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Of course it is still up to the individual to decide but, I usually reply not to "Lick" the dial. From the many times I've seen this question asked the general replies are there is more radioactivity surrounding you each day than there is on the typical dial. So don't be concerned. Even on of biggest horological foes with whom I had many intellectual dialogues with ( a nice way to say we butted heads) actually agreed with me on this one! So I offer you what I have to others. "You get in a Timex 600 ft diver and I'll gladly hold on to it for you until the half life of the radium has halved!" Just some northern New Jersey humor there! "What you got a problem with that?" see I did it again.

I'm no expert in this matter but I think with the quantities involved, the risk should be minimal. As long as common sense is used. Don't flick the old lume off and create a radium cloud. I put a drop to glycerine on the hands to entrap all the particles that may fly off. Work on a clean table top with no clutter. Spread old newspaper if you are really worried. The question is how do you dispose of the rubbish after that? Do you call your local radioactive waste contractor? Do you dump it in your general rubbish? Shhhh.... ?

I've got a few I'm thinking about tinkering around with and I was wondering what my risk of exposure to radium would be.

Hi. Do these late sixties Timex Skindiver watches have radium on their dials? Thanks in advance and take care all

Neat idea. I may borrow some cues from that design. The Canon Powershot A2200 I used runs CHDK, so I can get RAW images form it, and RawTherapee will do the lens correction. It has built in Canon Powershot lens profiles or you can define your own, and it can convert negatives to positives including acceptable orange colour mask removal with different masks predefined, or using the unexposed area round the negative. It also batch processes, so the work flow is actually quite simple. feed the negatives through my widget on top of the lightbox. Click away. Post process in RawTherapee, then do any final tinkering in Gimp or DarkTable. I thought trichloroethylene had completely fallen out of favour. In the past I have used it for PCB cleaning amongst other things, and yes, it is pretty aggressive and somewhat hazardous. Don't drink it while chewing on your radium lumed hands and you should be just fine.

unfortunately that's the problem with a lot of things we don't always have a clear understanding of what causes certain things one the smoking gun isn't enough to show cause for why somebody got cancer or not. It was also my compromise of avoiding seeing radiation was bad while giving helpful links. But probably is a wild guess wearing a wristwatch with radiation on your wrist probably isn't that bad overall. But those pocket watches in your pockets not the best place to have radiation. Then for all the people that play with the radioactive material insist on cleaning it off. Or re-looming those hands especially a few of the old kits.I actually have a kit that is labeled radio and yes it is radioactive I was surprised I even have what's a much newer for putting stuff on hands. The slightly previous generation of hands stuff was wax with the loom in the wax you'd heated up and did flow into the hand. Before the modern stuff with the super powders that are not radioactive they mix up with some kind of our initial act or something. So the previous wax stuff I thought was all new enough but one of my kits of wax is also radioactive. Probably the rule should be don't go out of your way to molest the radium hands and dial and you probably will be okay.

you don't have to have ancient watches to have radium. I was looking at a hand assortments these are brand-new hands on pieces of paper so each of the hands are Nice and separate notice that some of the hands which I assume have radium have actually darkened the paper behind them. But the brand-new hands that obviously have been around for a while. the best approach would be to not clean up your radium. Think of radium as a sleeping Tiger it would be best to keep it sleeping. If you start to clean it usually require chemicals solutions rubber gloves you going to end up with a lot of radium spread all over the place and it's still radium. It'd be just best if you left it alone. I guess a better question would be not so much for watchmakers handling units because there is a conceivability when putting the hand on having her face so close maybe you breathe in a particle. But what about the consumer? Are there any documented cases of someone wearing a wristwatch and getting cancer? Think of all the years we had watches with radium hands that are still out there with radium how many cases of cancer? Or I was trying to think what would give us the best exposure to radium to try the experiment not really? Dollar watches especially those with glow-in-the-dark hands that would probably be the most radioactive thing you would have because the hands of the physically be bigger lots a radium and you're probably carrying it in your pockets. So how many cases of cancer from that is there anything documented at all? maybe ignorance is good if you don't know their radioactive then you don't have anything to worry about. But if you'd like to worry I have some a link.. if you look at the link the watch on the left isn't that a pocket watch with a really big hands? But maybe we got an answer from the link? Notice they're not concerned about you carrying the pocketwatch in your pockets that are not concerned about wearing it on the wrist there only concerned about the other effect of having radium or specifically exposure to radon https://www.kingston.ac.uk/news/article/2068/15-jun-2018--second-world-warera-wristwatches-could-pose-cancer-risk-due-to-radon-exposure-according-to/ this link is interesting in that a point out the evils of radioactive materials especially those people who look their paintbrushes but you get to the bottom of the page and? As long as you leave your radium stuff alone and don't poke at it or don't try to clean it up yourself your fine. So they don't seem to be upset about wearing a radium watch in an article where they're concerned about radioactive stuff. I guess if you're really worried about your radioactive hands put them somewhere safe otherwise don't worry about it but definitely do not try to clean it up yourself maybe can find a modern replacement https://www.epa.gov/radtown/radioactivity-antiques

Yes as in working in a factory for many years or using it as make-up as the poor "radium girls" did. Worried buyers like periodically show up having absorbed already a detectable amount of paranoia. There is no way one can get sick/affected/slightly glowed by handling an old set of hands. If you don't believe that search medical journals on the matter - radium is a carcinogen but quantity and length of exposure do matter.

I went on an ill-advised shopping spree on eBay last year because i was very interested in some early 1900s watches. And only after they arrived did I find out about radium. I bought a Geiger counted and found most of what I bought to be quite reactive. I thought the concern with working with radium was accidental inhalation of radium particles into the lungs? Is that something I don't need to worry about as much? Any thoughts about how to "clean" off the radium safely -- I assume outside? I've left all that material sealed up in a metal container facing a lead block since I took those readings...

It's definitely nice when they mark it, takes the guess work out of it. I haven't seen it very often but it is out there. After radium was phased out Promethium was also used for a short time. I haven't seen one of these dials in person but those were marked with a "P" or "PR". Huh, that is interesting. I haven't paid much attention to newer watches, but that's nice they're doing in.

I agree that it is likely tritium. And as far as the color you are right, radium does tend to be fairly dark, even black at this point on some watches that I've seen. Also the lack of radium burn on a light dial points me in the direction of tritium. As for markings for radium, some dials do have an "RA" marking on each side of the "SWISS MADE" just as it would "T" for tritium.

I'd bet it's Tritium. Radium had no markings that I've ever seen. And Radium tends to be much darker at this point. Geiger counter will tell you for sure, but I wouldn't hesitate to work on it personally. Most of my watches and projects are Tritium. EDIT_ hands look to have been re-lumed at some point. Do they still glow?

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is well! So its time to move on to another project and this Lucerne Sport Chronograph has caught my eye. When it comes to older watches I tend to be a little hesitant when it comes to lume. I know if you're careful and respect it, radium shouldn't be an issue but I've decided just to leave them alone. In regards to this watch I do see a "T" to the left of "SWISS", so this to me means Tritium, but there is no T on the other side of "MADE". Also the color seems a bit off to me for tritium but that I guess could change from one manufacturer to another. I think the one "T" should be enough for me but I thought I would touch base and see if anyone would know for sure what the lume material is on these watches. Thanks!

I couldn't find anyone who would remove radium. I had to do it myself (after a lot of research).

Hi. I'm trying to find someone qualified to do a dial restoration on a 1940's Benrus Sky Chief, radium removal and all. Is there anyone out there who does this work and does it well?

Paranoia often prevails especially when every reader feels obliged to step in and save a collector's life. In the long term, continuos exposition or ingestion of radium cause cancer, but casual handling of a dial or hands do not. It took 1,400 drinks of Radium for the poor guy to get sick and die, possibly he may have died after 140, but you get the idea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eben_Byers

No need for a measurement. I just wanted to warn you to be careful. There may very well be radium on them, and old lume very often crumbles to dust. it obviously makes sense to take precautions, without getting paranoid about it. If you search on here it has been discussed thoroughly a few times.

Hi Klassiker, Interesting question. Thanks for the tip. I believe there should be some equipment around that can do the job of a Geiger counter. I will have to ask. Do you think I should take a measurement? I assume there is Radium in there... Gabe

Nothing very fancy, but something I thought was interesting, being also fascinated with antique automobiles. A while back, I was privileged to work on a friend's Westclox car clock that he'd kept from his father-in-law's 1927 or '28 Ford Model A. It was an optional accessory designed to be mounted wherever in the car that the purchaser desired. You drill the holes yourself. It runs for maybe 12 hours tops, so you need to wind it before you go. The movement is a pretty basic pin lever and going barrel. When I opened it to clean it, I was hit with the unmistakable smell of vintage Lucky Strikes. My friend confirmed that his father-in-law had indeed been quite the smoker. He himself did not partake. As long as I live I will always know the smell of Luckys. My grandfather chain-smoked them until he died of emphysema at 63. This poor little clock had the yellowish-brown grime of ages of smoke all throughout the movement. So much cleaning. Black tar in little corners and crevices. I also wore gloves and mask because the dial had radium. Gad, and the smell dredged up old memories of my grandfather, who also once owned a Model A. No idea if it had such a clock. He was a good man, and a good photographer. Tobacco addiction was less than kind to him. The clock, though, pulled through clean and largely unharmed. It runs strong. The smell is gone, but some memories remain, good ones that I'd almost forgotten, in my effort to forget how my grandpa's house always reeked of Luckys.

Tritium is safe, especially that old. Radium, even if not glowing anymore, is not safe, and you should be careful. A friend of mine did a watch where the radium paint shattered out of the hands when he took them off; he got a Geiger counter a few weeks later and it was still getting readings on his his bench.

If you do open it be aware that as the watch was manufactured in the 1940's (apparently for the Canadian market) the lume WILL BE RADIUM, so take the appropriate care....................

If anyone is curious, there's a great thread on the NAWCC forum on this subject of heat-bluing hands. Marty, who sells NOS blued hands as well as hands he has recovered and blued, has shared a lot of tips with me. He's friendly, approachable, and has freely shared some great information. After doing more research, I've concluded that it's darn near impossible to find inexpensive steel hands in wrist watch sizes that would be suitable for heat-bluing. Esslinger tells me that all of their Swiss-manufactured hands are treated brass, not steel. I think one either needs to buy a laser cutter, cut hands out of a thin sheet of high-carbon steel, and then manually solder or otherwise connect a small brass tube of the correct diameter (as described in this excellent blog post from Anordain Watches in Scotland), or work with Ickler.de or a Chinese factory to have a small run of hands produced to one's specifications. Neither approach is reasonable for a mere hobbyist. The best approach that I can see is finding pocket watch hands that are either the correct height and diameter, or that can be modified to be the correct height and diameter. I'm researching this further. I have a mishmash of 100 pocket want hands coming from eBay, and will be sizing them with a Bergeon gauge and a micrometer in the hope that I can get a couple of sets of matching hands. If anyone is curious, here's where I am on my hand bluing progress: 1) I've built a really ugly brass heating tray. It's too ugly to share publicly, as I built it out of brass sheet that was far too thick to be shaped easily. As someone who is entirely self-taught, having no relatives interested in metalworking and having taken no shop classes in school, basic metalwork is a challenge. I'm in the process of making my second attempt at a heating tray using far thinner brass (0.025" thick instead of 0.125" thick). 2) I've got several ounces of brass scarf, both propane and butane torches, and an infrared thermometer that should hopefully get me in the ballpark. 3) As previously mentioned, I have an assortment of 100 steel pocket watch hands en route from eBay to start to practice with. 4) Once I get the hands, I'll be disposing of any radium hands I receive and starting to strip and polish good candidates for heat-bluing. I'll share my progress photos, etc.

While is true that Radium is an hazardous tolerance, this routine warning given every-time that an old watch is mentioned is greatly exaggerated. The danger becomes real manly when the substance is ingested, or inhaled, and for prolonged time. Occasional manipulation of watches do not present danger whatsoever. Otherwise all of the old watchmakers and dial / hand manufacturers would be dead or fell sick back in the 60's already, fortunately is not so. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium#Hazards

Some useful information on the use of radium in flight instruments HERE.....

A quick search on ebay, and you should be able to find scrap watches and dials for pennies. Look for anything from the 1900 to the 1930s with lume, and you will most likely have radium unless it says safety lume or some such on the dial, in which case it is probably zinc sulphide based. This kind of lume is ubiquitous at that time.