Vintage watches and Radium
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Todd
I’m interested in vintage watches right now and trying to learn basic watch servicing. Need more time.
Phoenix
Member since
Last active: 17 min ago
Think of it like a highly poisonous material, rather than like a magic invisible curse. It's safe to wear on the outside of the skin, but any tiny amount flaking off and ending up inside your body is bad news. As an amateur watch modder this is one that I would refuse to open up at home.
Don't eat it. More of an issue for those who made it.
Quite a controversial topic.
Avoid ingesting or inhaling radium dust at all costs. For me that means never opening the back of a watch with radium lume.
Make sure that children cannot possibly get their hands on it. If they break the crystal and ingest the radium that would be even more dangerous for them than for an adult
There is also the issue of the build up of radon gas which is generated by radium decay. Radon can build up if watches are stored in poorly ventilated areas.
I found this page useful in understanding the risk associated with radium lume of various vintages:
https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/luminous.php
Don't eat it.
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/radium-girls-radioactive-paint/index.html
Not licking dials or hands is always solid advice. More so in this circumstance. If it's not for daily wear the risk is probably minimal.
Only when you inhale the radium dust or “eat” it. Otherwise it’s ok to wear it.
From my limited knowledge it isn’t a big deal, as long as you don’t open the watch. Still, I personally wouldn’t wear it too often if you’re planning on doing so.
It's most likely inert after so many decades, I'm sure it's safe to eat or lick now
No ingestion, no problem.
It's most likely inert after so many decades, I'm sure it's safe to eat or lick now
Radium lume contains radium-226, which has a half-life of 1600 years. So it is pretty much as potent now as few decaded ago. And in even 1600 years it still has half the amount left.
And the immediate decay product is radon-222 which is rather nasty radioactive gas. The whole decay chain is actually an interesting read in wikipedia 🤓
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium