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It is indeed Tritium, which is radioactive but only very slightly, so unless you lick the dial or inhale the lume you'll be fine! It's no where near as dangerous as Radium used on very early dials.

Having looked elsewhere, as I guess the original poster probably has already, it certainly seems as if "Swiss RA" does suggest Radium. It may have been re-lumed with Tritium later though, so still worth checking.

I have never seen this to be the case as the sulfide mix (or whichever substrate is used for the Radium to excite) usually deteriorates to the point where the watch no longer glows at all, despite still being radioactive.

tridium is rather new. radium on dials goes back many years. my counter was sold as military surplus. my german aircraft clock, from 1040 will set off the alarm. so, even though it does not glow in the dark it's still hot. vinn

Just put it in the drawer for 2 days and get it out in the dark. If still bright, then it has some radioactive compound. If its brightness fades in the dark quickly then it is zinc-sulfide based, if still readable after one day in the dark, then it is amybe strontium-aluminate based. Ra on the dial however is indicating Radium. It is fading to 50% in about 1600 years, so it should be as bright as it was 50 years ago. By the way, one super compressor is my dream. I am jealous

If anyone is not familiar with the "Radium Girls", it's an interesting, tragic story...

Troubling! Radium decays into radon and has a half-life of 1600 years.... JC

I also found this yesterday. Radium anyone? Don't lick your paintbrush!

I personally wouldn't lose any sleep over owning or wearing your watch. I would be very careful if I decided to re-lume the hands. Have a read through some of these threads and make up your own mind. http://www.watchrepairtalk.com/search/?type=all&q=Radium

Hello all, I recently services a 1948 Glycine Bienne and it is in mint condition. It is running beautifully and it has zero beat error and is running +2 sec per day. I want to keep it, but I am concerned about the Radium. Mayne I am being paranoid, but does anyone have any thoughts on this? Should I sell it? Any advice or experience with this would be greatly appreciated. dman2112

Today I wrapped up work on a Thoresen Recipro-Register Chronograph. Sounds like an exciting piece doesn't it? The Thoresen Recipro-Register is a Landeron 48 calibre chronograph. The one I'm servicing here was sold in about 1953. The watches were acquired back in the day via mail order for a bargain price of $29.95 USD. This is another "everyman" chronograph much like the Chronograph Suisse of the same period. I picked this one up from the Goodwill for a fair price as as it kept poor time and had a broken Speidel bracelet. This is quite a small watch compared to the chronographs of today. Diameter, including crown, is 37mm and the space between the lugs is only 16mm- that's quite a narrow strap. It's a men's watch but today would be quite at home on a woman's wrist as well. I knew it was running fast before I even put it on the timegrapher but I was pleased with the amplitude. The normal dirt and grime had accumulated around the caseback but the inside was immaculate! Only a tiny bit of rust staining at the top where water had entered at the pusher. The movement is marked Orator Watch Co. as is the caseback. Under the microscope a bit more dirt is visible but the screws look like they may have only been turned once in their lifetime. It's here that I get a lump in my throat. I almost feel bad putting my amateur hands on this one! I start breaking the watch down. The hands and dial come off first. The dial is in wonderful condition as well. The lime is radium based so extra care is taken. Dial side of the movement is utilitarian but clean. After snapping some reference pictures of the front and back I'm called to dinner. The movement goes under the glass for the next day... And the camera batteries go dead! No pics of the breakdown I'm afraid! There wasn't much to discover though. The movement looked quite good and there were no obvious issues noted. Probably just a cleaning and lubrication will do the thing. I put the movement though the L & R and start reassembly. Despite the nice amplitude registered before, the mainspring looks spent. Luckily I have a replacement at the ready. The gear train goes together simply enough. There's some rust staining on this plate as well. I tried rubbing it out with pegwood but let it be when elbow grease wasn't enough. The pallet fork (installed above) is a bit different from those I have seen before- clear rubies. It's not really a big deal but something different. Clear cap jewels are something I loath. They are very easy to lose. Luckily this watch only has clear jewels on the pallet fork! (Please note that the picture below was taken before cleaning the pallet fork!) Dial side is assembled next. The keyless works is properly greased and reassembled. So far things are looking good but there is one jewel setting that is bothering me. I take a better look at it under the microscope. If it looks funny that's because it's chipped. The chip is on the oil reservoir side. The pivot hole is still properly rounded however. I have a Seitz tool for replacing the jewel but no replacement jewel readily available. Seeing as I own this one and just want to get it off my desk, I continue with assembly while making a note to the fix the jewel later. On the timing machine I discover that there appears to be no impact. With the basic works back together i start on the chronograph. I've taken to returning the screws to the plate after disassembly so that they are readily available for reassembly. This has saved me a lot of time hunting for screws. Despite this, I still managed to mix up two pair of screws! The movement is reassembled and re-cased- how did I forget to take a picture of the reassembled chronograph movement? It took quite a bit of effort to get the chronograph to work flawlessly; there are three eccentrics that needed adjustment to get the gears to mesh just right. The flyback lever was also an issue until I realized I had mixed up a screw and needed to swap it with another longer shouldered screw. Lastly the sweep second hand had a tendency to reset a few degrees to either side of 12 o'clock when operating the flyback button. I fixed this by removing the hand and giving the tube a light tap with a stake to tighten up the post. Now tightened it always returns true. A new crystal completed the effort. What a darling! Now for the bad news, and hopefully the community can help me out here. Despite my best efforts I could not eradicate the beat error. I figured anything 1.0ms or less would be acceptable considering the age of the watch and in one position I can get that but the rest of the positions are not great. The cracked jewel is the lower pallet jewel- I'm sure that could have an impact on the timing of the watch and that will be the first thing I fix. Otherwise I'll be checking the balance pivot and the shake of each gear in the wheel train. If there are any other ideas I'm open to hearing them too. I wish I had caught this a little earlier but didn't check the watch in several positions before service or even after assembling the base movement. I can attest that the pivots and gears are in good order though. All in all, it is keeping good time sitting on my desk and I have to admit I'm smitten by it's appearance!

Not sure how I'd handle the liquid in the aftermath if the lume was Radium based. Tricky stuff.

Yeah, use pegwood, anything harsher will scratch the dial. Use a brush to remove the dust or sometimes rodico if dust is stuck to dial, do not use a air puffer, and put remainder dust on a white of paper, fold and throw out when done. Why I say do not use an air puffer is because watches under the age of 1950's all use radium. While it's a safer than people make it out to be, you do not want to be breathing it in.

Since then, I've checked every watch I own with a detector. It's not something that immediately comes to mind, and why should it? The majority of watches aren't radioactive and even old watches with radium lumed hands or hours marker don't set off a geiger--well not that much. But if something in that watch, like the dial in my old Eternamatic, is emitting radioactivity...well let's just say there may be more than blistered, faded dials to worry about.

Thanks! I'm kind of a nut when handling radium, lol....I just blow it away from me and I feel safe at that point;) I have to start handling it more carefully! P.S. - My jokes are worse;)

Hi Jeff, Glad the problem is sorted. I've been following this thread and learning from the pros. Careful with the radium, it is not healthy to say the least. In a lighter note, I had the same problem with a clock and I solved it by feeding the hamster that was running it! Easy! :) Cheers, Bob PS. a bad joke to lighten the mood now that everything is OK.

be careful, it's look like a radium dial.

Doesn't look like it has any lume at all . Can't see any lumedots? Or is the numbers lumed with radium? . Nice watch btw. Maybe buy a cheap dosimeter from Ebay. Just to be sure?

Nope but I don't think any radium dial still glow in the dark

i love those glycine watches. every time i see them - especially the newer ones, i get all googly. they are sweet. a classic older tech style watch. classic good looks. i wonder if the older ones that you guys have are radium dials? any way to tell?

I personally won't lose any sleep about wearing a leather strap, just as I won't lose sleep about wearing watches with old radium lume. If I was involved in a trade where I was grinding leather, as in sho repairs, or scraping off old lume from watch hands, I would certainly take precautions to prevent inhalation of any dust produced. Have you ever heard, or read about someone developing cancer from wearing a watch strap? Serous question by the way.

I've read that these used Radium on dial and hands. If true, something to be aware of when opening up. Dont want to breathe any of it in.

I got to say a really interesting article for me. I have re-lumed a couple of watches including an old diver style watch that probably was lumed with the dreaded radium paint !!!!!! I will have to be more carful in future.

I began my scientific career with the Radiological Protection Service of the MRC and have been involved in the protection from Ionizing radiation until retirement. Anilv's advice is good. There is increasing evidence (contested by some) that low levels of radiation are beneficial and so, for me, the wearing of an old Radium luminised watch presents no problem. However when removing the luminous paint it is important to avoid flakes and dust. Just keep everything damped down with water or paraffin and rinse well the tools and everything that came into contact with the luminous paint. If you are getting into this frequently buy a cheap radiation monitor from Japan (they have many on sale since Fukushima) and use this to check the tools and workbench afterwards. Disposing of the spoils for the odd watch dial and hands usually means putting it all into the rubbish bin, but it may depend on local regulations. You can do no better than to read David Boettcher's article on this at: http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/luminous.htm