The Luminox Watch Company is an American success story. It began in 1989 when the founder, Barry Cohen, who was already in the watch business, discovered a need and filled it. As has been said many times, “necessity is the mother of invention” and the Luminox story is a classic example. When the founder heard of a unique Swiss self-powered illumination system, he reasoned that this would be a very helpful addition to the watch business, making watches more visible and easier to read in low or no light situations. This seemed quite logical since one of life’s realities is degeneration of eyesight as one ages, and finding methods to see anything better (in this case—time) made sense. He contacted the owner of the illumination company, and acquired the rights to use the technology in a new brand of watches employing this unique illumination system, now called LLT (Luminox Light Technology), and a watch brand was born. The rest, as they say—is history. Today, Luminox can be found in more than 30 nations with more being added regularly.
The line began with one very basic model and grew to include many more models over time. Noticing a trend toward watches aimed at the active sports market, Luminox created a dive model in 1993. This was the first time luck played a significant part in our development. A U.S. Navy SEAL procurement officer contacted Luminox and explained their need for this luminous technology for use on night missions and asked to have the new dive watch re-engineered to meet their rigorous specifications. After many months of redesigning, the revamped dive watch was offered to the SEAL teams in early 1994, and Luminox went out to the world to offer this same watch to consumers as the Original Navy SEAL dive watch. It became an instant success. With the enhanced readability having been requested by and supplied to U.S. Navy SEALs, consumers correctly reasoned that if it was good enough for one of the world’s most elite military forces, it surely was good enough for their recreational uses. From there, Luminox expanded the collection to include a variety of dial colors, as well as improved and upgraded versions of the Original Navy SEAL dive series, and ultimately an entire line of watches of many types and styles created for the active consumer, the sportsman, law enforcement and, of course, military groups.
More good fortune played a part in the continued development of the Luminox brand when Luminox was contacted by a U.S. Air Force officer at Edwards Air Force Base expressing his appreciation for Luminox watches. He spoke of pilots flying the F-117 Nighthawk Stealth jets, how they were using the Luminox Navy SEAL watches to time bombing runs, and how much the guys loved the watches. Next came a request that watches be made specifically for them—for Air Force personnel. Honored by his request, Luminox began work on these watches immediately. And thus, the first aviation inspired collection was born. This resulted in the beginning of 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. This year, Luminox will release new evolutionary versions of the F-117 Nighthawk series, the F-16 Fighting Falcon series, and the SR-71 Blackbird series. In addition, Luminox will launch a brand new series tied to the F-22 Raptor Stealth jet and the new Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35 Lightening II.
The Luminox line continues to flourish as the company has grown. In 2006, new partners Ronnie and Andre Bernheim joined the founder, bringing their considerable expertise in the Swiss watch industry to the company. 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 launching this year 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). These programs serve to further enhance the reputation of Luminox as the “real deal” in watches made for elite military, law enforcement, and government organizations. This credibility enhancement plays an important role in outfitting “Local Heroes” of everyday life.
Starting from nothing and arriving today at the point where Luminox is distributed and available in more than 30 nations around the world, Luminox is an American brand employing a Swiss illumination technology in a Swiss made watch. Luminox is very enthusiastic about the future of the brand as it enjoys the great benefits of a new partnership that will shepherd the brand into the future. Indeed the future looks very bright for Luminox! Enjoy this year’s collection as you peruse our catalog, and stay tuned for many exciting new models still to come this year and beyond.
