the watch face.

With this success they launched a brand of watches into the market place approved by the seals themselves. A breakthrough for the company and a big seller. It became popular particularly with men who bought it for its now masculine image.

The first Navy SEAL watches were made out of plastic, but it wasn't long before they bought out a new brand with a metal casing, another success. These watches although just a small change from the original looked and felt strong. The company knew they were onto a real winner and intelligently kept on marketing through the SEALS, using a number of styles. These slightly different versions appealed to the wider group of women and children.

It would be wrong to say these watches were merely gimmicks. They were becoming known for their quality alone using lasting batteries, sapphire glass crystal and anti-reflective coating.

Things got better for the company only a few years later when the American Air Force asked for their own brand of watches to be made. The company was of course quick to say yes and developed the SEAL model to suit pilots on their bombing missions. Soon Luminox had the right to provide watches for the entire aviation industry and the potential for a new line of product for the average consumer.

Again the sales were a brilliantly successful. The Air force was only too willing to put their name to the product in an attempt obviously improve their image. Luminox showed the watch world that you don't have to be innovative in your watch design, that you don't have to be constantly finding new ways to improve the watch. Instead advertising is just as important, cornering a niche in a big market that is powerful and will promote the product not only because it is good quality but because it is good way to improve there own image.