Tritium Divers - Isobrite T100 compared to Tawatec T25

[Precise]

I wear a lume or tritium watch to bed and prefer light weight, titanium or plastic. These two divers are plastic.

I've had the Tawatec E.O. Diver T25 for about a year and love it. Specs are:
46x12x33mm 47 grams on Maratac Zulu. (33mm is dial diameter)

The Isobrite T100 is my newest acquisition. Despite finding T25 more than adequate, I had a curiosity about T100. I was drawn like a moth to the flame. Specs are: 47x14.2x33mm 60 grams on Maratac Zulu.
(The two bezel tritium capsules and the second-hand capsule are T25)

Both watches had crummy bezel ratchets which I easily fixed by prying off the bezel and snipping the square lugs off the plastic ratchet. They are still unidirectional but now move easily and smoothly. I also rounded the sharp corners on the strap lugs. Despite being plastic, they scratched my wrist.

For the first comparison I went into a closet after being in sunlight for a few minutes. I could immediately read the T100 but not the T25. Even after 5 minutes of dark adaption I still couldn't tell the time on the T25. (I can immediately read an ordinary lume dial when going from bright light to darkness because the initial brightness of a charged lume dial is stronger than tritium).

Next I noticed that in partial light the T100 lume showed nicely while the T25 lume was almost invisible. That alone made the T100 appealing.

I was worried that when I wore it to bed it would seem blinding to my dark adapted eyes. An Amazon reviewer wrote, "You will wake up at 3:00 AM and scare the hell out of yourself!" But this wasn't my experience. It was bright, but not unpleasantly so.

So it's a keeper, though I think the Tawatec is prettier and I like its thinner profile.



This is how they look in partial light:



This is how they look in darkness when I'm only slightly dark adapted:



This how they look when I'm fully dark adapted:

[tacticalpen]

Good review, I've had my ISOBrite for about a month now and love it. Still can't believe how much clearer and brighter the T100 is over the T25.

I also really dig the sapphire crystal.

[Precise]

Good review, I've had my ISOBrite for about a month now and love it. Still can't believe how much clearer and brighter the T100 is over the T25.

I also really dig the sapphire crystal.

The Tawatec is also sapphire.

Alan

[Tom Carey]

What did you use to pry the bezel off and where did you pry on it at? How hard is it to re install?

[Precise]

What did you use to pry the bezel off and where did you pry on it at? How hard is it to re install?

I used a knife. I first put tape on the case adjacent to the bezel. You can pry it anywhere, but I pried at about 1:00 o'clock on the case because I thought if I dinged the case that spot would be least noticeable when on my wrist.

After it came partly up, I put some tape at 11 o'clock and pried it the rest of the way off.

It easily pressed back on with my fingers.

Alan

[solar g-shocker]

Can you get the T100 in blue? That'd be tops for me

Neil

[Heilong]

Can you get the T100 in blue? That'd be tops for me

Neil

Deep Blue has them, although availablility varies. Here's a shot from their web site comparing T100 to T25

[Worker]

Very cool that you posted this quick comparison....thanks!

[ctujack]

The Isobrite is nice enough, but I doubt if the watch has anything like the maximum allowed tritium on that dial, the tubes look too small, when compared with a Deepblue or Ball Aviator.

[Precise]

The Isobrite is nice enough, but I doubt if the watch has anything like the maximum allowed tritium on that dial, the tubes look too small, when compared with a Deepblue or Ball Aviator.

When contemplating a T100 purchase, I thought the Android T100 diver was very handsome and available for only $250. But it also looked heavy so I went with the uglier, and more expensive, Isobrite because it was plastic.

I find heavy watches uncomfortable after a few hours.

Alan