The back would be shielded by a metal plate over the dial, a thick movement, an anti-magnetic iron insert, and finally the back cover of the watch. A military wristwatch with a new, safe paint on the hands and the original radium paint on the dial, would have a background radiation of 80-250 micronrentgen on the front. This means that the whole of the human body is only affected by 200 micronrentgen for 8 hours a day. Leaving hands unwashed after handling is also very dangerous.Īt the very least, it is obvious that such a watch should not be carried with you all the time.Īccording to current standards, it is recommended that a watch with a background radiation of 200 micronrentgen is worn for no more than the 40-hour work week. It is dangerous to inhale contaminated dust, and very dangerous to eat.
#RADIUM CLOCK FREE#
Alpha particles knock electrons out of atoms to form free radicals, which in turn disrupt the structure of healthy cells and change some of them into cancer cells. It has been proven that when radium salts enter the mouth or lungs, the alpha radiation causes cancer. How Dangerous are Radioactive Watches Really? However, I have not come across this type of radiation for many years, and have only seen radiation in the numerals and hands (type 1).Ĭonclusion: in 99% of cases, radioactive paint will only be found on the numerals and hands on the dial of the watch (type 1). Allegedly, a watch from a tank or plane will completely light up. The most interesting thing is that this type of radioactive contamination is the most frequently discussed and most feared. Much more radiation will contaminate the fabric of a watch strap that has been coated in radioactive dirt. If this is the case, one should disassemble the watch down to the screws, and wash the parts clean of radiation. Radiation cannot ‘soak’ through the metal parts of the watch, but it could be in the dirt and dust that is clogged in the cracks. This type of contamination has nothing to do with the design or origin of the watch, but is an induced state due to external contamination. It could be a watch, some dishes, a car, clothes, or really anything else. If the object has been doused or soaked in a liquid with long-lived isotopes, or been in a zone of powerful radiation, etc. General radioactive contamination of the case However, it is very rare to find a radium coated dial plate in watches, and it is more commonly found in other devices.ģ. With this type of contamination, the background radiation is usually strong due to the large mass of paint. This makes it easy to detect if the dial glows in the dark for a long time (more than 10 hours) without contact with external light. This type of radiation is the same as in type 1, except the entire dial plate is coated with a radium phosphor paint and printed over with black or metallic numerals for contrasting visibility. Radium existed in special instrument watches until the mid-1960’s. Radium was rarely used in civilian watches of the post-war period due to its high cost, but despite this such watches are still not uncommon. See an example of Laco-Durowe in the table below. For daily-use wristwatches less paint was usually used, but large chronometers with a large dial and numerals could emit radiation of up to 10,000 micron/h.
Radium was also used on watches with enamel dials, and it is these that usually shine the most.īy the 1930’s and 1940’s, the watch style had changed, but the standard of using luminous paint continued. See the table below for examples: Patria and Lancet. “Night-glowing watches” were widely advertised, and by the 1910’s wristwatches with paint-filled numerals became the standard for the military, and thus all the watches of the First World War had radium paint on the numerals and hands.
From 1905 onwards, this paint began to be used on a very wide array of objects – even Christmas decorations and children’s books were painted with radium. The first luminous radium-based paint was produced in 1902.
There are three main ways in which radiation is found in antique watches…ġ. Where Does the Radiation in the Watch Come From? I have thus accumulated a small photo archive, by the example of which certain conclusions can be drawn.Īdvertising article about the radium watch, 1917.
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The following will try to explain everything using specific examples, so that you can decide for yourself what is not dangerous, what is, and how to handle such objects.Ī lot of radioactive watches have passed through my hands, both in my collection and in repairs and restorations. The problem is in the lack of reliable evidence.
Some of them are really ridiculous, and in some cases perfectly safe watches will be lost for ever in a rubbish dump because of these assumptions. There are a lot of rumours and speculation concerning the radiation that can lie in wait for us in antique watches. Information Concerning Radiation in Antique Watches
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