Hodinkee
Dispatch: Diving With Force Blue And Luminox For Reef Restoration In Miami
Luminox is honoring its partnership with Force Blue by releasing a new Pacific Diver reference designed around the pair's shared mission to protect and rehabilitate the world's oceans. Luminox has a long history of working with branches of the US Military since their founding in 1989, but their relationship with Force Blue is a bit different. To better understand their mission and get a first look at a new watch built around the partnership, I hopped on a plane down to Miami with fins and mask in hand, ready to dive with the team. Many brands claim working relationships with military outfits, each with varying degrees of formality. Whether it's a licensed relationship to use military trademarks, or even individual service members using their personal watches, the link between a brand and the act of service can be difficult to judge at a glance. For Luminox, that connection was baked in from the get-go. In 1992, founder Barry Cohen worked with Assistant Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E;) Officer Nick North to develop a watch specifically for the Navy SEALs using their tritium tube-based Luminox Light Technology (LLT). The Navy SEAL watch was the first stone in what would become a broad foundation of work with special forces and law enforcement groups worldwide. It's a foundation that Mondain would continue to lean on after acquiring a stake in the brand in 2006 and full ownership in 2016. Today, Luminox maintains a licensing relationship with the US Navy SEA...
