(Women were specifically employed under the belief that their smaller hands and deft touch would allow for a better, more even application on small parts such as watch indices.) During this time, though the adverse effects of radioactive radium were beginning to be known to these companies’ executives, precautions weren’t taken to protect the workers, who were even instructed to lick their paint brushes to straighten the bristles. Beginning around the time of the First World War (1914-1918), watch and clock companies had employees apply luminous radium paint mixed with zinc sulfide to timepiece dials and hands. Radium was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898. But the watches of yesteryear? Those things are (cue Imagine Dragons) radioactive. Contemporary watches use completely safe forms of photoluminescence or electroluminescence. There are several types of lume, and it’s worth knowing about and understanding each type. And for good reason! What good is a watch dial that can’t be seen in the dark, after all? But tool watches such as divers, chronographs, pilot’s watches, etc? Those things are lumed. It might not - dress watches, for example, often lack some sort of luminescent material. The fields from painted numerals on clocks or a vintage wristwatch are attenuated too low to be a health hazard.Chances are high that the watch you’re currently wearing glows in the dark. Although one would have to either ingest, inhale or absorb it. What I’m trying to say, is YES, Alpha is dangerous. The tragic deaths of young women from cancers working in clock and watch factories early 20th century). (A great read is: “Radium Girls’ by Kate Moore. Although its a low field, once in position, will cause long term damage. Once inside the body, radium in this case, mimics calcium and gravitates to bone. Where Alpha is dangerous is if the path of uptake oral. (Neutron a fourth, but too specialized to deal with here). There’s three forms of radioactive emissions. Although my job duties seldom dealt with radioactivity. Therefore clocks produced after the 1970s had safer luminous material applied to the dials but modern alarm clocks are not nearly as attractive as antique clocks from the 1920s or so.Ĭlocks with luminous radium dials are certainly a danger to avoid and as far as I am concerned, not worth the risk. In the past several years radium dials have largely been replaced by phosphorescent – or occasionally tritium-based light sources. If working on a clock with a radium dial care should be taken to prevent the inhalation or ingestion of flakes or dust which may contain radioactive materials. Since radium has a half-life of hundreds of years even old radium dials are very hazardous. Antique “alarm” clock mechanism from around 1900 I understand the potential danger of radium and that is why I confine my collecting to alarm clocks with non-luminous dials only.Įven a clock that has lost its luminescence may still have traces of radium on its dial or particulate matter that has fallen from the clock face which makes them equally as dangerous. German musical alarm clock or JokerĪs a clock collector, I have a limited number of alarm clocks none of which have luminous dials. Westclox LaSalle non-luminous alarm clockĪs a matter of fact, it reminded me of the number of times I have been in antique and junk stores and have seen clocks with luminous dials and the danger I might have faced during a brief exposure, say within a meter or so and the more serious danger of being irradiated had I purchased and serviced them. I assured her that I know of no maker of mantel, shelf, or long case clocks that used radium on their dials but had there been alarm clocks, wristwatches, and even antique compasses on display her concerns would have been justified. She was concerned that a number of clocks offered for sale at a local antique store had radium dials. I received an email from a blog fan this week who posed an interesting question.
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