In 1994 the Luminox watch company became the best-known sports watch brand when they launched their specially designed Navy SEAL dive watch, which was created to the specific requirements of the branches of military needing the most accurate and dependable watch to use on their night missions; US Navy’s Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) teams. This red-letter day brought notoriety to the new company, providing the enhanced credibility needed to compete against the many brands that already dominated the market. With the Original Navy SEAL dive watch, Luminox offered the public an affordable wristwatch designed to withstand the rigors of sports and to provide the best illumination technology available for easy readability in any conditions.
Luminox had been producing watches since 1989 as the Richard Barry Marketing Group (RBMG) using a new technology harnessing the best qualities of tritium without the dangerous levels of radiation associated with traditional tritium phosphorescent paint. With the company name change to Luminox, meaning “light night” in Latin, production of their specially-illuminated plastic dive watches hit the big-time as hundreds of thousands of the original model flew off the shelves. With such a best seller, the company was assured of the wide range of interest needed to support additional models and an all steel series and an all titanium series was created, both of which are extremely well received by the public to this day.
The year 1999 brought another big step for Luminox when the US Air Force requested a specially designed watch for their pilots flying night bombing missions. They’d been wearing the SEAL dive watch for its fine qualities, but, because of “friendly rivalry” between forces, they preferred to have a watch all their own. With this new contract, Luminox provided the first aviation inspired collection and went on to create a relationship with the maker of the F-117 Nighthawk Stealth jet, Lockheed Martin©, the largest defense contractor in the world. Since then, an entire array of aviation inspired watches has been created that tie to specific Lockheed Martin properties. The newest releases from Luminox include evolutionary versions of the F-117 Nighthawk series, the F-16 Fighting Falcon series, and the SR-71 Blackbird series. In addition, Luminox has launched a brand new series tied to the F-22 Raptor Stealth jet and the new Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35 Lightning II.
Today, Luminox makes watches tied to military groups, military styled field watches, general wear timepieces, and chronographs. Many of these models are now benefitting from evolutionary versions signaling a great “new beginning” for the brand. Luminox receives requests regularly from specific groups seeking a watch bearing their identity (logo and/or group name). With such ongoing success, Luminox watches are available in many styles within 30 countries around the world. These timepieces often have model names that refer to the military connection, eg Night Ops, Dress Field and ST71 Blackbird.
Ming Cheung is the co-founder of LuminoxWatchDealer.com, an authorized
Luminox watch dealer. Shop an extensive collection of
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Luminox Navy SEAL dive watches and Luminox accessories.
