The Luminox Story

AN AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY

Like a heap of other American success stories, LUMI•NOX came from a forward-thinking person realizing a need in the market and meeting it. Barry Cohen had been in the fashion watch business for rather a good deal of time when he came all over a Swiss self-powered illumination scheme and knew that it would make watches more visible and requiring little effort to read in low or no light situations. As a result, Cohen and a collaborator developed watches using this distinctive illumination system (called Luminox Light Technology) and LUMI•NOX was born back in 1989 (Lumi is Latin for light while Nox is Latin for night), driven by a dedication to offer cutting-edge luminescence and readability in it is line of high-performance sports watches.

The Navy SEALs and More
The Luminox Navy SEAL watch is the timepiece that made Luminox famous. The officer in charge of procurement for the Navy SEALs, Nick North, was asked to seek a more authenti watch for night missions and found the solution at a trade show where he came upon Luminox. He worked with Barry Cohen to invent a watch specifically for them and the Navy SEAL watch was born.

“Luminox had incisively the watch we were looking for – we only added a few little things,” Nick North, Senior Public Safety Engineer and Operations Specialist, remembered. “We arranged to test a great deal of and they worked great. We made a few changes, then the East Coast team started issuing them and the West Coast teams came on board.”

After Luminox provided the watches to the SEALs, more elite units contacted them directly, while at the same time Luminox begun retail the watch throughout the country and the world. Luminox was then neared by US Air Force pilots flying the F-117 Nighthawk Stealth fighter jet. They were wearing the Navy SEAL timepieces, but chafed at the word “Navy” on the dial. Luminox then devised a watch for these pilots and neared Lockheed Martin, the makers of the F-117 Nighthawk for a picture of the plane to use in the catalogs that marketed the watches.

This introductory contact turned into an exclusive arrangement to give rise to Lockheed Martin timepieces, including watches devoted to the F-117 Nighthawk, F-16 Fighting Falcon, SR-111 Blackbird and the new F-22 Raptor.

The Rest of the Story
Throughout the following 20 years, Luminox has never strayed from it is mission which has been confirmed and validated by the a great deal of elite military and law enforcement units that have adopted Luminox as ordinary equipment.

Luminox has expanded it is collection to include a potpourri of styles, formulated for the active consumer, the sportsman, law enforcement and military groups, divers and more. Currently, Luminox is disseminated in 40 countries around the world and furnishes elite units all over the world. In addition, the man on the street has shown peculiar interest in Luminox, anxious to use the watches put to the test each single day – on the world’s most difficult jobs, figuring justly that if they have been requested by, designed for and used by the Navy SEALs, they have to be capable to stand up to each day use.

The Technology
The Luminox Light Technology makes Luminox watches Always Visible – in fact, the engineering Luminox uses provides 24/7 luminosity, no matter the conditions, for more than 25 years.

Most other watches use luminescent paint that has to be charged by a light source and fades very quickly, or a “push to light” system, where you push a button for battery-driven illumination.

Luminox, however, uses proprietary technology, in the past reserved for the military, that makes Luminox watches stand out, literally. Each Luminox watch features tiny gas lights (borosilicate glass capsules), which are always lit, on the hands, hour markers and when necessary, bezels. As a result of this distinguishable technology, Luminox watches are always readable at a glance, no matter the conditions.

The U.S. military has long recognized the vantages of micro gas light roots and their use is mandated in procurement specification MIL-W-46374F. Being competent to read the watches in any conditions, even in total darkness, is an crucial requisite of numerous military and law enforcement agencies.

The U.S. Navy SEALs use the watches, as do U.S. Air Force pilots, FBI and ATF agents, Secret Service officers, Border Patrol units, Coast Guard officers, SWAT teams, as well as ordinary law enforcement officers, helicopter search and rescue pilots, professional divers and other groups.

The Luminox Light Technology system is hand applied in each and each watch. Though more complicated, highpriced and time consuming than normal luminescence, it is one of the things that makes Luminox watches special. This distinguishable engineering science and the further and added quality control steps Luminox mandates require extraordinary attention to detail and care in manufacturing.

The Benefits