Luminox Sea XS.3001 – The watch of the Navy SEALs

Tags: Review | Luminox | Men's | Classic | Diving | Military

22.11.2021 | 6 MIN | 2x comment

Watches for militarism enthusiasts and lovers of simple, durable watches. Watches readable in bad lightning, at night, underwater, at any time. Watches with the functionality approved by special military and naval units. That's Luminox. And what's new with Luminox? The renewed version of their most popular watch ever, famous for their collaboration with Navy SEALs: Luminox Sea XS.3001.

Luminox is a time-tested, independent Swiss watch manufacturer, famous for its collaboration with Navy SEALs (an acronym that stands for SEa, Air, and Land). The collaboration began in 1994 as the Navy Seal 3000 first saw the light of the day and became the only watch officially licensed by the US Navy. The watch was specially developed for night missions. The brand listened to soldiers' needs, and needless to say, the watch and soldiers were ready to survive in any condition.

And according to Luminox, even nowadays, these watches are worn by many sailors serving in military operations all around the world. Of course, the models evolved, changed, received new technological tweaks, but the essential features stayed the same – perfect readability in dim light and absolute darkness.

Three new models from the 3000 EVO Series

The 3000 EVO Series models, which "pay tribute to the watch that started it all in 1994", arrived in the fall of 2021. Color-wise, they received an even more attractive uniform. However, with the smaller size and layout of the elements, it still faithfully corresponds to the original series, the last change of which we saw in 2018 in Luminox Sea XS.3001.F Original Navy Seal:

The new models are bit heavier due to the steel case back, which the Original Navy Seal does not have, and they came in more intriguing colors. To be more specific, in three.

I received the Luminox Sea XS. 3001 Blackout version (blackout = "power outage"), which embodies the name perfectly.

The Luminox Sea XS.3001.EVO.OR model will impress you with its eye-catching color scheme, the so-called The Old Radium. The color scale represents a nostalgic look of the old days when all luminescent watches were illuminated using the radioactive element Radium, a material with a unique glow, which was taken out of production in 1968.

The last one is the Navy Blue Luminox Sea XS.3003.EVO model.

Luminox Sea XS. 3001 – Darkness transformed into a watch

Blackout. The word for the sudden darkness caused by a power outage or the time during the war when all the lights in the city had to be turned off. Whatever the inspiration was, a watch carrying these implications must represent the impenetrable darkness in which we can orient only with the luminous signs marking the escape exits... The designers from Luminox have taken on the task of transforming this situation into a watch, and I must admit that they succeeded, don't you think?

When distributing the luminescence colors, they thought of a good orientation: the minute hand, the index at 12 o'clock, and the zero point on the bezel are color-coded, so even in the dark, you can tell where are the top and bottom.

The watch is as if all the colors disappear, and basically, the only thing that can be used to orientate yourself is the luminescence tritium tubes placed on the hands and indices.I say basically because in daylight, or if you take a closer look, you can see there are Arabic numerals on the dial marking the military time as well. The truth is, military-style watches are meant to be unobtrusive but not at the expense of great readability. All of that was achieved in this watch with the famous Luminox luminescence, and the muted design looks great.

The same can be said about the black case with matte treatment. This is accomplished by the CARBONOX material, which is declared to be popular with special forces.

And what is Carbonox? To make it simple – it is one of the two aces up Luminox's sleeve. To be more specific – it is a special material used in technologically advanced industry fields such as construction, aviation, or automotive industry. It is based on carbon fiber and carbon powder technology which makes it hard and durable but also anti-magnetic and anti-allergenic in its nature. If it weren't for the classic 316L steel case back, I would recommend it to individuals with nickel allergies since there are many of them. But they have to "come to terms" with the mentioned original version with the Carbonox case back.

The Navy SEALs insignia is embossed on the steel screw-down case back.

Carbonox is also resistant to temperature changes, which basically means that it never gets too hot or too cold – there is no doubt about the comfort of such material in the forty-degree heat or in the coldest January nights. Plus it is resistant to scratches (reportedly much more than the traditional materials from which watches are commonly made).

And what about that lightness? Carbonox is about three times lighter than titanium (making it 6-times lighter than steel), and so even more robust military watches weigh a few grams – the pieces reviewed, for example, weigh only 50g! An uninformed user might be surprised when trying the watch on and think that if it is so light, it must be made of plastic. But I have to confirm that the initial "plastic feeling" disappears almost immediately. The overall impression is different, the watch is more solid... and suddenly you know you are wearing something that will last. Even if you don't treat it well.

However, I would not treat the mineral glass too rough, as it is hardened but will not be resistant to breakage and scratches.

Following the example of the Sea series, the watch portraits a diving design with a uni-directional rotating diving bezel marked with five-minute intervals, which only a few people will use in practice. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who always gets satisfied by the click sound when turning the bezel.

Needless to say, watches designed for naval forces don't have the diving design just for show. The water resistance is up to 200 M, with the screw-down crown and screw-down case back helping to withstand the specified pressure.

Radioluminiscence – the main ace up Luminox's sleeve

Great luminescence has a key role in diving watches. Time must be shown under any condition, and (rather historically) in a critical situation it can mean the difference between life and death! I exaggerate a little, but still... The most reliable luminescence is the so-called radioluminescence. It is constantly lit, and it is not dependent on the previous "charging" with light (as are watches with far more common photoluminescence, for example with SuperLumin, etc.).

The Luminox brand uses the Luminox Light Technology (LLT) in all of the watches, which ensures continuous radiation for up to 25 years. However, a disadvantage compared to the already mentioned photoluminescence is that it is necessary to expect an adequate reduction of the luminosity level over time. That means that in ten or fifteen years, the watch will no longer shine like new, and the light will gradually diminish over the years.

All Luminox watches have small self-feeding gas tubes (borosilicate glass capsules) to illuminate, which are placed into hands, indices, and elsewhere appropriate. This radioluminescence is safe for humans and does not harm the environment.

What surprised me?

The size. On paper, the diameter of the case reaches 43 mm, but after I tried it on, it made a much smaller impression. Seriously, after trying it on various "test" wrists, a group of slim wristed people was thrilled as the watch fit on their hands really perfectly (and it fitted beautifully on women's wrists as well, so ladies, if you were looking for some military-style sports watches, Luminoxy could be a solid choice).

The smaller impression of the watch is probably due to the lugs being short, and also the dial looks quite small compared to the wider chapter ring and a quite large bezel (and as already mentioned, it is also the original 3000 series, which is smaller than the 3500 series, that came later).

I was also surprised how smooth and incredibly comfortable is the plastic strap. Plus it gives out the confidence that it will last... which it should, given that the spacing between the lugs is non-standard 21 mm and looking for a non-original spare strap (such as a NATO strap, which generally looks good in military-style watches) won't be so easy...

However, none of this can be considered a black spot on a flawless, reliable watch with a design so effective that you feel as if all the lights have gone out and the only certain point in the dark was this Luminox watch.