# Old watch dials.



## Bob66 (Jan 10, 2011)

Hi.

I was given a selection of old watch parts and tools

Amongst the parts were some dials that caught my eye.

Are they Military?

The lume is flaking on some of them,please tell me they're not radioactive( I've not licked my fingers since i touched them) 

Thanks.


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

Providing the dials are in original condition and have not been restored or redone in some manner, they are most likely radium dials. The radium used on watches has a half-life of approximately 1600 years. Radium was in common use until the end of the 1950s. The dials with the pheons will be military and the two without are possibly military as well.

Later,
William


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

WW has it about right, as to licking your fingers, only after BBQ spare ribs is it recommended anyways :yes:

Biggest risk with these is ingesting any of the lume materials, but again, the amount on all six dials added together is not large, a bit of due care and diligence will be sufficient, although disposal if you decide to get rid of them could be a small problem, - - phoning the local Council Refuse/Garbage Depot could have a full HazMat team turning up :whistling:

Only a proper survey with a good Counter ( Geiger) will tell you how hazardous they actually are in reality - - - if it really bothers you, try your local Science type University perhaps?


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## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

radium dials - ww 2 type; THE DANGER was in the painting them,. (killed many civilian factory workers). the current danger is slight. the amount of radioactive material is small many jewlers would replace the hands on a watch, rather than scraping, repainting (white). disposing is the problem. just be aware and carefull the gieger counter will react to very very small amounts of this material.


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

vinn said:


> radium dials - ww 2 type; THE DANGER was in the painting them,. (killed many civilian factory workers).


No, this took place towards the end of the First World War and into the 1920s.

Later,
William


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## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

no, before the first - see us army signal corps air craft pannel clocks - but it dosent matter. the dial painters that licked the paint brush -- more often --are just as dead - later vinn


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

vinn said:


> no, before the first - see us army signal corps air craft pannel clocks - but it dosent matter. the dial painters that licked the paint brush -- more often --are just as dead - later vinn


Do you mean U.S. Radium Corporation and Undark?

Later,
William


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2015)

i would guess it happened in most "modern" counties making clocks dials watches etc


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## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

no william, i dont know what that is, i do have a couple ww2 aircraft clocks -and a geiger counter. later vinn


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

Bruce said:


> i would guess it happened in most "modern" counties making clocks dials watches etc


In the case of the U.S., Undark was fully aware of the dangers of the materials but choose to treat the young women it employed as a disposable resource. Ultimately, this callous action served to help the cause of workers rights in the U.S.

It is wise to remember that the safe exposure limit for radiation is no exposure at all. Exposure is cumulative and in small doses there is no means of predicting when or if it will cause cancer. An equal cumulative exposure level in one person may cause a tumor but another person can live a full life without issues. Governments set guidelines, but these guidelines are influenced by the need for nuclear materials for energy, technology and medicine.

Later,
William


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2015)

William_Wilson said:


> Bruce said:
> 
> 
> > i would guess it happened in most "modern" counties making clocks dials watches etc
> ...


scary stuff William, but guess if a woman left the job she at least would get a "glowing" reference


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## Paul Audemars (Oct 31, 2013)

In the 1950s I ran errands for my father during school holidays. One was taking watch dials to Mr Waters in Clerkenwell to have them painted/stencilled - including the luminous paint.

His "workshop" was up four or five flights of stairs of a decrepit Victorian building and I could smell the chemicals by the time I was halfway up.

He licked the points of his brushes - and died _very_ badly.

Paul

www.audemars.co.uk

PS - for what it is worth, I recently had the dial on one of my father's products restored - the dial restorers still have the "Audemars" stencils, inherited from Mr Waters. They are very good at their job; I have used them several times. I'm not sure about forum rules so I won't give their name here.


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2015)

Paul Audemars said:


> In the 1950s I ran errands for my father during school holidays. One was taking watch dials to Mr Waters in Clerkenwell to have them painted/stencilled - including the luminous paint.
> 
> His "workshop" was up four or five flights of stairs of a decrepit Victorian building and I could smell the chemicals by the time I was halfway up.
> 
> ...


have you ever thought of putting your memories in a book, i would buy it !


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## Paul Audemars (Oct 31, 2013)

Bruce wrote: "have you ever thought of putting your memories in a book, i would buy it !"

Thank you, but it would be a very short book as my watchmaking memories only extend at the latest to the mid sixties when my father died and the English business was liquidated.

And in any case I wasn't involved in the business as my father - predictng the rise of electronics - discouraged me from learning about watches (what a mistake that was!).

So instead I started working for Clarks shoes in 1957.

There is a book about the Audemars company/ies (actually a couple of them) - but I hesitate to get too commercial on this forum!

P

www.audemars.co.uk


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## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

right you are gentlemen. radium dials are to be avoided -- the people who do this work wear air fed hoods, rubber gloves and special clothing. i lost an aunt in 1942 from painting dials. pay someone else to dispose of those dials. tritium is used by military now -- i suspect its also radioactive. ill look it up later vinn


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

vinn said:


> right you are gentlemen. radium dials are to be avoided -- the people who do this work wear air fed hoods, rubber gloves and special clothing. i lost an aunt in 1942 from painting dials. pay someone else to dispose of those dials. tritium is used by military now -- i suspect its also radioactive. ill look it up later vinn


Tritium is far less radioactive than radium, and only has a half-life of 12.6 years. Though, I suspect it would be wise to not make a point of inhaling the dust or licking the residue off of the dials. :wink:

Later,
William


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## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

tritium - i looked it up. it emits alpha radiation which is practicaly harmless. you are right again william. good show


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## Bob66 (Jan 10, 2011)

Thanks for all the usefull,but worrying info.

Should i really think about getting rid of the dials or is it okay to use them?


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## Paul Audemars (Oct 31, 2013)

Personally I would look for a (legal) way to unload them as soon as possible.

P


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## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

ask a working watchmaker what he would do


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