Traser H3 watches-Introduction

All traser H3 watches are top quality, Swiss made, extremely robust and in addition to that, equipped with mb-microtec trigalight, the very best such illumination technology available today. These timepieces are the easiest in the world to read in low light conditions and even in total darkness.

Thanks to it's research, the Swiss company mb-microtec has succeeded in manufacturing a self-activated light source that is 100 times brighter than any previously available. The light emitting devices, trigalight, require no battery power or any other form of external power supply, do not require the push of a button, never need servicing or maintenance and have a useful life of more than 20 years. These merits have made traser H3 watches an absolute must in the emergency,- safety,- and protection industries as well as in the Armed Forces of the United States of America where mb-microtec manufactured timepieces have been issued to the troops since 1991.

As with some other products originally built for army use, - the Swiss Army knife, the jeep or more recently the hummer vehicle come to mind, - demand for these watches increasingly originates in the civilian sector. Particularly among the ranks of today's sports and outdoor enthusiasts, awareness and appreciation for timepieces furnished with this technology is on the rise.

mb-microtec is located in Niederwangen just outside Berne, Switzerland. It became an independent company in 1968 when it was split of from its sister company. In the early seventies, mb-microtec developed the technology to produce light sources so small, they can be installed on the hands and dial of your wristwatch.These light sources called trigalight are independent of a battery or any other source of outside energy, never need recharging or servicing and do not require the push of a button. They are 100 times brighter than anything comparable and have a life span of more than 20 years. Self-illuminating light sources for EXIT signs in places like hotel corridors or on airplanes to lead people to safety in an emergency with a power failure, were some of the early and more traditional applications of this technology.

Decades of research in the field of radioluminescence preceded the development and
commercial use of trigalight in watches. trigalight are tiny glass vials hermetically sealed, coated on the inside with phosphorescent material and filled with minute amount of tritium gas. Electrons emitted from the gas excite the material to give off a permanent, cold light. Depending on the type of phosphorescent material used, trigalight can be made to give off light in different colours. Green is the preferred colour because the human eye perceives it to be the brightest. Orange is also available and only slightly less bright. Blue is an option as well, but primarily used in watches for divers because underwater, blue remains visible at up to 60m / 187 feet in depth, longer or deeper than any other colour. The serial production of trigalight requires precision technology. Individual trigalight for watches are laser cut and sealed airtight, so no gas ever escapes. After continuously improving the production process, mb-microtec today manufactures trigalight which measure only 0.5mm in diameter and as little as 1.2mm in length. Unmatched in either size (small) or quality (brightness and lifespan), mb-microtec’s trigalight are state of the art and without an equal in the marketplace.

trigalight - the science behind the technology
Mention radioactivity and the image of men in orange radiation protection suits holding
geiger counters may come to mind. However, many industries are making good use of radioactivity and are in the process, saving lives in the medical arena and / or manufacturing products containing trigalight, powered by the decay of tritium.

What is tritium?
Tritium is a heavy form (isotope) of hydrogen and for this reason behaves chemically
exactly like it. Pure tritium therefore, forms a gas, T2 (like hydrogen forms H2).
However, tritium is not stable but decays to the inert gas helium with a half life of
12.3 years. This means that after this time, half of any amount of tritium will have become helium. This transformation process is called a pure beta-decay. In this process, no gamma radiation occurs and only a low energy electron is emitted.

What are the risks of using trigalight in a traser H3 watch?
None. The low energy electrons of tritium cannot escape the glass body of a trigalight. Only the rupture of a trigalight would free the tritium gas and it would quickly disburse. A typical traser H3 watch contains anywhere from 15 to 20 trigalight for a total of no more than 25 millicuries. Now, let’s assume that in a closed, unventilated room all the trigalight of 40 such watches (also 1000 millicuries or 600 to 800 trigalightâ) would simultaneously burst open and release their tritium gas, the resulting exposure to a person in that room would still be only about 50% of the yearly, random background exposure that every living creature on earth is exposed to. This example, as unlikely as it may seem, serves well to illustrate the scientific facts about this technology and further demonstrates the safe nature of this product.

Comparing trigalight and LumiNova
If the luminous markings on a watch are reasonably sized and arranged, the readability
in the dark is primarily determined by their total light emitted. In order to assess the relative merits, the light intensity of two dials with identical markings, one with trigalight and another with LumiNova, were compared and measured.
The radio luminescent trigalight remains constant, while the purely phosphorescent
light of the LumiNova may initially be brighter but diminishes within minutes and becomes progressively less luminous.The conclusions are obvious:trigalight guarantees safe, unfailing and unlimited readability in darkness whereas LumiNova has a very limited capability