Thread: Radium dial?
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Old 16 February 2025, 09:48 AM   #12
baumare
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Real Name: mario
Location: NY-USA
Watch: Rolex 1675/8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tricolore66 View Post
I’m in the middle of a fascinating book called “Radium Girls”, about the development of radium and the young women who were employed by the dial manufacturers to paint them. Truly horrifying things happened to them, but it was mostly as a result of ingesting it while licking their paintbrushes. It has a 1,600 year half-life, so still very dangerous stuff today under the right conditions. In a sealed watch case I’m sure it’s not an issue, but I personally would not be around it if the case was opened or the watch being serviced. I’m sure at this point the paint on those dials would just disintegrate if touched today, and who knows what it could release in the air.
Yes interesting and sad book, they also made a movie about it.
I have few watches with radio and I bought a radiation detector, is nice to see the different reaction.
BTW I asked my watchmaker to change the plexy on my old 6605 and he didn’t feel comfortable…
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