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From radium-activated zinc sulphide to Swiss Super-LumiNova®

The production of luminous pigments for the watch industry has a long tradition in Switzerland. From the use of radium to today's benchmark for top quality: Swiss Super-LumiNova®Grade X2, free of any radioactivity. 

The development went and continues to go in great strides. Today, all exclusive Swiss watch brands use our Swiss Super-LumiNova® pigments, which are 100% manufactured in our family-run company based in Switzerland.

Altes Instrument aus der Fliegerei

Until the early 1960s, there were solutions based on radium zinc sulphide to get a long afterglow effect. This was used in a series of watches and instruments, such as those used in the aviation sector.

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When the risks of handling with radium were realised, we had already started to develop a new, self-activating phosphor. The highly radioactive radium was replaced by the weak β-emitter tritium. Due to the greatly reduced radiotoxicity and the shielding of all radiation by the watch case, tritium-activated luminous pigments seemed to be the perfect solution.

Tiegel aus dem Ofen klein quadratisch

We are not only very proud of the afterglow performance of our phosphorescent pigments, but also of the whole production process: Our Swiss Super-LumiNova® pigments does not only glow in green, they are also produced by using exclusively green solar energy from the roofs of our companies buildings.

We place value for future generations so they can also enjoy the green afterglow in the dark.