Glycine

[chadders1966]

Hi

I've got this non working Glycine I'm going to try getting going again. I'm not sure of the calibre, but as there is a '72' marked on the balance cock I'm going for 72 cal. ;). I don't know the age of this watch, so I'm wondering how the hands might have been painted, whether I need to take care with it. The lume has completely gone on the minute hand, but is still there on the hour. Also does anyone know where I might find any sort of information for this calibre? Thanks

Stephen

[StuartBaker104]

See here http://glycine-watch.ch/glycine/history/, and here http://www.glycintennial.com/collection.html

Looks like you do have a Glycine 72, which was an in house movement, and the watch is from the 1950s. The first link has a picture of a seemingly identical piece.

The lume is most likely radium... so try not to eat it.

If you need parts, then you'll probably be best off looking for a spare movement from ebay

[dman2112]

The movement is a Felsa 465. Yours is a manual wind correct? Here is mine restored


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[dman2112]

Now I saw your pics. Yes it's a Felsa 465


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[dman2112]

Remember. And lume remaining on this watch will be radium. You should get rid of it and have it relumed


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[dman2112]

Here is my dial and hands re-lumed. On the dial I gently flicked off the radium into a water tank with a toothpick. The hands I just put in my ultrasonic. The relume was standard issue from there. I think it came out good and I won't glow :-)


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[StuartBaker104]

Felsa 465 is very similar looking, but according to Ranfft has a free sprung balance

That said dman, yours is a beautiful piece

 

Edited April 1, 2017 by StuartBaker104

[chadders1966]

Thanks fellas, very useful information - I was wondering if it would be radium. I took of the balance to check, definitely nothing out of the ordinary. The only markings on the watch I can see so far are the 72 on the balance.

That is a really nice looking watch dman. My case and dial are in poor condition so I'm not going to end up with anything that good.

[ricardopalamino]

2 hours ago, dman2112 said:

Here is my dial and hands re-lumed. On the dial I gently flicked off the radium into a water tank with a toothpick. The hands I just put in my ultrasonic. The relume was standard issue from there. I think it came out good and I won't glow :-)


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I definitely am not an authority on Hazmat procedures .

In the past , when Hazmat started to be a concern , when we would have to drill a hole in suspected  hazmat materials such as asbestos painted walls and floor tiles , we would use shaving cream around the area we were drilling to capture the dust and particles so they wouldn't float in the air we were breathing .

I'm thinking that maybe this method could be used with the radium lume  ???

Edited April 1, 2017 by ricardopalamino

[Spook]

3 hours ago, ricardopalamino said:

I definitely am not an authority on Hazmat procedures .

In the past , when Hazmat started to be a concern , when we would have to drill a hole in suspected  hazmat materials such as asbestos painted walls and floor tiles , we would use shaving cream around the area we were drilling to capture the dust and particles so they wouldn't float in the air we were breathing .

I'm thinking that maybe this method could be used with the radium lume  ???

If you work a lot with old watches that may have radium then investing in a geiger counter is the correct way to answer that question. Radium has a biological half life of 90 to 120 days that's for half of the radium in a system to be removed for the radium that's not taken into bones.

A small amount shouldn't be too much to worry about. It is partially soluble in water so the liquid in the ultrasonic cleaner is now technically contaminated.

Explaining contamination and cleanup would be a wall of text but here's a video I found that illustrates how seriously we take contamination in labs. I have the use of a TRIGA research reactor for my physics labs. My job sometimes has me working at nuclear facilities so having the education and radiation worker II cert lets me work with things that otherwise wouldn't be allowed.

Only way to know for sure is a geiger counter with a pancake tube. As for the liquid any contamination should be only trace from the amount on watch hands. If you want peace of mind then put on gloves, pour it down a sink where you don't handle food or anything goes into your mouth and leave the water running for about 15 minutes. You can use the time to scrub the inside of the ultrasonic cleaner with soap and water a few times then remove the gloves and wash your hands up to any point you made contact a couple of times.

Low-level liquid radioactive materials are allowed to be disposed of in drains.

And whatever you do, do not use beryllium tipped tools near exposed radium. When an alpha particle hits beryllium it creates neutron radiation. Neutron radiation can latch onto certain atoms and create radioactive isotopes, in layman's terms they're kinda like little radioactive hand grenades that can also make other things radioactive.  Remember the 'radioactive boy scout' who had his back yard turned into a superfund radioactive cleanup site? He used beryllium and radium he collected off old watches and clocks to be the neutron source for his little reactor.

It's very small amounts so it's not really that dangerous but if someone say left a beryllium tipped tool on a radium lume for the weekend they could come back to more radioactive material. It's best to just have the practice of keeping those tools away from radium to begin with.

[dman2112]

Felsa 465 is very similar looking, but according to Ranfft has a free sprung balance
That said dman, yours is a beautiful piece
 

465 has a free spring balance. It's a 465


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[dman2112]

I also verified the cal 72 is a base 465 with the Glycine historical dept. you can email them and they will respond in a few days if you feel debate is still necessary


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[StuartBaker104]

5 hours ago, dman2112 said:

I also verified the cal 72 is a base 465 with the Glycine historical dept. you can email them and they will respond in a few days if you feel debate is still necessary


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Sorry dman, please don't take this the wrong way - I wasn't debating the similarity between the two. The OP's cal 72 movement has a pin regulated balance whereas the 465 has a free sprung balance.

[chadders1966]

Photos of balance for clarification:

[dman2112]

Hmmm. That's interesting. I would email the historical guy at Glycine. Mine has "72" on the balance in gold lettering that matches to "Glycine" on the top plate. Mine is a free sprung balance. I had to make some minute "adjustments" to the pins when I regulated it. The email from Glycine states that the movement is "felsa 465". I also have a 465 from a "boulevard" watch that has a free spring balance that a pinched an hour wheel out of. Anyway I tried to help the OP and he wanted to know what the movement was and in my experience you'll be lucky to find another 72 but should be able to find a 465 if he needs parts. Maybe is a revision thing. Who knows.


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