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Joshua Hendren

Contributing writer for Style by SCMP, specialising in jewellery, watches and pop culture


Luminescence has become one of watchmaking’s coolest flexes. At this year’s Watches and Wonders in Geneva, there was a lot of buzz centred on glow-in-the-dark timepieces. It cropped up at heritage brands like Panerai and A. Lange & Söhne, while the horological trend was epitomised by IWC Schaffhausen’s new, lustrous blue take on its Big Pilot’s Perpetual Calendar.

Today, watches that shine in the dark may have become big business, but the hype – and history – surrounding these designs has been bubbling up for quite some time.
Since the early 20th century, luminescent materials have been applied to the hands, numerals and indices of watches designed for military use – whether for pilots, divers or soldiers – for whom effectively operating on the battlefield extended to times when legibility in low light was essential.
The earliest examples used a luminous paint that combined zinc sulphide with radium, the radioactive element discovered by Marie Curie and her husband Pierre in 1898, which, while effective in emitting light, was unfortunately also highly radioactive, and so was banned from use in watchmaking in 1968. Tritium, another self-luminous but less radioactive substance, was later used as a replacement.

Everything changed with the introduction of Super-LumiNova in 1993, which remains the go-to luminous material in horology today. Developed by Swiss company RC Tritec, it’s a photoluminescent pigment that functions like a battery that stores light, absorbing energy from either sunlight or artificial light and re-emitting it as a visible glow, a function that can be repeated indefinitely and carries none of the risks of its predecessors.
Looking back, arguably no watchmaker has built a longer-standing relationship with luminosity than Panerai. The Florentine brand began supplying instruments to the Royal Italian Navy in the 1910s and by 1935 had developed its first dive watch prototype, the ref. 2533, with a luminescent Radiomir dial. Those technical specifications, which included exceptional luminescence, remained a military secret until 1993, when the watches first came to market.
“Incorporating luminosity into our watches is not merely an option but a fundamental requirement, deeply rooted in our legacy as suppliers of military instruments where it was essential for underwater missions,” says Alessandro Ficarelli, the brand’s chief marketing officer.

Panerai’s latest Submersible GMT PAM01495, a 47mm tool watch introduced at Watches and Wonders, boasts a hefty 500-metre water resistance and DMLS titanium case, a 3D-printing technique Panerai first patented in watchmaking in 2012. It also features a skeletonised dial with a minute hand and dot on the rotating bezel that glow blue and indexes that glow green with Super-LumiNova.
“The demand for timepieces like this stems from a strategic blend of honouring our heritage and embracing innovation,” adds Ficarelli, of the growing appetite for luminous watches. “Our commitment to functional design remains intrinsic to our origins and is consistently expected by our existing collectors, who profoundly value our legacy.”
IWC got in on the action too, with the whole of its new Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Ceralume glowing bright blue. Usually you’d see luminous material applied to the parts of a watch the wearer needs to read in the dark like the hands, numerals and indices. Here, the entire 46.5mm case is made from Ceralume, IWC’s proprietary luminous ceramic developed alongside RC Tritec – the Swiss company behind Super-LumiNova – achieved by blending ceramic powders and luminous pigments into a homogeneous mixture through a dedicated ball-milling process. The white dial and rubber strap are also enriched with Super-LumiNova pigments. By day, the watch appears almost entirely white, while in darkness, the case, dial and strap all emit a dazzling blue glow for more than 24 hours.

Also at Watches and Wonders, German watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne debuted its own luminous timepiece, the new Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “Lumen”. What makes this watch so clever is the dial cut from sapphire crystal, which allows UV light to pass through the watch at all times to charge the luminous compounds beneath, ensuring every element, from the tourbillon to the moon phase, remains readable in the dark.
There are also other glowing watches to talk about outside those on show at Geneva’s Palexpo convention centre.
British independent Split Watches has made luminescence a key part of its identity since launching last year, with co-founders Ed Margulies (a third-generation watchmaker) and Dara Amjadi, closing each collection launch with a glow-in-the-dark model.

The latest is called In the Skies, a 42mm chronograph created in Split’s proprietary Ceramod+ case material, a composite of ceramics, polymers and nylons into which Japanese luminous powder is infused directly during manufacturing. “Lume is relatively easy to incorporate onto a dial or hands but represents a bigger challenge when working with cases and bracelets,” says Margulies. “It was challenging to find the right quantities of high grade Japanese lume powder when mixing with the other raw materials and finding a consistent and powerful glow.”

At the Swatch Group-owned Certina, the new DS Action Diver 38mm Titanium uses vibrantly coloured Super-LumiNova on the hands and indices of three new summer-themed colourways – turquoise, blue-orange and bold flamingo pink.
Meanwhile, Bell & Ross, based in Paris, has spent nearly a decade working on its own luminescence, slowly progressing from glowing indices to glowing dials to – now – glowing cases. The watchmaker’s BR-X5 Blue Lum, for example, uses a proprietary composite material built directly into the case structure, emitting a powerful blue light in darkness, while the aviation-inspired BR-X3 Night Vision does the same in green, its glow referencing the head-up display systems used in fighter aircraft.

Will 2026 be the year luminous watches move fully into the spotlight? Judging by the excitement around these latest tickers, the category shows no sign of slowing down. For Margulies, though, their appeal taps into a magic that has never really gone away.
“From an early age I marvelled at just the smallest lume on hour and minute hands,” he says. “With new technology comes new ideas, new possibilities and a wider berth to be creative. The watch industry can at times take itself too seriously and a full lume watch is a welcome addition. We all need to find ways to have some fun and bring out the child in ourselves.”


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Timepieces

Luminous watches are trending, from IWC to Panerai and A. Lange & Söhne

IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Ceralume. Photo: Handout

Bell & Ross BR-X3 Night Vision. Photo: Handout

Panerai Submersible GMT PAM01495. Photo: Handout

A. Lange & Söhne’s Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “Lumen”. Photo: Handout

A. Lange & Söhne debuted its new luminous timepiece at Watches and Wonders 2026. Photo: Handout

In the Skies is Split Watches’ first full-glow watch. Photo: Handout

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The Universal Genève Polerouter was originally designed by Gérald Genta. Photo: Handout

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Henry Cavill sports a vintage Longines Monopusher Chronograph at the Royal Ascot 2026. Photo: Handout

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MB&F HM12’s 1,500-component companion robot stand. Photo: Handout

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Piaget Polo 79 with sodalite dial. Photo: Handout

Rolex Oyster Perpetual 28. Photo: Handout

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Luminescence was a stand-out trend at this year’s Watches and Wonders – here’s how makers are using innovative materials to light up horology


Luminescence was a stand-out trend at this year’s Watches and Wonders – here’s how makers are using innovative materials to light up horology.


Luminous watches are trending, from IWC to Panerai and A. Lange & Söhne

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Luminescence was a stand-out trend at this year’s Watches and Wonders – here’s how makers are using innovative materials to light up horology

Luminescence was a stand-out trend at this year’s Watches and Wonders – here’s how makers are using innovative materials to light up horology