Lume, plots and filled markers

Lume lets parts of the display remain visible after the lights go out. Modern photoluminescent material absorbs light before giving an afterglow; it is not a continuously powered lamp. Panerai describes this light-absorbing behaviour for Super-LumiNova. Panerai on luminosity. Daytime pigment, glowing colour, application area and physical construction all contribute to the result.

Colour is not a performance grade

Oris describes C3 as slightly greenish by day with green afterglow, and BGW9 as white by day with a bluish afterglow. Those labels should not be mistaken for a complete brightness specification. RC Tritec separately distinguishes performance grades and reports results under stated measurement conditions. Oris on C3 and BGW9, RC Tritec's grade explanation.

Vintage-coloured modern lume is also not evidence of old radioactive paint. RC Tritec describes a non-radioactive pigment whose daytime colour deliberately evokes aged material. The warm appearance and the underlying chemistry are separate facts. RC Tritec on its vintage pigment.

Plots, fills and actual layers

Plots are discrete luminous spots. Lume can also occupy a hand opening or a marker's visible interior. A true sandwich dial is different: Panerai describes a perforated upper plate above a lower plate carrying the luminous substance. Merely colouring a numeral to glow does not create that layered construction. Panerai's sandwich-dial specification.

In the atelier

Choose None, Green C3, Blue BGW9 or Vintage under Lume. With lume enabled, Individual hands & seconds offers Plots and Filled markers. The latter fills applicable numerals or marker interiors visually; it does not cut holes through the dial. Saved builds retain the legacy internal value “sandwich” for compatibility, but that value is not a manufacturing claim.

The Lume preview switches to simulated emission. It does not measure charging time, fading, pigment grade, application thickness or certified night readability. Judge the arrangement of glowing shapes, not how many real hours the watch would remain legible.

These luminous-paint choices belong to analog hands and markers. Digital LCD Light is temporary screen illumination; Retro LED uses on-demand emitting segments. Neither is another pigment grade, and the scene's Night setting does not automatically activate either one. Compare digital displays and illumination for their separate controls and limitations.